chest protector would have been helpful i bet maybe saved her, but i still think she would have got seriuosly injured, wellsville is not the place for an inexpeirenced rider, i took one of my friends there to ride and he was new to riding quads and he wrecked about 3 or 4 times in one day, and never went back. i havent been riding qauds for very long maybe 3 years now, and i know my limits although i often push them, but i have been riding dirtbikes since i was 7 and now im 22,

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: reconranger

Got to ask if anybody knows what kind of quad she was riding???? I am really convinced that the current crop of huge, heavy (top heavy), monster utilities are accidents waiting to happen in the hands of most riders. Still, you can kill yourself on a skateboard too.........



A lot of people think sport quads are dangerous, but my 450R at 350 pounds is a toy compared to a 700-800 pound ute.</end quote></div>

My wife knows one of her neighbors, close friends. And while she didn't know what kind of ATV it was, from her description it was most certainly a bigger UTE. And she was not wearing any chest protection....

It seems that the UTEs are quickly passing the sport ATVs for deaths in the last few years. Almost without exception when I read/hear about a death or very serious injury a big UTE is at the core of the problem.

You got 700-pound machines with enough HP to stand up and flip over far too easily. I hope they have reached their size/power limit at this point. Any more and things are going to get even more ugly...

 

I think it is quite possible that we will see a "safety" backlash with government intervention because of all these new big heavy big bore ute injuries.....just like we saw with the 3-wheelers 20 years ago.

Around here, utes aren't very common, but the main buyers of the monsters seem to be senior citizens...who are least physically able to handle the machine...especially in a roll-over.

Best to just get a Rhino with a rollcage, although we have seen Rhino riders killed and injured as well.

 

reconranger, what do you think is the difference in 550 pound atv (rancer maybe) and a 600 pound atv(big bores) when they roll on top of you. Hit you in the head with out a helmet. Anything to that nature. Not much. Thats like saying its better to get hit by a car then a truck. Either way, its allot of weight that WILL kill you if you dont know how to get away, operate, ignore safty percautions, drink, or a miillion other factors. I am just as convinced that she was operating out of her capacity, or somthing else she shouldnt have been doing that got her killed. NOt a bigger atv. Balieve me, any amount of weight will kill you, just has to hit you just right.

 

Absolutely agree!!! They could have lightened the Rancher up considerably (alloy rims, alloy parts, etc.), but that would drive the price up...wouldn't it.

I feel like my Rancher is 200 pounds to heavy...just like every other utility in its class! But...that is what the lame a$$ manufacturers are building...and all we have to choose from!

We need a paradigm shift in this industry, away from larded up monster utes, and toward lighter, highly stable, yet well suspended 4wd machines. Most folks don't need a huge work quad to go trail riding...do they! Yet that is where the market is headed.

The trend is to put mushy long travel IRS suspension on some huge 800 pound 800 cc machine. All this does is make it top heavy and a ticket to a rollover!

 

i do agree, im tired of everyone worrying about the engine power of the atv. I think they should stop the power wars and get us atvs that are better at everything else. Better off-roading, handling, climbing, etc.

 

All are good points - most of all that big utility quads are not well suited to steep uneven trails (95% of the trails in wellsville). However, the question about chest protector seems somewhat irrelevant. If this girl was crushed to death by a 600+ lb. quad, a chest protector wouldn't have helped much. No one should assume safety gear is a substitute for a clear head(no buzz), experience, and good judgement.

 

I went from ute to sport for some of these reasons. I had my Wolverine on top of me 3 different times, on the one occasion, a 700 lb ute would surely have snapped my neck.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img]

Common sense has to come into play, Wellsville is no place for a novice.

 

Maybe I just don't get it but why sell your atvs because some one
had an accident?

Do you sell your car because there are accident?
Your motorcycle?

I can't live that way. When it's your time it's your time.
I would much rather die out on the trail then
sitting in my rocker at home watching tv thats for sure.

Go and enjoy yourself! Just try and becareful. If you get hurt
you get hurt.

What if your neighbor is mowing his yard and the mower
tips over and kills your neighbor? Going to sell the mower?

What if a house burns down and kills someone?
Going to sell your house??

I've been following people who were in accidents and died
I didn't sell my car or my truck.

My brother in law is that way.
His friend was killed on a bike. So he sold his.
I just don't understand that.
He won't step out of his little world to save his life.

GET OUT AND LIVE!! Don't run and hide.
Life is to short. Live it for all it's worth!!!

Remember the man above said he is most happy
when his children are at play. (thats us!)

GO PLAY!!

 

I think it had to do with the fact that he was right behind the girl and actually watched her die, listened to her gasp her last breath and was totally helpless to do anything for her......That's why he was shook enough to go ahead and sell his quad and quit riding....I don't know, but I guess I can completely understand what he did.