Total Injury

While ATV vehicles are meant for recreational use, their dangers should not be underestimated. Earlier this month, a 30-year-old man was killed in an Illinois ATV accident with a tractor-trailer in Alexander County. Kevin A. Poppen was pronounced dead at the scene after he failed to stop his ATV at a stop sign and struck the right front tire of the passing tractor trailer, according to a story in today's Southeast Missourian.

In detailing the need for safety when driving all-terrain vehicles, today’s Southeast Missourian story also cites some interesting statistics on ATV accidents:

• The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission attributes nearly 6,500 deaths over the last 23 years to ATV accidents. More than 2,000 of those deaths involved children under the age of 16. A child as young as six years old may legally operate an ATV vehicle under adult supervision. 

• Missouri was ranked 13^th in the United States with 46 ATV deaths from 2002 through 2004. Kentucky led with 106 ATV deaths in that time period. There were 210 reported Missouri ATV accidents in 2005 with 172 injuries and 18 fatalities, according to the state’s Highway Patrol.

Avoid personal injuries from ATV accidents by following all local statutes, driving diligently at appropriate speeds, wearing necessary safety gear including helmets, and supervising your children when on these vehicles.

A 55-year-old Iowa man was recently awarded $1.1 million by a U.S. District Court during his civil personal injury suit against a Grand Rapids railroad company.  

Reginald Booker worked as a carman for CSX Railroad for 24 years but had to leave the job when a hopper car fell off its jacks and nearly crushed him in September 2003.

Booker suffered serious nerve, vertebrae and pelvis injuries from the train accident, and now walks with a cane and a limp because of his disabilities.

The railroad car accident verdict originally awarded $1.4 million but was reduced 25% due to Booker’s own “contributory negligence” during this Iowa personal injury incident.

A Hampton County, SC judge rejected an appeal by Ford Motor Co. to overturn a $31 Million verdict in a 2001 automobile accident that left a 12-year old athlete and Olympic hopeful with head injuries so severe that he can not play sports again. Jesse Branham III spent three months in the hospital and was actively pursuing a dream to join the U.S. Olympic karate team.  Branham had been named among the nation’s best for his age group. In a 2001 accident, Branham was ejected from a 1987 Ford Bronco in a rollover accident. Branham’s father sued Ford Motor Co. for “knowingly manufacturing and selling a vehicle that was “unreasonably prone to roll over,” and was awarded $31 in damages against the automaker by a Hampton County jury in October.