Hi Guys,

Just a reminder to all to be careful and wear your helmets when riding your ATV's. I went with my two grown nephews this weekend to a local ATV park. After about two hours, we were heading back to the truck for some lunch and BAM, my Polaris 500 flipped over forwards and pinned me down.

We were on a downhill grade doing less than 5 m.p.h. I braked towards the bottom of the hill and the left front grabbed an exposed tree root. Over I went!! I remember laying there for that split second, praying the ATV would not land on me. It did. After my nephews removed the machine from me we started to take stock of injuries to me and the machine.

My left wrist was clearly broken (BAD) as it was pointing the wrong way. The visor and trim on my helmet were pulled off, but overall it did its job. My right knee was swollen, and I have the mother of all charlie horses on my right thigh! Luckily there was a stump that took most of the ATV's weight, breaking the right running board and bending the frame support.

On Tuesday I had five pins put in my wrist and will be sporting a full arm cast for six to eight weeks. I consider myself an experienced rider with well over one thousand hours on ATV's. Never thought such a severe crash could happen at such a low speed. Thank God I was wearing my helmet!!

Just remember guys, BE CAREFUL!!!

Cheers,

BOWHUNR

I agree. It's a good lesson to all of us. It's easy to not wear a helmet because it's hot, or because it's an easy trail but you never know what is going to happen. I hope the healing comes quickly. A guy died up here I think a year or two ago because when his wheeler rolled on top of him he couldn't get it off. Not a bad idea to ride with someone also.

It always amazes me how fast those things can happen even at those slow speeds. This past weekend I had a small stump that I didnot see rip the handle bars right out of my hands. Nothins bad came out of it, just a reminder of how fast thing can go bad.

Lots of ATV riders get killed each year in Alaska. Just a couple of days ago a 17-year old and son of a coworker died on an ATV accident. I don't know what kind of ATV he was riding, but it seems that he hit one side of the ditch on a dirt road, and flipped over. A friend of his found him dead on the road; the helmet he was wearing was nearby on the ground. No external injuries were seen when he was found, but the autopsy will tell the story. It broke my heart when I hear the news, even if I didn't know the kid. His dad is such a great guy, and I just can imagine the pain he is going through.