A guy I work with told me his nephew is in ICU at Binghamton Hospital in NY with various internal injuries including a punctured lung, and several broken bones, a facial fracture to the eye socket. A diclocated jaw, a concussion, and many stitches to his head and leg and hip.

He had on NO HELMET, and was DRUNK or at least had been drinking. He got stuck on a steep hill in the middle, tried to turn around and rolled a big Utility rig over himself at least two or three times.

REAL FRIGGIN GOOD! Guys like this end up on the news prompting some goofey group to do an investigation into the safety of ATVs. It always ends up a black eye for the ATV riders somehow. I mean I hate to see people get hurt but I have a hard time feeling sympathetic for dopes like this.

 

wow, he's very lucky to be alive..drinking doesnt mix w/anything!

i'd be pretty p!ssed at one of my friends if they did something stupid like that...i'm sure he learned his lesson..thats along injury list, if that happend to me i'd be embarassed to tell ppl how it happened, let alone want to drink again.

 

I really dont know what to say, he gave a black eye to himself and to the atv communitity....like you said, it is hard to feel sympathetic for the guy, but I am sure he learned his lesson....I hope he recovers fast

 

I have posted previously on how I think the trend toward all these huge, heavy utilities is going to cause a backlash over safety issues, just like the 3-wheelers did a generation ago. Lots of folks are in way over their heads, and I think we are going to see them getting hurt on these things. Ask yourself if he would have had these same kind of injuries on a 350 pound sport bike?

And as for riding drunk and with no helmet, NATURAL SELECTION IS JUST TAKING ITS COURSE, but the rest of us will pay in bad press.

 

Hey Recon;

I'm with you on these new Utility big bores. I look at that new 800 twin from BRP, 62hp and 650lbs? C'mon already. These things are getting so big and heavy and fast they are creating their own catagory of vehicle. How is a 150 or 200 pound rider supposed to correct this thing if it gets away from them? The general laws of physics would prohibit a 200lb rider from having much influence should it get sketchy on the trail. And my guess is with 62hp is has the power to get out of control pretty easily.

These new Ute things are almost 90" long too. I couldn't believe the size of the Brute Force when I saw it in person the other day at the Kawasaki dealer. My father bought a Sportsman700 for work, thinking he was going to use it to ride with his Ute buddies since they go places his Scrambler500 4x4 has a tough time with. That thing would kill you if it rolled over on you, it's a truck with handlebars. He said it beats the hell out of him on the trail at high speeds, it just tosses you around like a doll.

And with a set of mud tires these machines are doing more damage to the trails than any sport machine can possibly do. I have a neighbor with an MX track he built for bikes. He used to let quads on it no problem, he rides his 400ex on it himself. But after a bunch of the big Utes got on there in the mud one day, he has banned all quads except himself and his closest friends, all with sport machines including 2 Honda 400exs, a 450r and a Banshee.

I'm not real happy about the idea of any quad rolling over on me, but I'd rather it be my 370lbs z400 than a 700lbs Polaris. I remember years ago when I crashed my Lt230 Quad Sport. I went over the bars trying to cross some Railroad tracks. When I landed and looked up the quad was on its front wheels, ready to topple over onto me. I was able to kick it away as it was falling, just enough to keep it from crushing me. I rode away virtually injury free. No way would I have been able to stop a 700lb rig with a quick kick to the seat.

When will it end? Are we looking at a future of 1200cc Utility machines weighing 800lbs? Why not just get a Jeep instead?

 

my traxter I think weighs over 700 lbs!! and it is pretty stable yes, but when trying to slow down for a corner you are taking to fast...it hurts....I have been thrown from it, luckly never been rolled over...well on its side....I agree with ss a rr....no reason for bigger....unless there is a reason why you need it such as a construction site or whatever....

 

And while the manufacturers are in a contest to see who can produce the heaviest hugest big bore machine, the other way we lose is that it drains R&D efforts that sould be going into the development of lighter, (safer) more agile machines!

It kind of reminds you of the 50's and 60's, when Detroit was turning out cars that were huge gas hog tanks. When the gas crisis hit in the early 70's, they were caught flat footed with nothing to offer, because they hadn't invested any R&D in an alternative.

 

yea, but if somebody gets in a car accident nobody goes and checks into the safety of cars. WTF! its always like atvs and dirtbikes are getting picked on

 

sorry, i posted it twice. DAMNIT!


Not anymore[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

ATV Connection Forum Moderator

 

Chapter 1
I hope the guys heals all up and gets better, and learns from his misfortunes and becomes a more cautious and safer rider. Good Luck to him.

Chapter 2
OK, here we go again [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]
Kinda like the other thread that was bashing[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img] the Utilities.
For the record, I don't have a preference or lean either way, I like both the sporties and Utilities.
I have both, and ride both.

Also, I don't disagree that the Utes are getting big and heavy.
Yes, that does increase the chances of getting hurt.


Are the sporties really that much "safer" that the utilities??????
Sure they are lighter, but the are also faster and easier to handle.
Their weight to power ratio is way better than a Ute.
Thus allowing people to also ride above their ability to handle the thing.

While utilities are big and heavy, Sporties are light and fast.
Aren't Utilities safer and easier to ride in certain situations than Sporties???
Aren't Sporties safer and easier to ride in certain situations than Utilities???
Probably...........

Somebody said <u> "When will it end" </u>
Another said <u>"no reason for bigger" </u>
Referring to the Utilities..
Why don't those same quotes apply to the Sporties.....hhhhhhmmmmmm

Well, when will it end with the Sporties??????
Do they really need to make them as big (referring to cc's) and as fast????
Do they really need to make all these aftermarket parts to blow out a 650 cc quad up to an 800??
Do you really need to make a 400 a 440 or even bigger???
(I'm not saying they shouldn't, just pointing out that if you think Utes shouldn't get any bigger or heavier, why should the Sporties be able to become lighter and faster.hhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmm)

I sure don't see or hear any complaints that guys are blowing up the Sporties to make them ungodly fast?
That seems to be the cool thing to do (for some anyway)
Doesn't speed kill also???? They might not roll over on you and kill you. But can't/don't they throw you off? Run you into a tree? Down a cliff? etc. etc.??
I think they can, and they do........

<u>Sporties and Utilities</u>

You cannot say that one is more likely to kill or cause severe injuries than the other.
It will just happen in different ways.

Chapter 3
Final Thought:
Although there are some factors we may not be able to control....And accidents do happen..
THE RIDER has a lot to do with getting injured or killed. You must know your abilities/limits, the quads ability/limits, how to ride in certain situations, and when to not push the envelope trying something you are not prepared to handle.

And here I wasn't going to write a book length post [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img] SORRY

BTW........
I haven't seen one topic where somebody has bragged or talked about how big the've bored out or bumped up their quad to make it super fast.....
Or talking about somebody that was injured or killed on a Sportie.......
And had anybody say....... "Man, you shouldn't be able to do that. You might kill yourself....They shouldn't be making these Sporties so fast"