A thirteen-year-old boy died this summer from injuries he received in an ATV accident. Brandon Austin, from Rhode Island, was on vacation in South Carolina with his family when they decided to ride ATVs. Brandon was driving with his twelve-year-old cousin as a passenger when he crashed the vehicle, and reports state that he was not wearing a helmet or seat belt at the time of the accident. Luckily, his cousin was uninjured in the crash, but Brandon succumbed to his injuries and died.
Doctors from the Medical University of South Carolina say that they have seen a rise in the number of injuries and fatalities as a result of golf carts and ATV accidents. Because of Chandler’s Law the minimum age requirement on an ATV is six years old. Additional requirements, including completion of a safety course, equipment requirements, and passenger restrictions for certain age groups also apply to ATV riders. Yet, injuries and fatalities on ATVs are still increasing in South Carolina. MUSC sees patients of ATV accidents, usually with some level of head injury in addition to broken limbs, every weekend during the summer.
Most families renting ATVs ride on private land and do not usually know of the rules and restrictions that come with riding on an ATV. Officials are urging the owners of ATV vehicles to abide by the laws set in place for riding and take the safety courses offered.
South Carolina ATV Accidents
In 2011, there were around 107,500 emergency room injuries and 327 reported deaths caused by ATV accidents in the United States. Of those accidents, over 27 percent of the injuries and 57 of the reported deaths happened to children under the age of 16.
Failure to provide adequate warnings and instructions, coupled with design flaws and inferior parts, create a dangerous product that can result in catastrophic accidents. Another reason behind the number of ATV accidents is the marketing of these machines by the manufacturers. These companies market ATVs in a way that is meant to entice owners and riders to drive them with excessive speed in all kinds of terrain conditions. Simply put, it encourages unsafe riding on their products.
Injuries Caused By ATV Accidents
One of the most serious nonfatal injuries that happen in ATV accidents is a traumatic brain injury, or TBI. This type of injury results in problems with basic cognitive skills like attention span, concentration, language skills, memory, and problem solving. In addition, severe emotional issues and physical impairment can come as a result of TBI. Other serious injuries routinely happen in ATV accidents, and they include:
- Spinal cord injury
- Fractured limbs
- Internal organ injury
- Severed body parts
…and other traumatic injuries that can result from ATV accidents.
South Carolina ATV Accident Attorneys Can Help
ATV accidents are traumatic experiences that routinely cause catastrophic injury or death. If you or a loved one has been hurt or killed in an ATV accident in the Columbia or greater South Carolina area, call or contact the Solomon Law Group today for a free and confidential consultation of your case.
