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A 6-year-old girl crashed her ATV through a garage door going full speed. Miraculously, she's OK, but now her dad and the owner of an ATV dealership have different safety warnings on these popular machines.
Avery Losee's brand new, New Year's Eve ATV worked fine in the morning. But in the afternoon, it took off out of control. Her dad, Aaron Losee, says brakes wouldn't stop it, neither would the parental speed controls or a remote "kill" switch.
"I heard her screaming, and I took off in a dead run after her," Aaron said.
Avery drove at 30 miles an hour right through the neighbor's garage door. "I just ran as fast as I could, dove under the garage, not knowing what I'd find," Aaron said. "All I could imagine was my 6-year-old dead on the other side of that door."
Avery's helmet was knocked off, but she was OK. Aaron inspected the ATV and says the cap for the carburetor had come off. "There was a throttle assembly on the bike that had come unscrewed and had allowed the throttle to go to a full open position, not giving the rider any control whatsoever," he said.
He says he wants to warn other parents about these popular bikes. "They're not safe in the condition they're going out in, and they're going out in the thousands," Aaron said.
The man who sold it to them disagrees and says the family even signed off on the bike after a test drive. "We do specific things when we assemble and deliver our vehicles to make sure they're safe to ride," said dealership owner Rory Burke.
Burke agrees there's a safety message for parents but his is different. "Unfortunately, no matter how good the quality, no matter how many you sell, how much you preach safety, you have customers that don't listen," he said.
The state requires ATV riders on public lands to take safety courses. They're available to kids over the age of 8.
E-mail: dwimmer@ksl.com
