Another teen dies in ATV crash

[almaty 19]

For the second time in two days, a teen-age boy from the area has been killed while riding an all-terrain vehicle.

Zachary T. Barker, 15, of Potosi, died Wednesday in Washington County when a car struck the ATV he was riding on, throwing him about 60 feet, authorities say.

Zachary was a passenger on the all-terrain vehicle driven by David M. Forister, 14, of Potosi, according to the Missouri Highway Patrol. David was seriously injured.

About 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, David drove out of a ditch and onto Highway 8 at Dunberry Road, right into the path of a Pontiac Sunfire driven by Robert Kratky, 36. The Pontiac hit the side of the ATV. Both Zachary and David were thrown off.

Zachary died at the scene. David was taken by helicopter to St. Louis Children's Hospital in St. Louis. He was in satisfactory condition this morning.

The driver of the car was uninjured, the patrol says.

Zachary is the second teen this week to be fatally injured in an ATV crash. Early Tuesday, searchers found the body of Daniel R. Dorsey, 15, of St. Charles, in a flood-swollen creek in Gasconade County. Daniel had been driving an all-terrain vehicle the day before on a family farm and apparently wrecked it in Sugar Creek, off of Stolpe Road. Daniel was a freshman at DeSmet High School.

On Monday, a 14-year-old girl from Wildwood, Madeline Moreton, was seriously hurt when the all-terrain vehicle she was driving hit a tree. She was flown by Arch helicopter to St. Louis Children's Hospital. She was released this morning. She'd been driving it on private property in Washington County and missed a curve, smashing into the tree.

In Wednesday's fatal crash, neither Zachary nor David was wearing a helmet, said Brian DeClue, the coroner for Washington County.

DeClue said the boys were on a four-wheeler ATV, on the south side of Highway 8. When they came out of a ditch, the ATV was doing a "wheelie" and crossed the eastbound lane of Highway 8.

"When it got into the westbound lane, it came down on all four wheels and came to a complete stop" -- right into the path of the oncoming car, DeClue said. "The driver said they came to a dead stop."

The car hit the ATV, throwing the boys some 60 feet. They landed on the pavement.

DeClue has been coroner eight years and says this is the second time he's handled an ATV fatality. He said riding all-terrain vehicles is quite popular in his county.

"We're talking country, that's what kids do in the country," DeClue said. "They should have stayed in the ditch."

In Missouri, ATVs may not be legally driven on the road, with very limited exceptions, said Capt. Tim Hull of the Missouri Highway Patrol.

Wednesday was the last day of school at John A. Evans Middle School in Potosi, where Zachary was an eighth grader.

Zachary is the son of Glenn Barker and Lauri Barker and has two siblings. DeClue said Glenn Barker is in the military and was injured in Iraq by a roadside bomb. The father is undergoing rehabilitation at Fort Knox, Ky., DeClue said.

The two teens' deaths this week aren't the only area deaths this year involving ATVs. Early on the morning of April 26, 19-year-old Joanna L. Bendler of Lonedell was killed when the four-wheel all-terrain vehicle she was driving struck a tree on Project Road south of Lonedell in Franklin County.

Hull of the Highway Patrol said he didn't know year-to-date figures for ATV fatalities, but he gave these Missouri's tally for the past few years: 14 dead in 2006, 17 in 2005 and 13 in 2004. The total for 2007 won't be released until June.

A PUSH FOR SAFETY

Statistics compiled by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission show that 8,104 people died in ATV crashes between 1982 and 2006. About a third of those who died were under the age of 16.

In Missouri, 239 people died in that 24-year period, the commission says. In Illinois, the number who died was 164.

Twenty-nine people died that first year (1982) that statistics were kept nationally, and the annual death toll topped the 200 mark three years later. By 1999, it had surpassed 300 deaths, and hasn't dropped below 400 deaths annually since. The year with the most ATV deaths was 2004 when 745 people died.

The Product Safety Commission defines an ATV as any off-road motor vehicle with three or four tires, a straddle seat and handlebars.

Data collected by the commission in the 1980s led to consent decrees in April 1988 with five ATV distributors. They agreed to stop producing three-wheel ATVs, offer rider training to people who buy them and recommend that only people over the age of 16 use the adult-sized ATVs. Those consent decrees expired in 1998, but seven distributors agreed to continue those efforts voluntarily.

