EVANSVILLE, IN (WFIE) -
St. Mary's Medical Center is seeing an unsettling spike in the number of young teens coming into the emergency room with ATV related injuries.
One St. Mary's official says part of the reason is because they aren't properly educated on using the machines, and she's hoping to change that.
"What's alarming is there's been a 50 percent increase in the number of youths under the age of 16 that are being brought to the center as a result of ATV crashes,"said Mary Raley, Injury Prevention Coordinator, St. Mary's.
The most common cases emergency rooms are seeing are head trauma patients, followed by fractures.
"It's not only drivers we're seeing, but it's the passengers that are riding on the ATV's who seem to be the victims of more serious injuries," said Raley.
Raley says almost all those accidents involve teens or children who are not using the equipment safely.
John Boyer, owner of Tri-State Motorcycle says most ATV's have age limits.
He says other than smaller ATVs-- none should be driven by anyone younger that 16.
He makes that clear to his customers.
"ATV comes with the information, the training that we go over with before they leave, it's pretty in depth," said Boyer.
While it's unclear what is behind the spike in young patients with ATV related injuries, Mary Raley says she wants to see in stop.
She's trying to introduce a new safety program in rural communities.
"If you have children with ATVs, we need to get this information out to you. 4-H groups would be a great place to start," said Raley.
For more information, you can contact Raley at 812-485-6827.
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