Personal Injury Law

South Carolina Teenager Seriously Injured After Being Thrown From ATV

Georgia and South Carolina injury lawyers are seeing ATV accidents involving serious injury and sometimes death are on the rise with the return of warm weather. Tragically many, if not most are preventable by using common sense and obeying ATV rules. Just this week, I read about a Summerville, South Carolina teenager who is fighting for her life as a result of being thrown from the back of a fast moving ATV. According to witnesses, neither the 32 year old ATV driver or the teenage passenger were wearing helmuts.

Almost all ATV fatalities or serious injuries occur while violating one or more of the Consumer Product Safety Commission?s ?Rules of ATV Operation?. Those rules are as follows:

1. Children under sixteen (16) should not ride adult-sized ATV (engines bigger than 90 cc?s).
2. Take a hands-on safety course.
3. Always wear a helmet while on an ATV.
4. Never drive an ATV on paved roads.
5. Never drive while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
6. Never drive an ATV with a passenger, and never ride as a passenger.

Despite these common sense rules, we continue to see children operating ATV?s and worse yet, operating them with passengers. Every new ATV that has come from the factory in recent years has a decal that warns the driver not to ride passengers. As demonstrated by the tragic accident involving the South Carolina teen, serious injuries can result from riding as a passenger on the back of an ATV. Adults who operate an ATV in violation of the rules potentially subject themselves to civil liability for their negligence, if someone is seriously injured or killed as a result of their negligence. If you or a loved one has been seriously injured on an ATV, call the ATV injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP at 1 (800) 228-9159.

Full post as published by Georgia Injury Lawyer Blog on May 19, 2009 (boomark / email).