ATV season is off to a rough start with the death over the weekend of a 75-year-old man in the RM of Alexander and injuries sustained by a 15-year-old girl in a separate incident earlier in the week.
Powerview RCMP say on April 9 they were called to the scene of an accident around 7:30 in the evening where a man had suffered fatal injuries in a rollover collision while operating a 1986 Honda three wheel near Hwy. 11. There were no other persons or vehicles involved.
Meanwhile, on April 4 Stonewall RCMP were dispatched to a scene in front of Warren Collegiate where a 15-year-old girl was found lying in the roadway after being thrown from an ATV driven by a 15-year-old boy.
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RCMP say the girl was one of three passengers riding on the machine when the driver drove out of the schoolgrounds, lurched forward and ejected the victim onto the roadway. The girl was taken to hospital in Winnipeg with non-life-threatening injuries. The driver was charged and fined under the Off-Road Vehicles Act and the quad seized under the Highway Traffic Act.
Such incidents involving off-road vehicles take their toll every year.
In 2010 RCMP statistics show one person was killed in an incident involving an all-terrain vehicle/dirt bike and there were 125 reported injuries. In 2009 there were five fatal collisions involving the machines and 141 reported injuries. The previous year there were seven fatalities and 137 injuries.
A spokesperson for Manitoba Safety Services say many ATV incidents involve young people and that the problem is lack of education around safe handling and the laws governing the use of ATVS. [email protected]
