THAT..... is ALOT of stuff!
and I thought I carried too much! lol...

 

I still think back to my friend plowing into a deer at 55 mph too. He was lucky his injuries weren't life threatening. He committed almost every cardinal sin you can on an atv. Riding 2 up on a one person machine(his wife was on it too). Riding on pavement at high speeds. No helmet on either of them. He did manage to break her fall, she didn't get hurt nearly as bad as he did. Ironically a blood clot made her recovery take longer than his and almost could have been fatal. He suffered a lot of bumps and bruises and a broken shoulder. She broke one toe and obviously a lot of bumps and bruises too. But a direct head impact on the pavement could have killed either of them. I think about that every time I get a chance to open my machine up in the open. A lot of deer around here. I've very nearly hit them on more than one occasion recently at much lower speeds. If I had been going faster, no way to stop in time. Its one thing to hit one with a car or truck. It does a lot damage to your vehicle, but the size and weight of the vehicle generally keeps you from getting hurt. You just don't have that kind of protection on an atv. I suppose utvs would offer a bit more protection with the added weight and front end collision protection.

 

Plowing into a deer is a legitimate concern. Bears too. Can't tell you how many bears I almost run into riding the mountains. Other riders are a concern as well. Anytime I take a curve, I always plan for there to be someone coming at me around the bend... which is probably why I haven't hit a bear yet.

 

I talked to a guy once who said he totaled out his grandpa's Sportsman 500 by hitting a deer at WOT. It's only a matter of time until me or my friends hit a deer or another quad. I just hope we're all okay. Everyone else isn't paying attention either. I was side-swiped by a motorcycle while I was stopped. He was watching his front wheel instead of the trail.

 

What were you doing in the middle of the trail?

I usually take a dry run through the trail to be sure it's clear, then hammer it back the other way.

It's probably just some goofy fear I have, but I worry about someone stringing a cable across the trail about neck high. So, I like to go slow the first time through.

 

I saw this guy coming down the trail so I pulled over as far as I could and waited for him. There was good visibility (on a straightaway) but he didn't even see me. He actually told me he was watching his front wheel. He broke the shifter off his bike and had to ride a long way in second gear. All it did to my quad was make a mark on my front tire. I hope he learned his lesson.

Someone stretched a string across the road neck high when I was riding my bike. The string broke when my neck hit it. Luckily it wasn't a piece of wire. I've heard of environmental nut jobs doing things like putting nails in boards on the trails. I wouldn't put it past one of them to stretch a wire across where someone would hit it.

 

I wasn't sure if I was being goofy worrying about a cable across the trail or not. I will gamble with deer, bears, and tires, but not neck-high strings

One time a buddy and I were riding at night and got the bright idea to try riding by moonlight since the moon was so bright. I led the way and he was behind me so close that i thought he was pushing me to go faster. It turned out he couldn't see and was trying to stay close to me for guidance. So I went faster and faster until I hit a tree that was down in the trail. Before I could turn around to say anything, he plowed into me. He never even hit the brakes. I remember seeing his face and he wasn't even looking at me... it was like being hit by a blind man Neither of us had any damages, but we learned our lesson