The Mountain Eagle
WHITESBURG WEATHER

4 children injured in 2 ATV accidents


Four children were injured in two all-terrain vehicle crashes over the weekend, at least two of them seriously.

Two pre-teen girls were seriously hurt just before midnight Friday night when their ATV overturned where High Hill Drive near Dry Fork crosses a small creek. Two young boys were hurt at Campbranch Sunday afternoon, at least one seriously, when their four-wheeler was hit by a car on Glass Drive.

Authorities said both girls Saturday morning were transferred to Johnson City Medical Center with multiple injuries.

In that incident, one 12- year- old girl was trapped under the ATV in the creek, partly inside a large culvert. Rescue workers from Sandlick Fire Department and Letcher Fire and Rescue had to winch the vehicle off of her. The other girl was thrown away from the vehicle, but also received serious injuries. The accident occurred on private property, and Kentucky State Police did not prepare an accident report.

In the other incident, two boys were riding a fourwheeler down Glass Drive at Campbranch when it was struck by a car. At least one 12-year-old boy was taken to Whitesburg ARH Hospital following the collision. The incident occurred about 3:30 p.m. Kentucky State Police investigated the accident, but details were still unavailable on Tuesday.

In both accidents, emergency personnel attempted to fly patients to a trauma center but bad weather had grounded helicopters in the area.

According to the federal Consumer Products Safety Commission, 300 people died in ATV crashes in 2018 in the United States, with 152 of those being age 19 or younger. About a third are rollover accidents. Most fatal accidents occurred on roads rather than offroad trails, and 249 of 300 did not involve another vehicle.

There were 10 ATV fatalities in Kentucky last year, though the ages of the victims was not available. Kentucky is consistently in the top 10 states in the nation in ATV fatalities.

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