2 Year Old Boy Killed While Riding ATV

[matcom]

:wtf:

<snip>

A 2-year-old boy was killed in Charles County over the weekend when the child-size all-terrain vehicle he was operating overturned on him, according to the Charles County Sheriff's Office.

The sheriff's office said the boy was operating a Baja Wilderness 50 four-wheeler, which is designed for children 6 to 12 years old and equipped with a remote cutoff switch. When the boy's mother turned the ATV off by the remote, the vehicle stopped but the front wheels turned, causing it to overturn on the boy, sheriff's deputies said. He was wearing a helmet.

The boy, the child of a couple who live near La Plata, was taken by ambulance to Civista Medical Center in La Plata, then taken by a helicopter to Children's Hospital in Washington, where he was pronounced dead at 4:21 p.m. Saturday. His parents were not charged with a crime, the sheriff's office said.

A family member declined to speak to a reporter yesterday. Three neighbors described them as a nice couple; one said they were responsible parents who were devastated by the accident.

In 2005, there were 57 ATV-related deaths of children younger than 12 years old, according to figures released Dec. 6 by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. It did not report how many were on child-size vehicles.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/08/AR2007010800705.html

[Wcross]

1. How much you want to bet they will sue?

If it says 6 years old, why would you allow your 2 year old to ride one?????????

I almost killed some people riding down my road a couple of weeks ago. They were coming around a 90 degree turn on the road cutting the inside of the turn. I had to slam on my brakes and the idiot barely missed my front bumper. He then had the nerve to flip me off as he rode away. It was a large one and he had his wife, a young child and an infant on it.
Those things get on my nerves. People move out "to the country" and figure they "need" an ATV. Then they figure out that an acre lot isn't all that fun to tear around on so they ride them on the roads. It is illegal to ride them on the road in Tennessee.
Worse yet, if someone leaves their gate open it is an invitation to tear up the hay field.

[montanto]

22. re: sig line.

"cry havoc and let slip the pussycats of war." --- Shakespeare

[HughBeaumont]

2. What the shit is a 2-year old riding an ATV for?

I mean, far be it from me to keep capable kids from venturing out on dangerous vehicles, but come ON.

[MissMillie]

5. I think when I was that young

my favorite toy was some big box that some appliance came in. My folks cut a door out of the side, and maybe a window or two, and we crawled in and out of it... played house, used our imagination.

We'd also do things like build forts out of blankets and dining room chairs.

and draw pictures with crayons

and play kickball in the back yard.



Is it so awful to think that play should involve something more than a computer chip or a motor, like maybe imagination and/or social interaction?

[HughBeaumont]

16. That's simply too much work.

We're all too busy for this "parenting" and "child development" nonsense. This X-Box or this dangerous motor vehicle will do just fine as a teaching tool.

:sarcasm:

[Roon]

23. This reminds me of a three-year-old boy who drowned

while being pulled in a tube behind a motorboat. His lifejacket was too big and the kids who were assigned to spot him took their eyes off of him. They never found his body and the father was charged.

[Hugin]

3. 2 years old?!?!

He wasn't heavy enough to keep it on the ground.

When it SAYS '6 to 12' they MEAN '6 to 12'.

Also, a 2 year old's hands haven't developed the grip necessary to
control anything.

[Sequoia]

13. I know of two siblings, both under 12, who got ATVs for Christmas.

I could not believe or understand why the parents would buy them those dangerous vehicles. The children are about 9 and 6 years old.

[hickman]

4. Law suit. They have to.

Relieve themselves of the guilt of being stupid. Blame it on the ATV manufacturer.

[montanto]

25. They lose the suit and the kid.

That's why the mfr of the atv puts 6-12 on it. no doubt there is a sticker on it that says just that, you know, like the air bag thing in your car, or "objects in mirror closer than you think." McDonalds: "This coffee is REAL, REAL HOT, so don't pour it in yer crotch when you drive, stupid."

[rbnyc]

6. fucking horrible

:cry:

Our son is very big for his age, and also very coordinated, so we sometimes give him toys that are recommended for children older than him--by 1 or 2 years! I cannot freaking imagine putting my 2-year-old in an ATV designed for kids older than 6, if I can imagine putting him in one at all. However, I do feel very sorry for the parents. If I were that mom, I would kill myself.

[npincus]

7. how true.

If anything I did ever caused... (I can't even type it)... I would kill myself.

[MadHound]

8. Evolution in Action. Now, if this kid's dumbass parents won't procreate some more

We'll have a slightly cleaner gene pool:eyes:

What were the idiotic parents thinking? You don't put a two year old in charge of a motorized vehicle.

What's sad is that there are hundreds of thousands more ATV idiots across the country just like this. Sadly, my neighbor is one, letting his six-eight year old ride an adult sized machine sans helmet, with his three year old brother, also sans helmet, along for the ride.

These machines are goddawful, and I pray that with gas prices going up that they go the way of the dinosaur. They tear up the road, the countryside, stream beds, and any place else they're driven. And most people get all yee haw once they get on one, and drive them like they're the goddamn Dukes of Hazzard.

[Maine-ah]

10. our neighbor did the same thing.

all summer I have to deal w/ atv's right on the property line, and in the winter it's snowmobiles which they'll drive right through our yard!:mad:

[MadHound]

11. Damn, if your name didn't give it away, I'd swear we were both living next to the same idiots

Yeah, they put their ATV track(now a mudhole) right on the edge of our property also. I planted a row of thorny blackberry bushes right down that line in order to present them a better challenge when they slide around the curves, and am thinking of putting in a couple of beehives, or wasp nests to further discourage them.

