Secondary Drowning: What You Need to Know
Although most people have never heard of it, secondary drowning has been making headlines in the last couple of years as tragic cases have made national news. Everyone is aware that drowning is a serious concern but it turns out that drowning doesn’t always occur while someone is in the water. Secondary drowning accounts for just one to three percent of all drowning deaths but it is important to know its symptoms in case your child is in trouble. So what exactly is secondary drowning?
Secondary Drowning Defined
Secondary Drowning is defined as pulmonary edema that occurs one to 24 hours after a near-drowning due to loss of surfactant. It is a secondary injury to the lung caused by a small amount of water being inhaled into the lung from a near-drowning incident or a sudden rush of water. It is sometimes also called “parking lot drowning” in reference to the fact that the person leaves the water and then drowns.
What is so terrifying about secondary drowning is that the swimmer often appears fine immediately after the water is inhaled but over the next 24 hours the water in the lungs starts to cause edema (swelling). When the lungs’ alveoli are filled with water, they cannot exchange oxygen to and from the blood and this causes the heart to slow as the swimmer’s blood oxygen level drops.
The exact number of secondary drownings is not known as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Consumer Product Safety Commission don’t separate active (or wet) drowning incidents from secondary drownings in their statistics. There are about 400 pool and spa drownings each year in the United States that involve children younger than 15 years old; 75 percent of these deaths occur in children under the age of five.
Secondary Drowning Symptoms
Symptoms of secondary drowning appear one to 24 hours after the incident and can include:
- persistent coughing
- shortness of breath
- chest pain
- lethargy
- fever
- unusual mood change
Parents should keep an eye out for complaints of these symptoms because if the swelling is caught early, doctors can administer oxygen and try to remove the fluid from the lungs using diuretics and positive air pressure.
If the symptoms go untreated, the water irritates the lung tissue, causing inflammation that then progresses to pulmonary edema (you will see a pink frothy discharge from the victim’s nose and mouth), hypoxia/anoxia, respiratory and cardiac arrest, and death. The lungs themselves start to create fluid; you are literally filling up with fluid and drowning even though you are no longer in the water.
The American Red Cross recently launched a national campaign to reduce the drowning rate in 50 U.S. cities by 50% over the next three to five years. Check with your local pool for certified swimming instructors and classes.
If you or a loved one were injured in an accident, you have enough to deal with. Let an experienced accident attorney fight for the full compensation that you deserve. It is not uncommon to receive a settlement from the insurance company that is two to three times bigger with the help of a lawyer. Call the caring accident attorneys at Tario & Associates, P.S. today for a FREE consultation!
Read MoreTeen Driving Accidents: High Summer Fatality Rate
Many of us have memories of that last beautiful summer as a teenager before we were working full time. There was plenty of time to enjoy the sunshine and test out our new driving skills for a taste of freedom. Unfortunately, this happy time turns into a tragic accident more often than we would like. Annual survey results from Liberty Mutual and SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) indicate that teen drivers often engage in more risky driving behaviors during the summer months than during the school year that lead to crashes, serious injuries and, sometimes deaths.
Summer Driving More Deadly for Teen Drivers
More teens die in car crashes during the summer months (June through September) than any other time of the year. Of the 6,434 youth (ages 15 to 20) car crash fatalities in 2000, July saw more deaths (644) than any other month, followed by June (600), September (590) and August (587).
Summer Teen Driving Data
- Since they have more free time and/or are driving to summer jobs, teen drivers average 44 percent more hours driving each week during the summer (23.6 hours) than during the school year (16.4 hours). The more we are behind the wheel; the more likely we are to be involved in a car accident.
- The “Piling-In” effect is in full swing in the summer when 23% of teen drivers are likely to drive with three or more teens in the car, compared to 6 percent of teen drivers who do this during the school year. Car crash rates for teens rise significantly as the number of passengers increases, particularly among the youngest teens aged 16 and 17.
- Teens tend to be out later at night in the summer: 72% of teens report they stay out later during the summer than the school year. Additionally, 47% of teen drivers drive late at night during the summer as compared to 6% percent of teen drivers who drive late at night during the school year. This fact is particularly important because more than a quarter (27 percent) of all teen driving deaths, ages 16 to19, occur between the hours of 9 p.m. and 2 a.m.
- Sleep deprivation is more prevalent in the summer and 24% of teen drivers admit to getting behind the wheel while sleepy in the summer as compared to just 9% who drive tired during the school year.
