ATV’s and UTV’s have exploded in popularity in Wisconsin, and that has contributed to a growing number of crashes.
Lieutenant Jake Holsclaw, Off Road Vehicle Administrator for the DNR, recently updated the Natural Resources Board on trends being seen.
Speed, alcohol and reckless operation are common factors in crashes.
Holsclaw says 85 percent of the people killed in crashes were not wearing a helmet.
“In most situations a helmet saves lives. We’ve run that safety messaging for years that helmets and seatbelts save lives. 21 out of the 40 fatalities that occurred last year, so over 50 percent, involved alcohol. You throw alcohol or drugs onboard when you’re operating one of these, it’s just like a motor vehicle, it’s going to increase the incident crashes,” said Holsclaw.
69 percent of crashes happened on public highways and road routes, but some of those involved illegal operation of the machines.
There are 324-thousand ATV’s and 188-thousand UTV’s registered in the state.