Citation

Helmkamp JC. W. V. Med. J. 2002; 98(1): 24-25.

Affiliation

Center for Rural Emergency Medicine, West Virginia University, Morgantown, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2002, West Virginia State Medical Association)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

11949637

Abstract

In response to a request from West Virginia lawmakers preparing to introduce legislation related to the safe operation of all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), estimates were calculated for the economic cost of fatal injuries associated with ATV use. Using the reported number of deaths from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration model for fatal motor vehicle crashes, a range of cost estimates were calculated for fatal ATV-related injuries. The average annual comprehensive economic loss resulting from these deaths in West Virginia from 1990 through 1999 was estimated to be between $10 million and $34.2 million. Persons killed in ATV crashes in the 1990s lost, on average, 43 years of productive life. Due to the fact that non-fatal injury data is not collected consistently throughout West Virginia, cost estimates for these injuries were not calculated.