Other teen behavior that compounds the risks of summer driving
- 87% of teens admit to talking on a cell phone while driving.
- 87% of teens admit to speeding while driving
- About one third of teen drivers use drugs or alcohol and may still be experiencing the effects when they get behind the wheel.
If you or a loved one were injured in an accident, you have enough to deal with. Let an experienced accident attorney fight for the full compensation that you deserve. It is not uncommon to receive a settlement from the insurance company that is two to three times bigger with the help of a lawyer. Call the caring accident attorneys at Tario & Associates, P.S. today for a FREE consultation!
Read MoreSummer Safety Tips
Summer is here and many people are taking advantage of the opportunity to get outside and participate in activities such as camping, road trips, and playgrounds. Children in particular are able to partake in summer fun since school is out. It’s our job as parents to make sure our children are safe while partaking in summer activities and we can reduce the risk of injury to ourselves and our children by following some simple safety guidelines.
Summer Safety Guidelines
Playing Outside is a wonderful way to have fun and get some exercise but following some safety tips can help prevent injuries. Outdoor safety tips:
- Don’t forget to wear a helmet every time you ride bikes or use skates or skateboards.
- Bike riders under the age of ten should only bike on bike paths or the sidewalk if necessary; they simply do not possess the skills to navigate traffic.
- Climbing trees, swinging on tire swings, and playing in tree houses is a cherished summer tradition but falling from a tree can cause serious injuries. Make sure the tree house and tire swing are no higher than ten feet in the air and encourage children not to climb to the top of the tallest trees. A fall will be less serious if the ground underneath a tree house, swing, or other play equipment is softened with a 12 inch layer of wood chips or mulch.
- Backyard trampolines can cause many injuries from flying off onto the ground to getting a leg or foot caught in the coils. The bottom line is that trampolines are not safe unless the coils are covered and there is a safety net attached all the way around.
- Make sure your children are not playing close to a street and teach them to never run after a ball or toy that has rolled into the street.
- Set strict limits about where your children are allowed to ride bikes and play outside. Always know where they are and who they are with.
- Sun feels great until you’ve had too much. Use these sunshine safety tips to avoid a sunburn or heatstroke:
- Since the sun is the strongest between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., limit the amount of time you spend outside during these hours.
- Apply sunscreen with an SPF of at least 15 on yourself and 30 on your children about 30 minutes before heading outside. Be sure to reapply the sunscreen every two hours and after swimming or sweating. Remember that even if it’s cloudy, you should use sunscreen.
- To avoid heatstroke and dehydration, be sure everyone drinks plenty of water.
- On hot days, be careful to limit intense physical activity outside.
- Be aware that cars can reach very high temperatures in the sun even if it’s only 65 degrees outside. NEVER leave your child or pet alone in the car, even for a minute.
- Always lock your car doors and keep keys away from children who could climb in the car unbeknownst to you, become trapped and overheat.
Swimming Safety Tips:
- If there are ever children around, a backyard pool should be surrounded on all sides by a four feet high fence with a self-closing gate.
- Children under the age of 12 should only be allowed to use the pool if an adult is watching them carefully without distraction and within arm’s reach.
- Parents should watch for signs of drowning such as the inability to speak and head barely above water.
Fireworks are fun to watch from afar but they can be very dangerous when not lit carefully. Here are some fireworks safety tips:
- Even sparklers, which are commonly thought of as “safe” for kids, can reach temperatures of 1000 degrees F and easily ignite clothing.
- Adult supervision cannot prevent all fireworks injuries.
- Even if you do not let your child play with fireworks, he can be injured by someone else who lets him.
- The best and only safe way to enjoy fireworks is to attend a public display by professionals.
- Window Safety Tips:
- If you leave windows open during the summer, remember that your little one could fall through the screen. Use window stops to prevent children from opening windows all the way and install window guards on all second story windows.
- Children can climb on furniture to reach windows so keep all furniture pushed away from windows.
Other Summer Safety Tips:
- Do not mow your lawn while children are outside playing as they could be hit with a rock or stick thrown by the mower.
- Keep lawn equipment locked up and away from children.
- Grill outside and away from the house.
- Check your yard for poisonous plants and insects and remove any if possible.
If you or a loved one were injured in an accident, you have enough to deal with. Let an experienced accident attorney fight for the full compensation that you deserve. It is not uncommon to receive a settlement from the insurance company that is two to three times bigger with the help of a lawyer. Call the caring accident attorneys at Tario & Associates, P.S. today for a FREE consultation!
