All-terrain vehicles. Dangerous at any speed

A study of fatalities arising from the operation of all-terrain recreational-type vehicles was performed on the case files of the Office of the Medical Examiner of Metropolitan Dade County in Miami, Florida for the 5-year period, 1981-1985. A total of 11 cases were collected and are presented. A discussion examines the risk factors responsible for the fatalities--namely, youthful impetuosity, carelessness, and ethanol use. It is recommended that people in all locales realize the problems associated with such vehicle usage. It is hoped that activists in all countries prevail upon their legislative representatives to enact laws to curtail use of this type of vehicle, and hence save lives.