Curb ATV carnage with safety rules: surgeon

A Calgary trauma surgeon says lives could be saved and health care costs trimmed if the province created stricter rules for ATV users.

Every spring Dr. Richard Buckley treats numerous people at the Foothills Medical Centre who have been badly injured in all-terrain vehicle accidents.

The typical patient is a young man who has been drinking and riding without a helmet,Buckley said.

"It's unbelievable what we see come in every weekend. They go out, the sky turns blue and we know we're going to be busy in our trauma unit," he said.

In a study he published recently in the international Journal of Trauma, Buckley found that 79 people have been killed and 460 people seriously injured in ATV mishaps in Alberta over the past decade. Head, neck and cervical spine injuries were the most common.

The study showed a 17 per cent mortality rate from ATV incidents in Alberta eight times higher than the rate from car incidents, Alberta Health Services said in a release.

Buckley's study also found that serious ATV-related injuries cost Alberta's health system more than $65 million over that period.

"This is a public health issue. We have to increase the public pressure and awareness that this is not acceptable," Buckley said.

"I'm no legislation person. I'm simply the person left attaching someone's leg when it's been ripped off by their crash," he said.

Riding ATVs on streets is especially unsafe according to the surgeon.

"That's where most people die. They get going too fast, do a little wobble and fly off. You're a missile on an ATV."

"ATVs are dangerous. I dont think we should ban them, but there needs to be some controls and better legislation over their use. People who ride them need to be better-educated. They need to wear a helmet. They need to be sober and they need to know their vehicle and its capabilities,"Buckley said.