At least 30 people have died in ATV and UTV crashes so far this year, putting Wisconsin on track to surpass the 32 deaths reported last year.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has noted most victims weren’t wearing a helmet at the time of the crash — and more than half weren’t wearing a seatbelt.
Jake Holsclaw is the Off-Highway Vehicle Administrator for the state’s DNR. He says the number of injuries and deaths has been trending upward in recent years since the onset of the pandemic.
In Wisconsin, the use of UTVs alone has almost doubled in the last five years. In an economic impact report, the Wisconsin ATV-UTV Association estimates ATV/UTV riders support nearly 40,000 jobs and contributed more than $5.4 billion to the state's economy last year.
Lake Effect’s Xcaret Nuñez spoke with Holsclaw to share ways to prevent deaths and injuries related to ATV and UTV crashes.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Over the past decade, riding ATVs and UTVs has become a popular activity in Wisconsin. A record high of nearly 500,000 ATVs and UTVs were registered in the state just last year. Have you noticed the registered number of four-wheelers continue to grow this year?
Yes, our number of ATVs and UTVs has been continually growing over the last few years. It's approaching half a million registered machines. It's become a very popular sport statewide, and we have a number of trails, but we also have a number of road routes throughout the state, and I think just about every county now in the state has roads that are open for legal operation of these machines.
Where do these increases in registrations stem from? Are more towns allowing residents to ride these vehicles?
I think it's a couple of reasons. First and foremost, riding on an ATV or UTV is just great fun. It's, become a really popular sport. We saw quite a bump, actually, around 2020, 2021, kind of during the COVID years, where folks were just trying to find different ways of getting outdoors and do things outside. And like you said, there's been an increased number of road routes that are open to the machines. So I think it really has made the sport more accessible for folks. No longer are they restricted to riding on the home farm or their own private land. There are legal road routes open now, or they can get their machines registered and get out there and ride on those roadways.
So far this year, there have been 30 fatal ATV and UTV accidents in Wisconsin. Unfortunately, we're on track to surpass last year's 32 fatal accidents. What are some of the common contributing factors you've noticed in these crashes?
So we always want to stress the safety issues. And in the majority of these crashes, folks are not wearing helmets. Helmets truly do save lives. Wisconsin does have a rule that anybody under 18 has to wear a helmet while on one of these machines — as a passenger or as an operator. But what we really want to stress is that once you turn 19 or 20 and surpass that 18-year-old range, your head doesn't necessarily become stronger. It's still a really needed piece of safety equipment, and the numbers show it. I think there is only two or three of those crashes where somebody was wearing a helmet and they were still killed in the crash or seriously injured. So the majority of them are not wearing helmets.
In the case of UTVs, every UTV has a set of seat belts. And not only is it state law that every passenger wears a seat belt, but it’s also just really good safety practice, because just like a car or truck, those safety belts keep people inside that machine. So a combination of helmets and seat belts in a UTV make them quite safe to operate. The issue we see is that folks are not wearing helmets or not wearing seat belts, and then they can be tossed free of that machine or pinned under one of those machines. That's what's causing some pretty severe injuries or fatalities.
In a lot of cases, these folks are also under the influence of alcohol or a drug or some other substance, and that, of course, is going to slow the reaction time and potentially cause them to make poor decisions when they're on those roadways or trails.
Another theme we're seeing is people driving too fast for the conditions or too fast for their experience, and we just want to make sure that people are driving safely, driving defensively, just like in a motor vehicle. We totally get it that ATVs and UTVs are a lot of fun. They're a recreational machine. But these machines do not handle like a normal motor vehicle handles, and then we see people maybe taking turns too fast, or tipping those machines — and that's sad, because all these crashes are easily preventable.
The victims in these fatal crashes this year range as young as 4 years old to 79 years old. What are the requirements to drive an ATV or UTV in the state?
Number one is the age requirement for the safety class. So anybody born after January 1, 1988, needs to take the [safety training] course. But then additionally, yes, there are age restrictions. Very common ones are once an operator turns 16, they can legally operate on a road, route or a trail without any kind of adult supervision. That is, of course, if they have taken that safety class. From the ages of 12 to 15, they can operate on a trail as long as they have taken that safety course, and as long as their parents are okay with it, they can actually run on a trail without adult supervision. Now I should preface that with the ages 12 to 15, that is on an ATV. With a UTV, that’s a little bit of a different rule in that, no matter if it's a trail or a road route, you have to be 16 to operate a full size UTV. We tell folks, if you're interested in riding a machine by the time you're 11 or 12, take that [safety training] course. Once you turn 12, you can start to operate those machines legally.
Do you need a driver's license or special ID to drive ATVs and UTVs?
The state of Wisconsin does not require a valid driver's license to operate one of these machines. However, there are some local counties or towns that may have a local ordinance that requires a valid driver's license. The DNR does not have a say on that, but I would encourage folks, if you're traveling, especially on a roadway, just make sure that they're following all the rules. If [a town] does have an ordinance that requires a driver's license, then most of those drivers would have to wait until they're 16 [to drive an ATV or UTV].
How are these safety regulations being enforced?
We like to take an educational approach. First and foremost, we want to get the information out to the public. Throughout the year, we try to make sure that some of those busier weekends and busier holidays, there's an added saturation in both safety messaging and an added enforcement activity. The first weekend in August this year, and [Labor Day], we had a Think Smart Before You Start safety enhancement campaign. It's an all hands on deck effort where we call on local sheriff's departments and conservation wardens around the state and anybody who's available to work to have that presence on the on the trails and the roads, to make those contacts with the public. A lot of times those enforcement contacts are educational. Sometimes, if it's a serious enough offense, like maybe a kid not wearing a helmet, or somebody operating while intoxicated, then citations are issued in some of those cases. But it's a real balance. It's a balance between education and getting out there with a hands on approach and enforcement in the field.
I can imagine, with such an uptick in registrations and popularity of this sport, is there a lot more work than there people there are to enforce safety regulations?
You called it — 100%. There's never a shortage of work. I definitely want to shout out to some of our partners too. The Wisconsin ATV-UTV Association is a statewide organization that's really dedicated to promoting the sport, but at the same time promoting safety in the ATV community. So we really try to work with them and other partners to keep that safety message flowing.
[The Wisconsin DNR] realized that it really does take a team. There just aren't enough wardens throughout the state, and there really aren't enough wreck patrol deputies and sheriff's departments around the state to cover everything. Obviously we want to try to stop somebody and address the situation before an incident happens. But unfortunately, a lot of these incidents, happen on private property, or people make poor decisions, and people allow their young children to operate machines when they really shouldn't — and that's how some of these incidents are occurring. But it's kind of a kind of an uphill battle sometimes, because there is a lot of work for sure.
Last year, there was a bipartisan group of state lawmakers that introduced a bill to make it illegal to carry open containers of alcohol while driving ATVs and UTVs on public roadways. However, it did fail to advance in the legislature. If a bill like this were to be introduced again, could it help this issue?
I think potentially it could. Even though it is currently legal to to have an open intoxicant on a machine, I want to remind folks that the same intoxication levels and laws apply on an ATV as they do in a motor vehicle. So same rules — you cannot operate [an ATV or UTV] while intoxicated and you cannot be over a blood alcohol limit of .08 or operate with any kind of illegal substance or drugs. So I think [a legislative bill] like this could help, for sure. I think it would have been a step in the right direction, but we'll just have to see where that goes in the future.
