FACTS ABOUT ATVs VS. BIKES

Thinking about ‘upgrading’ from a bicycle to an ATV for your child? ATVs are not toys.

The following compares the injuries of 109 child ATV accidents and 994 child bicycle accidents at a level 1 pediatric trauma center between 1991 and 2000 in Cincinnati, Ohio.*

“Our findings clearly show that ATVs are significantly more dangerous than bicycles for children.”

Ages of Patients	2-18	1-17
Male-to-female ratio	3.5 – 1	2.8 – 1
Percentage Wearing Helmets	23%	8%
Percentage With Severe Injuries	12%	6%
Percentage With Severe Head Injury	6%	3.5%
Percentage With Multiple injuries	67%	44%
Percentage Requiring an Operation	37%	27%
Percentage With Length of Stay > 7 days	14%	11%
Percentage Resulting in Death	0.9%	0.7%

Key Findings

“Children riding ATVs sustain more serious injuries and are twice as likely to sustain severe injuries.”

ATV accidents were almost twice as likely to result in severe head injuries as bicycle accidents.

A greater percentage of ATV accidents resulted in multiple injuries than bicycle accidents.

A greater percentage of ATV accidents required an operation than bicycle accidents.

A greater percentage of ATV accidents required a hospital stay of more than 7 days than with bicycle accidents.

*Brown RL, Koepplinger ME, Mehlman CT, Gittelman M, Garcia VF: All-terrain vehicle and bicycle crashes in children: Epidemiology and comparison of injury severity. Journal of Pediatric Surgery, Volume 37, Issue 3, March 2002, Pages 375-380