LIABILITY FOR ATV DEATHS AND SERIOUS INJURIES-ARE YOU AT RISK?

As a Georgia injury lawyer I read more and more about ATV accidents involving serious injuries and deaths, especially among children. Although there have been dozens of tragic deaths, I recall that in 2003 five Georgia children died after a car struck their ATV. The children, ranging in age from 11 to 14, had piled into the ATV and were going for a ride on a winding road during a birthday party when the collision occurred.
Two years ago, we represented the estate of a young girl who riding (as a passenger) on the back of an ATV being driven by another young girl at night. Our client was thrown from the ATV which resulted in her sustaining internal injuries which lead to her death.
Parents who purchase ATV’s and make them available to children may be exposing themselves to substantial personal liability when they fail to supervise the use of them. Many of the tragic cases I read about involve children riding other children on the back of the ATV. Other than with a few models manufactures most ATV’s clearly have labels which say that they are not to be used to ride passengers. Yet parents continue to allow their underage children to ride quests around on the back of the ATV. If it is not bad enough that they are allowed to ride passengers, many do so at night on public roads!
In Georgia, a parent can be held liable if they negligently entrust an ATV to a child who injures or kills someone with it. They can be held liable to a third party for failing to properly supervise a child operating an ATV and can certainly be held liable for knowingly allowing a child to operate an ATV in a negligent or dangerous manner. If the parents provide the ATV for the use and enjoyment of the family, they can be held responsible to third parties for injuries or death caused by its use or misuse.
If you or a loved one have been seriously injured as a result of the negligent operation of an ATV, call the Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP.