Zachary Bowman

My son, Zachary, was 13 years old when on March 15, 2007, he had an accident on his four-wheeler and was killed. He and a friend were riding and the friend blocked Zach to keep him from passing and my son had no chance - only a second to make a decision according to the traffic investigators. He hit alog which threw him into a tree. By the Grace of God, we don't believe Zach suffered. He died almost immediately from blunt force trauma.

Zach had his four-wheeler for almost five years. He was an excellent rider and could do so many things on it. He and his friends would always ride their four-wheelers, go mudding, play hide and seek, you name it. He was so proud of his four-wheeler and loved it so very much.

Never, ever, did we ever think for a second that Zach would die while riding. I was more concerned about him riding in the car with his friend who had just turned 16. I always told Zach he was going to get killed because of how the friend drove. I never thought it would be this way.

Zach was such a good kid. He was in the 8th grade and was in Advanced Band where he played the trombone and in Jazz Band he played the drums. He was so musically talented. He also had three guitars and a keyboard that he loved to play too.

He was on the honor roll at school and would have made any parent proud. He could park his dad's pick up in our basement (we had to back it in) much better than me. When I drove it, I always let Zach back it in for me. He also liked to practice driving his dad's 18-wheeler. He could move it around in our back yard. The Sunday before Zach died, his Dad let him drive his 1500 motorcycle for just a minute. Zach handled it as if he was an adult. Hewas 5'8 and so mature beyond his years. He would take his four-wheeler apart and fix it.

Zach was looking forward to going to high school and marching in the band. I was also looking forward to this as I was in the band when I was in high school.

Zach's jazz band played for him at his funeral. They were such brave kids. I am so grateful to each and every one of them. The high school band honored Zach in what would have been his freshman year by wearing orange ribbons (University of TN) in his memory and made a dedication to our family at their last football game. Zach never even made it to this school.

It hurts so much to see these atv's around. After Zach's accident, his friends all stopped riding. I honestly don't think I could bear to hear them.

They are truly such dangerous machines and until this happened, we never realized it. When I see parents letting their children ride, most without helmets and sometimes doubling them on the atv's, even babies, it makes me angry. Zach always, always wore his helmet and practiced safe driving. Of course, him being a teenager, he would do stunts, but was always careful.

The comfort I get is knowing that Zach is safe in God's loving arms and I will see him again. There are still days almost two years later that I cannot function. What I would give to hear his voice again, see his smiling face and just to even smell him. I think we take life for granted until something like this happens and then we realize how very fragile it can be.

I applaud the Concerned Families for ATV Safety. I am so glad that someone is standing up for our families, our kids.

I also, truly know how the parents feel on this site and am so sorry each one of you have had to go through this. Hopefully, someday, laws will change and our children will be much safer.

My daughter has created a site on Virtual Memorials to honor Zach. Please feel free to visit and see what an extraordinary kid he was.

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