Read MoreSkateboarding Accidents
Skateboarding is an adrenaline filled sport and pastime that carries with it a risk of falling. Common injuries from skateboarding accidents include lower limb, upper limb, and spinal or hip injuries. More serious injuries such as fractures increase the higher the jumps and the faster the speed of travel. Thankfully, most skateboarding injuries are considered soft tissue injuries such as bruising or sprains that will heal on their own or respond well to alternative medical treatments. If you are skateboarding, experience a serious fall and suspect a concussion or broken bone, it is best to go to the Emergency Room to be assessed by a doctor.
Skateboarding Accident Injury Statistics
Not surprisingly, the number of skateboarding injuries has increased as the sport has grown in popularity and injuries are expected to increase as more unusual and risky tricks become the norm.
Skateboarding injuries most often occur to the wrist, ankle or face, which makes sense because many of these injuries happen when a skateboarder loses his balance, falls off the skateboard and lands on an outstretched arm. Younger skateboarders are more prone to fractures than older skateboarders.
91 percent of skateboarding injuries among children occurred while skateboarding on ramps and at arenas; only 9 percent were injured while skateboarding on roads.
37 percent of the injuries occurred because of a loss of balance, and 26 percent occurred because of a failed trick attempt. Falls caused by surface irregularities were common but resulted in the highest proportion of moderate injuries.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP): Skateboarding is not recommended for children under the age of 5 because they do not yet have the physical skills and thinking ability a person needs to control a skateboard and ride it safely. 60 percent of skateboarding injuries involve Children under the age of 15, mostly boys.
Despite the risk of injury, overall skateboarding is a fun and healthy sport that provides a low-impact cardiovascular workout and an adrenaline rush!
How to Decrease your Risk of a Skateboarding Injury
- Practice common sense: skateboard as safely as you can based on your skill level and use protective equipment such as helmets and wrist guards.
- Learn the basic skills of skateboarding, especially how to stop properly.
- Avoid a crash with a vehicle or person; skate in professionally designed “bowls” and “ramps” or other designated skateboarding areas that are located away from car and pedestrian traffic.
- Only do tricks within your ability/level of skill.
- Use a quality skateboard and keep it in proper working order
- Do not use headphones while skateboarding; it is too easy to be distracted or to miss the sound of oncoming danger.
- Never put more than one person on a skateboard.
- Children aged 6 to 10 years should only ride a skateboard under the close supervision of an adult or trusted teenager.
Recommended Skateboarding Protective Equipment
- Helmet
- Wrist guards
- Knee and elbow pads
- Shoes
Skateboarding Accidents Risk Factors
Inexperience. One-third of skateboarding accidents and injuries happen to people who have been skating for less than a week.
Lack of protective equipment. Since trips and falls are common while skateboarding, protective gear can break the fall and reduce the severity of the injury.
Skating in dangerous places. Skateboarding near motor vehicle traffic or on a homemade skateboard ramp are at a very high risk for injury.
Poor riding surfaces. It is easy to fall if you are stumbling over rocks, twigs, or rough, cracked pavement.
Risky stunts. The more risks one takes for stunts, the more likely they are to get in an accident.
If you or a loved one were injured in an accident, you have enough to deal with. Let an experienced accident attorney fight for the full compensation that you deserve. It is not uncommon to receive a settlement from the insurance company that is two to three times bigger with the help of a lawyer. Call the caring accident attorneys at Tario & Associates, P.S. today for a FREE consultation!
Read MoreInsurance Companies put Profits over Accident Victims
Although it is from 2007, CNN’s 18 month investigation and subsequent report on how major insurance companies treat claims of car accident victims is still relevant seven years later. The report shows that accident victims who submit a claim for soft tissue injuries are being subjected to un-due scrutiny and falsely labeled as abusing the system. Insurance Companies are putting profits over accident victims to an alarming degree.
Soft Tissue Injury
A Soft Tissue Injury is defined as damage of muscles, ligaments and tendons throughout the body and is not easily visible from the outside or even in an x-ray.