Luckily we don't have to deal with snowmobiles out here in Missouri, otherwise I'd be hearing that too. These people just seem to have a fondness for loud noises. I've heard them go out literally in the middle of the night, get in a car and sit there and rev it for twenty-thirty minutes just to hear the engine scream:eyes:

As far as snowmobilers going across your yard, I would either sue the shit out them, put up thorny bushes, or better yet an electric fence. I've made it clear to my neighbors where the property line is, and to respect it, I suggest that you do the same otherwise they'll just continue to do more and more of this crap to your property. You might look into spreading a few dozen caltrops if they start riding their ATVs on your land, that will stop them quick.

[Wcross]

20. Time for some "decorative" rocks in the yard!

My Aunt had the same problem with snowmobiles, it seems that her idiot neighbors thought snow changed property lines. She asked them nicely, she had the police ask them nicely. She ended up putting in some large decorative rock gardens in where they cut through the property. They stopped cutting through after a while.

[Left Is Write]

15. I used to work for a company that insured ATVs...

among other high-risk vehicles.

We absolutely, positively would NOT write any policy that included drivers under the age of 18. Period. I don't know if "child sized" ATVs were being produced at that time; I'd never heard of any. Three-wheelers had already been outlawed most places by then, so we also would not write any policies for three-wheelers.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

17. I didn't even know that there was insurance for ATVs.

Granted, I still don't have a helmet for when I go riding and they're illegal to ride pretty much everywhere in NJ.

I'm an outlaw.

[Left Is Write]

18. Some homeowners policies will cover damage to the ATV itself...

in the case of an accident, some homeowners policies require a rider for such coverage, and some won't cover it all. I doubt any homeowners policies cover liability for damage to another person or her property.

The agency I worked for did several specialty and high risk lines: snowmobiles, ATVs, personal watercraft, motorcycles, day care centers, bars, and tanning salons.

[Hugin]

19. Skydiving?

Nude skydiving?

Uh, a friend wants to know. ;)

[Left Is Write]

21. No, sorry, we didn't cover skydiving.

:)

[JVS]

30. Have you joined the local chapter of the ATV gang

Long live the "Pissed off Bastards"!

[Zavulon]

9. Why weren't the parents charged?

If the thing is designed for 6-12 and they let their two-year old ride on it, that sounds like child endangerment, parental neglect, criminal stupidity, etc.

[Arugula Latte]

12. Even letting a six to 12 year old ride an ATV is very bad judgment, IMO.

These parents -- what the hell were they thinking?

The baby pays the price for their stupidity.

[Beausoir]

14. I can go one better...5 year old on a riding lawnmower runs over his baby brother.

Chops his legs and back to pieces.

Happened in my hometown. I was so furious. I wanted Family Services to get involved.

[montanto]

27. Jeez, what is wrong with these people?

:grr:

[Fleshdancer]

24. every time bad parenting leads to a child's death....

the article ALWAYS has a quote from some idiot neighbor and/or friend that claims the parents were "responsible" people.

:wtf:

[Courtesy Flush]

29. "Responsible" for their child's death!

[leeroysphitz]

26. I have a two year old.

I can't imagine allowing him to ride an atv. I can't believe I can in anyway relate to people who would allow such a thing.

How could the parents have been so foolish? How could this have ever, EVER seemed like a good idea to them?

This is a sad sad story.

[MountainLaurel]

31. I thought of my 2yo niece

Who got a bicycle for Christmas that will be too big for her for a while. How the hell did a 2yo "ride" an ATV that was built for much larger kids and still stay on?

[Blue Diadem]

28. Poor baby, so innocent and trusting and his parents let him down.

I too wonder why the parents are not charged in cases like this. They had to know that the ATV wasn't meant for children of that age. It's not a mistake, they intentionally bought it, put a 2 yr old on it and thought somehow a remote could control every aspect of it.

Poor child.

[LibertyLover]

32. This makes me so sad

I live in Maryland and had heard about this on the local news. I've got a 4 year old and would no more think of letting her ride an ATV than I would let her walk out in front of traffic. She has one of those battery operated kids' jeeps made for 3 years old and up and we only let her ride if both her dad and I are there to watch her, just in case something happens.

I don't know what it is about ATVs but put some people on them and I swear it automatically lowers their IQs by a good 20 points. I was driving home from work a few months ago (luckily it was still light out) and was on a four lane stretch of road where the speed limit is 50 MPH, which if the cars driving it are doing 50 it's because there is a cop sitting on the side of the road. There are two full blown exits on it (ramps and merge areas, etc) and one road that is a dead end and more like a common driveway for a couple of houses. Then across the road from the driveway and down a hundred feet or so, there is another road that is also the driveway for the house were the ATVers live and one or two other homes. I was approaching the dead end road when out of it and across 2 lanes of traffic, the median (which at that point is a ditch) and across the other 2 lanes of traffic zip 3 ATVs with young kids on them, none of them wearing helmets. Luckily traffic was light and it came to a stop. The 3 kids proceed to drive on the far right lane of the road, going in the wrong direction for about 100 ft before zipping into the driveway for the house. I was shocked, but not quite as shocked as the next day when a grown man and woman did the exact same thing right in front of me. This time I honked, as did the car in the lane next to me, and the woman turned around and flipped us the bird. She was so caught up in doing so that she almost missed the car on the opposite direction's lane that didn't bother to stop for her ATV. She had to do some maneuvering on the shoulder to avoid being road kill. Neither she or the man were wearing a helmet.

[Momgonepostal]

33. I just don't get he appeal of ATVs for young kids

There's a big fight going on on another place where I post, and people are acting like I'm a paranoid, uninformed mom for thinking that children and ATVs don't mix.