He is OK... Nothing broken just a little road rash... I told him he just became a better rider... He just out rode his skills (1st ATV)... He said he will never ride again... I know all of us have done that...

$5 saids he'll jump on it tomorrow...

 

Glad to hear he is OK. EVERYBODY wipes out once in a while.Tell him to back off just a little.

 

He's doing a lot better now... He'll be OK...

 

I'm glad he's OK.


Yea, he'll be back on it in 3 days TOPS. Prolly tomorrow, like you said.

 

If he's anything like his Dad, he'll get po'ed in a little while and declare something like "I'm not letting some @#@! machine get the better of me!"



PS - Here's his Dad's famous quote when we got 4-wheelers: "Who do you think will get injured first, you or me? Probably me!"

 

Glad to hear he's ok. Had the same thing happen with one of the great nieces. Was out on the trail and she didn't want to get back on. We told her she had to push it back then. She hesitated, but got back on it. 10 minutes later, it was like nothing ever happened. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

Mine rolled his ATV yesterday, too. The ride started out great, perhaps the best ever. At one point my son rode up behind me and shouted "THIS IS FUN!" with a huge grin on his face.

Later, he went over some bumps too fast, which shook the handlebars out of his hands, and then went right over the lip of a steep hill. I watched him try to grab the handlebars to clamp down on the brakes but he was over the hill too fast. He just dropped out of sight and disappeared. I have to say that was a darned tough moment for this Daddy. I don't remember my feet on the ground, I just sort of levitated off my quad.

By the time I was over the lip myself he was sitting about halfway down and the machine was just coming to a stop, right side up, about twice as far down. The hill is a huge pile of sand placed there by earth moving equipment so it was really soft. No trees, no rocks, nothing really for him to injure himself. His helmet had some scrapes and the visor was torn off, which suggests that he may have rolled with the machine before they separated.

My son was very sandy but fine. His eyes teared up a bit but the first thing he said to me when I reached him was "I'm OK!" I checked him for missing or broken parts but everything was fine. When Mom reached him he started crying a bit, but it was all emotional - he openly admitted he was just scared a little. He pulled it together in a couple of minutes and then his biggest concern was that "I have dirt in my mouth".

The LT-A50's engine had stopped, but it restarted on one pull and I throttle-walked it around the hill to a road, then rode it myself up the hill and back to where my son, wife, and machines were waiting. That gave me a chance to check out the machine and make sure it was fine. No problems at all, just sandy in spots which cleaned up later with a rag and air compressor. All alignment OK, brakes fine, engine response fine.

When we were all back together we reviewed what had happened and discussed how he might have done things better. We agreed that 1) he should have stayed behind Daddy's machine like he's supposed to instead of riding up next to me, 2) he should go back to taking bumps more slowly, and 3) he should always keep a firm grip on his handlebars.

My son hopped got back on the machine and was ready to go before we were. He rode it all the way home including over some hills and bumps similar to the ones that had given him trouble, then helped to clean off all the sand and dirt.

My wife and I discussed this event the rest of the day. As I've mentioned in other threads, my son participates in all sorts of activities including ATV'ing, whitewater kayaking, rock climbing, bicycling, kneeboarding, etc. With all of that, his only two serious injuries have been a broken arm and splitting open his chin. Whoa, you say - gotta be more careful, right? Except that the first occurred when he fell while helping to bake cookies in the kitchen, and the second when he hit a rock while riding a Toys R Us scooter in our driveway. I'm not making this up. His injuries have occurred while participating in the kinds of activities that most people would consider "safe" and "benign".

It also bears mentioning that, at the time of this incident, my son's face had quite a bit of road rash and scabbing on it. From some scary, dangerous activity? Nope - from one of those made-for-kiddies inflated jump-bounce castle things at a birthday party. A few kids were on it, some sort of resonance got set up, and he was launched completely over the wall of the castle and did a face-plant onto the carpet. Who knew that you need helmets and crash pads for a bounce house?!?

The bottom line is that no matter what kids do for fun, they're never completely safe... so as parents WE must be their safety margin, finding that delicate balance between "life" and "safety". Keep your kids as safe as possible and use the inevitable mishaps as learning experiences. The relatively minor incidents that occur in youth will hopefully translate to better awareness and more experience when they grow up and start being tempted by, and sometimes participating in, even more dangerous activities. Parents often won't be around then, so experiences and teaching from earlier in life must be in place so they at least have judgement on their side.

 

I am also glad to hear he's okay. My 5 year old son rolled his about two months ago. I ran over and looked at him. He had a little road rash on his belly, and I made sure he was okay. After a few tears, he went back over to his quad and jumped back on. After he realized he was okay, he thought he was cool for having the road rash! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] Apple of my eye that kid is. Every day he finds a new way to amaze me, and I wouldn't trade that for anything in the world. Your boy will get back on too. He just needs your reassurance.

 

What a timely topic....Took my 20 year old daughter out for her first trail ride on a
sport bike(my '03 Warrior 350)..She had ridden a Honda Recon several times in the past...
I had her ride at my buddies field for a couple hours on Saturday before I would let
her ride at the trails on Sunday(manual clutches change everything).....She did a
really good job all day...There is a large sandy (mostly flat) area where we went so
after a couple hours of riding I let her actually get out of my sight...She did really well, but
she also taught herself a valuable lesson...She was probably in 2nd(20 mph max) and
she ran over a hill(small bump is more like it) and "got a little air"(prob. a couple of feet from
what she described)...She said she liked to mess herself, but got the bike under control without falling off...
It's those kind of incidents that can really be helpful when trying to teach someone how to ride...I think she gained
a whole new found respect for the danger and will hopefully be even more cautious when she
rides in the future(especially when I'm not around, which won't be for awhile until she gets alot
more seat time)....We rode for another couple of hours and she is ready to go back today if I would let her....
And yes, we wear helmets, goggles, boots and gloves......or we don't ride......
Glad everyone else made it home safe as well....

 

WAATV,

Good write up of your experience. If you don't mind I'd like to copy that and send it to some parents who are thinking about/have ATV's for their kids. You give great examples of using experience as a teaching tool, and can really be put to good use!