A woman I know was riding one with her 2 y/o grandson. She was turning on the 4-wheeler when it kicked into high gear and wouldn't slow down. They were heading right for a tree. Basically she had to jump off while holding onto her 2 y/o grandson. The 4-wheeler then ran into a tree and did some major damage. Thankfully, no one was hurt and she did the right thing by jumping, but still. They found out that whoever had put the 4-wheeler together before they bought it had done something wrong and when she turned it caused a wire to do something weird and it made it go fast and wouldn't brake. I can't remember exactly what they said happened, but if she hadn't jumped, she would have run right into a tree at full speed with her 2 y/o grandson.
Also, there was a young kid....about 5 or 6....who was killed about a month ago on an ATV. His older brother was driving and something happened and the kid hit his head and was killed. Had he had a helmet on, he probably would have lived.
When my stepson has a friend over, we always ask the parent's permission before we allow them to ride our 4-wheelers and we always make sure they have on a helmet. Asking permission is just common courtesy. |
Short story about ATVs - Chele
