Safety 2016, 2(2), 10; https://doi.org/10.3390/safety2020010
Characteristics of Side-by-Side Vehicle Crashes and Related Injuries as Determined Using Newspaper Reports from Nine U.S. States
1
Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, 200 Hawkins Drive, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA
2
Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA
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These authors contributed equally to this work.
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 31 October 2015 / Revised: 23 March 2016 / Accepted: 28 March 2016 / Published: 5 April 2016
(This article belongs to the Special Issue All-Terrain (ATVs, Quad Bikes) and Off-Highway (ROVs, UTVs, SSVs, LSVs, LUVs, MUVs, XUVs) Vehicle Safety)
Abstract
Side-by-side (SxS) vehicles have become increasingly popular, but there are few reports on injury epidemiology. Newspaper reports of SxS and all-terrain vehicle (ATV) crashes were analyzed for nine U.S. states from 2009 to 2011, including comparisons between the two vehicle types. Seventy-nine SxS crashes involving 104 injured victims were identified; three-fourths were males. There was a relatively high percentage of injured passengers (37%), and a higher proportion of female victims were passengers as compared to males (p = 0.015). Children <16 years of age were 44% of those injured and had the highest proportion of both passenger and operator victims as compared to other age groups. Over half of the crashes occurred on roadways; nearly two-fifths occurred at night. As compared to adults, a lower percentage of crashes involving youth were at night (p = 0.0037) but the percentages on roadways were similar. Only one in five roadway SxS crashes involved a collision with a motorized vehicle. Rollovers were the most common mechanism (50%). Two-thirds of victims were ejected, and one-half were struck or pinned by the vehicle. Twenty-eight deaths (27%) were reported. Although most current SxSs have roll bars, lack of safety belt use has likely reduced their benefit. Children should be prohibited from operating SxSs. View Full-TextKeywords:
side-by-side vehicle; utility task vehicle; recreational off-road vehicle; all-terrain vehicle; injury prevention; safety; pediatric; roadway; rollover; crash
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Jennissen, C.A.; Harland, K.K.; Denning, G.M. Characteristics of Side-by-Side Vehicle Crashes and Related Injuries as Determined Using Newspaper Reports from Nine U.S. States. Safety 2016, 2, 10.
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