There are renewed calls for the NDP government to legislate ATV safety in Alberta, specifically when it comes to child drivers.
Right now, 14-year-olds are not allowed to operate off-highway vehicles on public land without adult supervision. Helmets are not mandatory for any riders.
In a span of four months over this year, two kids were killed in ATV crashes in Alberta. In a six-month span last year, three children died from ATV-related injuries.
READ MORE: Teen boy killed in ATV rollover while riding with his father in McLean Creek
Last year, Alberta logged 768 ATV injuries serious enough to require recovery in hospital. The only other type of injury topping that was falling on ice.
According to the Injury Prevention Centre, 185 Albertans died riding quads between 2002 and 2013. That’s an average of 16 quad-related deaths each year. The leading cause of death for ATV riders and passengers was head injuries, according to the Injury Prevention Centre.
Watch below: Public health expert weighs in on the dangers of ATVs
Dr. Kathy Belton with the University of Alberta’s Injury Prevention Centre agrees there should be mandatory helmet legislation, but she also believes riders need to use common sense.
“Take an ATV riding course, no alcohol or drugs while you’re riding these. I know that we have an alarming rate,” Belton said.
“If we look at those who have been tested for alcohol, 42 per cent of the people who died were legally intoxicated.”
Belton also believes the minimum age for ATV operation should go up.
“In Alberta where you can drive a motor vehicle at 14, I think we need to be a little bit more reasonable in terms of age restrictions,” Belton said.
READ MORE: Alberta ATV community more cautious after two people killed riding
Fifteen years ago this Thursday, Denise Pelletier was involved in a serious ATV accident in B.C. She was not wearing a helmet and was airlifted to hospital with a severe brain injury. She said “a nightmare began right from there.”
“I was given less than a five per cent chance of living an independent life, should I even survive,” she said.
“I had to go through extensive rehabilitation and part of that included learning how to walk, talk and read again.”
READ MORE: Should Alberta restrict kids under 16 from riding ATVs?
Pelletier said the rehabilitation was very challenging. Now, each year on Aug. 11 she celebrates her “alive day.”
“When you go through something as traumatic as I went through it really changes your perspective and your outlook on life,” she said. “Every day that I can wake up and get out of bed I’m grateful to be alive and I’m grateful to have made it as far as I have in my rehabilitation.”
The province said it is reviewing the laws and Alberta could see changes this fall.
With files from Kendra Slugoski, Global News.
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