Kentucky - So far this year 17 people have died in ATV wrecks in Kentucky, nearly three times the number reported by the end of May 2006. Kentucky had 21 ATV-related fatalities in both 2005 and 2006, according to Kentucky State Police. This, despite stricter laws and calls for safer riding, deaths from all-terrain vehicle accidents are on the rise in Kentucky, the nation's leader in fatal ATV wrecks.
"We understand ATV riding is very popular in Kentucky," said Scott Wolfson, spokesman for the Consumer Product Safety Commission. "But we're very concerned about the recent upward trend in deaths."
After Kentucky, West Virginia and Pennsylvania are next on the commission's ranking of states with ATV-related deaths, according to the agency's 2002-2005 estimates, the most recent available. Thirteen Southern states -- from West Virginia to Louisiana -- make up 40 percent of all ATV fatalities nationally.
Wolfson said three ATV-linked fatalities were reported to state police over the Memorial Day weekend, including the death of a 5-year-old girl riding a four-wheeler with her mother. Neither was wearing a helmet, despite a law passed last year requiring riders 16 and younger to wear protective head gear. Two other children -- a 14-year-old and a 16-year-old -- also have been killed this year in ATV crashes. The 16-year-old was wearing a helmet.
Melinda Mast, executive director of the Brain Injury Association of Kentucky, said the state helmet law has "a very narrow focus when it only targets kids 16 and under." Lawmakers decided that regulating adult riders would be impractical. Getting safety regulations through the legislature is difficult, said Sen. Julie Denton, R-Louisville, who pushed for the ATV helmet law last year. "You do have to pull teeth to get those kinds of things regulated," Denton said.
Meanwhile, the Consumer Product Safety Commission and industry officials are encouraging riders to get ATV training. This month, officials from the ATV Safety Institute, an industry group, are holding training sessions at the Land Between The Lakes National Recreation Area in Western Kentucky. "I don't think a lot of people have an inherent sense of safety," Mast said. "However, education is probably the best way to get safe."
Sgt. Travis Tennill, a state police spokesman, said: "It's hard to really draw conclusions on why they're happening other than the reckless operation of the ATVs themselves. People are operating ATVs beyond their capability."
No training or licensing is required to ride ATVs. Kentucky's law stipulates fines of $20 to $50 when children are caught riding without helmets, but law-enforcement officers say the law is more about safety than punishment. State police have said officers would take action only against violators on public roadways and trails
