The Effect of Passengers on All-Terrain Vehicle Crash Mechanisms and Injuries

Abstract

Traditional all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) are designed for single riders. Although carrying passengers is a known risk factor for injury, how passengers contribute to ATV crashes remains poorly understood. To address this question, we performed a retrospective chart review of ATV crash victims at a U.S. trauma center (2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013). Of 537 cases, 20% were passengers or drivers with passengers. The odds of backward rollovers, falls/ejections, crashes on sloped terrain, and collisions with motorized vehicles were all significantly greater when passengers were present. In contrast, the odds of self-ejection or falls/ejections over the handlebars were significantly lower than falls/ejections to the side or rear, in crashes with multiple riders. Among all ejections, self-ejections had the lowest head and highest extremity injury scores and being ejected over the handlebars or to the rear resulted in worse head injury scores than being ejected to the side. In summary, our study found that passengers increased the odds of specific crash and injury mechanisms and that head and extremity injury severity varied by ejection type. Safety interventions including seat design changes that prevent carrying passengers, and a strict, well-enforced no-rider rule are needed to effectively prevent passenger-related deaths and injuries.

Dynamic Responses of Experienced All-Terrain Vehicle Operators to Simulated Unexpected Terrain Changes

“…Riders are often injured when they are ejected or fall from the vehicle. Studies show that riders who fall/ are ejected to the side are at particular risk for extremity injuries and those who fall/are ejected to the rear are at greater risk for head injuries (Brandenburg et al, 2007;Jennissen and Denning, 2012).…”

Enforcement of Off-Road Vehicle Laws in Iowa

“…Independent risk factors that increase the likelihood of ORV-related deaths and injuries include roadway riding [9,11,12], being male and/or <16 years of age [13,14,32], youth operating adult-size ATVs [10], carrying passengers on ATVs designed for a single rider [9][10][11]33], alcohol [34][35][36], and lack of helmet use by ATV riders [34,[37][38][39]. Safety laws are designed to reduce crashes and injuries by focusing on risk factors, and Iowa's ORV laws and OHV park regulations do address some of these issues.…”

“…Passengers or operators with passengers are a significant proportion of crash victims, and roadway ATV-related fatalities are more likely to involve passengers than fatalities occurring off-road [9][10][11][12]42]. Almost all ATVs are designed for an operator only and passengers are an independent risk factor for ATV-related crashes and injuries [9,11,32].…”

Ocular and Orbital Injury in All-Terrain Vehicles: A Literature Review

“…Many authors have suggested methods to help prevent ATV-related crashes and decrease the morbidity and mortality from them when they do occur, including: (1) minimum age of 16 years for independent operation or mandatory parental supervision for those <16 years of age; (2) automobile driver's license or permit or educational classes with "hands-on" training; (3) head and eye protection during ATV operation; (4) abstention from alcohol and illicit drugs; (5) single operator only (i.e., no passengers); and (6) avoidance of public roadways [5,6,8,[11][12][13]30,31]. Similar efforts have been shown to reduce injury severity from motorcycles [32].…”

“…Multiple studies have outlined factors that increase the inherent risk associated with ATV use, including: no training or licensing requirement, ability to achieve high speeds (up to 65 mph), heavy weight (up to 600 lbs), lack of requirement for use of personal protection (e.g., helmets and goggles), use in areas with poor terrain, riding with passengers, and riding on roadways [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. ATV-related injuries occur most commonly in males, in the age range late teens-early 20s, on weekends, in the evening, and during summer months.…”