Manitoba RCMP say a 14-year-old girl is lucky to be alive after the all-terrain vehicle she was driving flipped Wednesday at Manto Sipi Cree Nation, killing a 21-year-old passenger.
Cpl. Julie Courchene told 680 CJOB the crash was the first off-road vehicle death of 2024. Five such deaths occurred in the province in each of the last two years.
Neither person in the vehicle was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash — something Mounties say isn’t just a potentially life-saving choice, but it’s also the law.
“Under the Highway Traffic Act, you do need to wear a helmet. We know helmets save lives. It’s very important, if you’re out on an ATV, an ORV, make sure you’re wearing a helmet.”
Courchene said common factors in fatal off-road crashes, in addition to not wearing a helmet, include speed and impaired driving.
“Just falling off — if you hit your head and you’re not wearing a helmet, that could be fatal,” she said.
“Helmets (are) very, very important. Know your machine, know your surroundings and where you’re travelling. Drive to your own ability, be alert and of course drive sober, always.”
Marilyn Courchene of Sagkeeng First Nation has been a tireless advocate for the use of helmets on off-road vehicles since the death of her daughter in an ATV crash in 2021.
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The impact of that tragedy, she said, has inspired many community members to make sure they’re protected when heading out on an ATV.
“I could honestly say in my own community here of Sagkeeng, in these last three years (since) Katie’s accident, a lot didn’t wear helmets,” Courchene told 680 CJOB’s Connecting Winnipeg.
“We had them driving on the highways and different areas of the community without helmets. On that tragic day with the loss of my daughter, she decided not to wear a helmet because she felt that just going a little way down the highway … it wasn’t going to matter, but yes it did. On her return, that’s when she had the accident.”
Courchene said it was so common to see members of the community riding without helmets at the time that she didn’t even worry about the safety aspect until it hit close to home.
Since then, she’s advocated for the importance of helmets, including bringing in a safety expert from Lockport for a number of sessions with Sagkeeng’s young people.
“Our young people that came to watch and listen and learn, they then received a brand-new helmet — we may have given out 80 helmets in that one session. In those two years, the majority of our community is actively wearing helmets.
“That’s what I’d like to see in other First Nation communities — and in communities overall.”