All-terrain vehicles, or ATVs, weigh up to 600 pounds and can travel at speeds of 65 mph or more. The study adds to other evidence suggesting dangers faced by children who ride ATVs: The Consumer Product Safety Commission says 40,400 children were treated in U.S. emergency rooms in 2005 after ATV accidents.

"The public should know that ATVs are not safe," says researcher Chetan Shah of the Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock, who presented his team's findings Monday at the annual meeting in Chicago of the Radiological Society of North America.

Shah and his colleagues studied 500 children and teens injured in ATV accidents and brought to the emergency room at Children's Hospital over eight years.

They found that the number of ATV injuries more than doubled from 1998 to 2006.

Bone fractures were the most common problem during that time frame: 208 children received such an injury. Shah recalls one 2-year-old who had a broken thighbone: She's 5 now, but she still walks with a limp, he says.

Head injuries also were common. The team counted 85 skull fractures, 66 cases of bleeding in the brain and 59 children who had damage to the brain tissue. In some cases, the head injury was mild and the patient recovered, but in other cases, the brain didn't heal completely. "Some kids end up with learning problems," he says.

In 12 cases, children were injured so severely in an ATV crash that doctors at the Arkansas hospital had to amputate an arm or a leg.

The study said six children died after ATV accidents. Shah says his study included only children who made it to the hospital alive.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children under 16 be barred from ATV use, but the vehicles are largely unregulated and, some doctors say, they're growing in popularity.

"Kids see ATVs on TV. They see their friends riding them, and they're very attractive," says Donald Frush, a pediatric radiologist at Duke University in Durham, N.C.

Doctors such as Frush say children don't have the judgment or coordination to operate an ATV properly.

But Doug Morris, director of the All-Terrain Vehicle Association, a Pickerington, Ohio, group that lobbies for the rights of ATV riders, says, "Hundreds of thousands of kids ride ATVs safely."

Parents should supervise children and make sure they're wearing protective gear, says Tim Buche, president of the Specialty Vehicle Institute of America, an Irvine, Calif., group representing the major makers of ATVs.

Buche says the vast majority of accidents occur when riders disregard safety precautions outlined by the industry.

Yamaha Rhino All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) rollover accidents have injured – and in some cases killed – hundreds of people. Some consumer advocates claim that flaws inherent in the design of the vehicles are responsible for Yamaha Rhino ATV accidents, as well as the resulting injuries and deaths. In 2007, Yamaha finally responded to the Rhino ATV safety issues by offering free modifications to make the vehicles safer, but the company stopped short of issuing a Rhino ATV recall.

ATVs are infamous for rollover accidents. Such vehicles are three or four wheeled and are used for “off-roading” or riding in natural conditions. Many ATVs can go as fast as 55 MPH and can weigh as heavy as a quarter of a ton. Some 75% of the ATV accidents result in serious damage to the head or spinal cord of the accident victim. Head injuries are a major cause of serious life threatening or lifelong physical problems and ailments. Injury to the spinal cord can result in paralysis of the entire body for life.

While many ATVs are prone to accidents, the Yamaha Rhino ATV is even more likely to be involved in rollover accidents. What’s more, these accidents are also more likely to result in serious injuries and deaths. Critics say the Yamaha Rhino is top heavy, and it has tires that are extremely narrow. These design defects make it far more likely that the Yamaha Rhino will tip and rollover while going through a turn, even when the vehicle is traveling at a slow speed and is on a flat surface. Furthermore, the Yamaha Rhino is designed in such a way that passengers’ legs are unprotected in the event of a rollover accident. Victims of Yamaha Rhino rollover accidents usually experience broken or crushed legs, ankles or feet. In some cases, victims have been permanently disabled, and have had limbs amputated following a Yamaha Rhino rollover accident. When Yamaha Rhino rollover accidents involve children, the results are often fatal.

Yamaha has been slow to acknowledge the Rhino ATVs rollover problems since the vehicles were first introduced in 2003. In September 2006, Yamaha Motor Corp. sent a letter to the owners of Rhino ATVs warning that the Rhino was prone to tip while going through sharp turns. However, the wording of the Yamaha letter seemed to place much of the blame for Rhino rollover accident injuries on the victims themselves. Yamaha warned passengers of the Rhino ATVs to use seatbelts, and to keep their hands, arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times. The letter also included information on handling the Rhino if it should start to tip over. But since Yamaha sent the 2006 letter, it has become increasingly apparent that the actions recommended by Yamaha do little to protect passengers involved in Rhino rollover accidents.

It wasn’t until 2007 that Yamaha appeared to finally take the Rhino’s safety issues seriously. At that time, the company offered free modifications to the owners of new and used Rhinos. These modifications included the addition of doors to the ATV, as well as additional handholds. However, the company still has not recalled or offered refunds to the owners of the dangerous Rhino ATVs. It is not yet known if the modifications to the Yamaha Rhino ATVs will in fact make the vehicles safer.

One of the best selling all terrain vehicles (ATV) available today, the Yamaha Rhino is continually raising concern for its questionable safety. Made available to consumer for the first time in 2003, the Rhino is being blamed for several life threatening injuries, as well as fatalities. Though questions continue to be raised in regard to the safety of the Rhinos’ design, Yamaha has not admitted any fault pertaining to this ATV, and thus it is still available to consumers for purchase.

Here are some findings from an ATV accident study to consider:

* The estimated number of deaths associated with ATVs has risen nearly 180 percent from 276 deaths in 1995 to 767 in 2004, the most recent year that fatality data was available from the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

* Estimated non-fatal injuries requiring a trip to the emergency room rose more than 150 percent from 53,600 visits in 1996 to 136,700 visits in 2005.

* Children under 16 years of age accounted for about one-quarter of the deaths and one-third of the injuries.

* Among children, girls accounted for 26 percent of hospitalizations for ATV injuries and 22 percent of bike injuries. Among adults, females accounted for 17 percent of ATV hospitalizations and 22 percent of bicycle injury hospitalizations.

* The average cost of each ATV-related hospitalization was $21,304 compared to $16,478 for bicycle-related hospitalizations.

13 children killed on Rhinos since 2006

By CYNTHIA BULLION
Times-Tribune News Staff