ATV Safety

[Jerry Hunsley]

This probably won't pertain to some of you people down South but here is a real scary situation that has happened to me 3 times while riding my ATV. It took three accidents for it to sink into my thick skull. Last year while trapping I had my first accident , but didn't get hurt. Since then I have had two more and was lucky on both of them too. Here"s what happened. If you have ever ridden one in cold weather for long distances, you would have noticed how cold and tired you thumb is on the throdle lever. I bought an accessory which is a thumb extender and I thought that would really be nice. When you put pressure on the lever it react really quick. I was checking traps and left it in reverce. When I got back on I push the lever down and it took off backwards. It caused me to put all my weight over the front handle bars and when it did that I grab hard on the handbars and the throdle. Of course it went wide open backwards and I had one hell of a  time getting stopped. Thank God I was on fairly flat ground. It also happened to me going straight down hill also.
  Now the real killer. It was Thanksgiving day and my two boys were home with their families. It was my job to keep the kids occupied until dinner time. I had the atv parked along side my driveway , so I thought I would just drive around slow in the driveway. I load three kids on the back. Two little girls and boy 10. I  started to back it up and the damn thumb extender stucik wide open. I couldn't get stopped and ran straight into the skirting on the bottom of my deck. The boy jumed off the the two Grandaughters were still on and we busted right through the paneling. I thought the Grandson was under the deck, but he jumped off and was safe. My Grandaugthers were shaken up with just a bump on one of them. Talk about some pretty anxious moments. After the crisis I went out there and took the extender off. The dealer at the atv had told me about a week before all this happen to take it off as it is a real safety hazard. So If you have one of these , I would recommend removing it. We were all pretty shaken up over the whole ordeal and I felt lousy all day. Thank God nobody was seriously hurt. Just a heads up for you fellas.

[possumal]

Good Lord, Jerry, that is downright scary.  Thank God you are all o.k..  I think everybody who reads this will sure appreciate the warning.  As far as I am concerned, you can't be careful enough when it comes to the ATV. It is a great and useful piece of equipment, but has its share of danger points.  I had been considering one of those extenders, but you have gotten it off my mind completely. Thanks again.

[alscalls]

I got my glove caught on one once an scared me bad, so I took it off.
Glad everyone is OK

[KySongDog]

Glad no one was hurt, Jerry.   

About 3 years ago a friend of mine stood up on the foot pegs on his ATV but forgot he was in reverse.  When he gave it gas, he lurched forward over the handlebars as the ATV took off in reverse and his right leg mashed the throttle lever wide open.  He stopped when he hit my truck in the driver's side door!  About $2,000 damage to my truck.   

The lesson learned:  Never stand up on an ATV that is in reverse gear.   

[FinsnFur]

I'm glad too, that your here to talk about it Jerry.
Had the same exact thing happen to me on a snowmobile once. Aint been on one since

[slagmaker]

Glad everyone is ok. Gives you a little something extra to be thankfull for.

[iahntr]

Glad everybody's OK !!
Screwy things can happen real quick on em.

[Hawks Feather]

The good news is that no one was hurt - especially the grandkids. 

Jerry