Many of the kids who get seriously hurt in the region end up at St. Louis Children's Hospital. Injuries in such crashes rank above cuts as one of the top 10 reasons kids are admitted to the hospital. So far this year, 14 kids who got hurt riding an ATV have been treated at St. Louis Children's Hospital. The year before, the hospital treated 55 kids hurt on ATVs. In 2006, 45 were treated.

The hospital has started a coalition to spread the word about ATV safety. Survive the Ride is a coalition of hospital and helicopter workers who treat many of the injured. Starting in mid-June, the group will be going primarily to rural gatherings, such as county fairs and air shows, to urge riders to wear helmets and take other safety measures.

Children's Hospital is the lead agency in that effort. Other partners are Arch Medical Transport, Air Evac, Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Kohl's Cares for Kids.

April Blastenbrei, a supervisor in the child health advocacy and outreach department at St. Louis Children's Hospital, said the air-transport teams urged some type of action because they'd been seeing too many ATV-related brain injuries in rural Missouri and Illinois.

Next fall, the coalition hopes to take its school-based curriculum into "geographic hotspots," the rural counties that are seeing the crashes, Blastenbrei said. The goal is to talk to 1,000 kids this year. The target audience: 10 to 16 year olds.

"It's unrealistic to tell kids not to ride them," Blastenbrei said. "But if they're going to ride them, we want them to ride safely. Our two biggest pushes are to wear a helmet and not to have more than one kid on the ATV. A lot of these kids are falling off being the passenger. The ATVs are built for one person."

question? would you allow your youngster to own and drive one? and if so, at what age?

[Bootylicious!! 2]

We have one and I hate when Javi rides it. They tip over so easily. Honestly, I'd rather my child have a motorcycle.

[pedroh 21]

dad bought an atv for me and my brother when we were 13 and 12.. we had helmets and everything, my brother fell off once,and never wanted to ride again.. on the other hand, i looved it, and really never had a major accident with it.. only small injuries.. of course always rode it far away from cars and roads.. only in the offroad areas..

[Dr. Obvious 49]

question? would you allow your youngster to own and drive one? and if so, at what age?

Own one? No. Drive one of her friend's? Probably 17 or 18. Not younger.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

I had one from 12 years old on. Never a problem. I got my first gun at 8 or 9. I was a responsible kid.

[Sister Fracas 5]

Well, if I had a kid I'd probably have to be the one to purchase something like this since they couldn't purchase it on their own....so....no! I woudn't let a kid ride on one of these. They aren't like a bicycle. Maybe they should require a license... *shrug*

[tom&tata 2]

We don't own one but his brother in law has 2. They rode together, took offroads tracks & hubby did some stupid stunts, killed a deer and flipped over. Broke his ribs - since then he never rode on one.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

If I had a kid, sure. He'd probably be like me, spend more time looking the damn thing up on the Eenternet and talking about it on message boards than actually riding it. So he'd be safe.

Edited May 29, 2008 by VJ Troll

[almaty 19]

If I had a kid, sure. He'd probably be like me, spend more time looking the damn thing up on the Eenternet and talking about it on message boards than actually riding it. So he'd be safe.

lol..he be busy looking up biker babes with numerous tattoo..like his old man

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

oh yeah

[Bootylicious!! 2]

I ride the one we have. It's no biggie. I just don't act a fool on it. I don't wear a helmet or anything because I don't do anything to endanger myself. I love riding it.

[eau_xplain 2]

Own one...no and we don't have plans to let him have one. I have let him drive one though when we went to visit my cousin in GA. They had a big farm, no public roads to cross or worry about and my cousin's in-laws' kids were there riding with him (one ATV each).

[Alex+R 0]

No way. My dad's a neurologist and he was always coming home sad about some kid who rode an ATV and then became a patient of his. You should always wear a helmet, regardless of how safe you're being. Can't predict the unpredictable stuff that can come up, of course.

Would never ride a motorcycle either, same reason. But they're not as bad as ATVs.

Up in Minnesota, ATVs are also concerned trashy, although that's not true all over the country.

[Ban Hammer 13,344]

i'm just waiting for one of the kids who roar up and down our street to run into a car.

[Cassie 8]

As I was thrown off a dirt bike and hurt pretty good when I was 15, I'm pretty nervous about stuff like that. That, and the horror stories my mom would come home with after x-raying ATV accident patients. There's a high probability I would not own an ATV, and if I did, no one under driving age would be using it.