KEY TAKEAWAYS: Louisiana is launching a Youth ATV/UTV Safety Task Force on June 10 to reduce fatalities and serious injuries through education. ATV and UTV crashes send about 500 people to Louisiana hospitals each year, including roughly 100 ICU admissions and 9-14 deaths annually. Children ag es 10 to 14 account for the largest share of ATV/UTV injuries, according to trauma center data from 2022-2024. Safety officials urge riders to use properly sized vehicles, wear protective equipment and avoid excessive speeds to reduce rollover-related injuries and deaths.   A task force is forming to combat the nearly dozens of ATV/UTV related deaths yearly in Louisiana. “Our whole purpose is to lower fatalities and serious bodily injuries,” Destination to Zero Deaths New Orleans Regional Safety Coalition Coordinator Jay Cripple said. He said the data showed a grim trend, “It’s an emerging problem.” Cripple’s data comes from the Louisiana Emergency Response Network and covers 2022 to 2024. It is collected from 13 trauma centers. According to his data, ATV and UTV wrecks cause 500 hospital trips yearly in Louisiana. 100 of those are ICU visits, of which between nine and 14 die. However the “Sportsman’s Paradise” has embraced the usage of All Terrain Vehicles and Utility Task Vehicles, with laws being passed this year to aid towns in governing them. ATVs and UTVs are offroad vehicles such as 4-wheelers, 3-wheelers and large golf cart type vehicles designed to carry passengers and cargo. Some can reach up to speeds of 60 and 70 mph. While they can include safety equipment such as seat belts, Cripple said, there are still significant injuries and deaths associated with these vehicles. “Here’s the thing, the speed really doesn’t make that much of a difference. If you are going 20 mph and you roll over on a four-wheeler or if you are going 50 mph and you roll over on a four-wheeler, there might not be the much of a difference in the injuries, especially in a juvenile or a youth,” Cripple said, citing death and paralysis from a neck injury. “You can still be seriously injured at low speeds, all it needs to be is a roll over.” Cripple said education is the key to protecting the public, and on June 10, the Louisiana Youth ATV/UTV Safety Task Force will be launched. It will take place at 8:30 a.m. at 2000 Quail Dr., Baton Rouge. The program will begin at 9:15 a.m. The Task Force’s goal is to raise awareness of the potential risks associated with the vehicles, and to educate the public on the best safety practices to avoid injuries while operating them. According to Cripple, gathering the data on ATV/UTV injuries and deaths is difficult. If the incident happens on public roadways, it’s documented by law enforcement. However, these are often operated on private property. When the injury occurs on private property, EMTs and hospitals must be contacted for the data. He provided figures that showed that the bulk of injuries tends to be children and teens between the ages 10 and 14. In 2022 there were nine deaths associated with ATV/UTVs, in 2023 there were 14, and in 2024 there were again nine. A Lafourche Parish Family was forever scarred by the tragic injuries that can come from these vehicles. Fifteen-year-old Reese Rios, of Cut Off, lost her life when a UTV flipped in Grand Isle in 2022. Another 15-year-old also was injured in the incident. The driver of the UTV, Rios’s godfather Shawn Esponge, pled guilty to reckless operation of a motor vehicle. “The loss still feels like it happened today,” Reese’s mother Lesly Rios said. “Life is too precious and people think these things could never happen to them until it does.” Terrebonne Parish drafted an ordinance to govern the usage of golf carts at the Bayou Country Sports Park after people were operating them at high speeds in the park. The park’s Director Dean Schouest said four to six golf carts visited the park each day, and they were tearing up the fields. Then-Parish President Gordy Dove was concerned people could be injured. The ordinance passed and is on the books, but is not being enforced. The ordinance was based on an already existing ordinance in Grand Isle. In Lafourche, the Town of Golden Meadow can now draft its own ordinance to govern the operation of these vehicles along its roadways. This year a bill was signed into law that will allow Golden Meadow to allow UTV/ATV operation on the shoulder of the roads. The bill, authored by Louisiana State Rep. Joe Orgeron can be read here. Cripple shared some basic tips on how to stay safe on these off-road vehicles, but said these basic tips were no substitute to coming out and receiving hands-on education. Ensure the vehicle is the right size for the driver: All too often, he said, parents buy a vehicle like a 4-wheeler so that the child can grow into it. He advised families to buy the vehicle to fit the driver. Wear proper PPE: Ensure riders are using the seatbelts and other protective equipment. This is also why ensuring the vehicle is the right size for the driver is important, he added. Speed: Cripple said he has seen cases where people are paralyzed or killed when a ATV/UTV flips even at very slow speeds, but he said there’s no doubt that increasing speed increases the dangers. This article originally appeared on The Courier: Louisiana for ATV/UTV safety task force after dozens of deaths Reporting by Colin Campo, Houma Courier-Thibodaux Daily Comet / The Courier USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect ...read more read less