Findings from the CNN Study:
In the mid-1990s most major insurance companies* sought advice on maximizing profits and chose to adopt a very tough “take-it-or-leave-it” strategy when handling claims for accidents involving soft tissue injuries. Essentially this means that the company will fight to not even offer you a settlement and if they do it will be for far less than your injury is worth. The final piece of the strategy involves dragging the process out so long that injury lawyers will start refusing to help clients fight for compensation. According to former Allstate and State Farm employee Jim Mathis, the strategy relies on the three D’s
Read More4 Road Safety Tips the U.S. Could Learn from Europe
Car Accidents are a deadly business; the World Health Organization estimates that 1.24 million deaths were caused worldwide by car accidents alone in 2010. Only 28 countries representing a tiny seven percent of the world’s population have adequate road safety laws to address all five risk factors: speeding, impaired driving, helmets, seat-belts, and child restraints. The average rate of road traffic fatalities in 2010 was 18 per 100,000 people with middle-income countries showing a rate of 20.1 per 100,000 and high-income countries showing a rate of 8.7 per 100,000.
Large disparities exist in road traffic death rates between regions. In the African region with low-income populations and lack of road safety laws the risk of dying in a car accident is 24.1 per 100,000 compared to Europe that has high-income populations and adequate road safety laws where the risk drops to 10.3 per 100 000. Half of the world’s road traffic deaths occur among “vulnerable road users”: 23 percent are motorcyclists, 22 percent are pedestrians, and 5 percent are cyclists. This leaves 31 percent of road deaths to car occupants and the remaining 19 percent to unspecified road users.
Young adults aged between 15 and 44 years account for 59 percent of global road traffic deaths with 77 percent of road deaths happening among men.
Although the U.S. car accident fatality rate has reached an all time low, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) doesn’t believe it will last and it is already far behind the decreasing fatality levels shown in the best-performing countries like the Netherlands, Sweden, and the U.K. The U.S. fatality rate is 124 deaths per million people, but in the Netherlands, it is 40 deaths per million, in Sweden it is 42, and in the U.K. it is 43.
4 Road Safety Tips the U.S. Could Learn From Europe
Europe’s low fatality rates can be traced to specific laws and policies that could be implemented here:
- Very tough laws on drunk driving, including lower legal blood alcohol limits of 0.05 and more use of alcohol ignition interlocks for people convicted of driving while intoxicated.
- Lowering speed limits in urban areas, mandating speed-limiters for big trucks and other heavy vehicles, and more use of speed and red-light cameras in heavy traffic areas.
- Making front and rear seatbelts mandatory and making seatbelt non-compliance a primary offense which means that the officer can pull you over just for not wearing a seat-belt.
- Improving and shortening commutes through strategic urban planning, more efficient and convenient public transportation, and encouraging businesses to allow their workers to telecommute.
One of the challenges the U.S. will face in making these kinds of changes is that unlike in Europe where laws are set for the whole country, individual states set their own traffic laws. Some states do have strict laws in place but others do not. The other major challenge to U.S. car accident statistics is that Americans tend to drive many more miles each year by car than their European counterparts due to the sheer size of the country and the lack of efficient public transportation. Clearly, the more people drive in vehicles the more likely they are to be involved in a car accident.
If you or a loved one were injured in a car accident, you have enough to deal with. Let an experienced accident attorney fight for the full compensation that you deserve. It is not uncommon to receive a settlement from the insurance company that is two to three times bigger with the help of a lawyer. Call the caring accident attorneys at Tario & Associates, P.S. today for a FREE consultation!
Read MoreGeneral Motors Recall Internal Investigation Released
A scathing internal report released by General Motors (GM) indicates that lives could have been saved if faulty ignition switches placed on Chevrolet Cobalts and Saturn Ions had been recalled when it was first discovered that they did not live up to specifications over a decade ago. Former U.S. Attorney Anton Valukas, who headed the investigation, submitted his 325 page report to the National Highway and Safety Administration (NHTSA) on May, 29, 2014. GM has opened a fund to compensate families that lost loved ones.
The engineer, 61 year old Ray DeGiorgio, who approved the switches for production has now been fired along with 14 other employees. It is not entirely clear why the other employees were fired; after interviewing hundreds of witnesses no other GM personnel could be identified as knowing the switches were faulty before 2013. Valukas was able to uncover e-mails between DeGiorgio and Delphi, the supplier working on the ignition switches, as far back as 2002, that make it clear that DeGiorgio knew there were problems but chose to go forward instead of delay production to replace the part. The report does indicate, however, that neither the engineer nor the company was aware that the faulty switch would cause air bags not to deploy in a crash, which in turn endangered thousands of drivers, killed 13, and injured many. The company had only issued a global recall of 2.6 million Saturn Ions and Chevrolet Cobalts over the faulty ignition switches earlier this year.
In his report, Valukas recommends that GM make several changes both cultural and practical to ensure that a deadly, costly, and embarrassing mistake like this never happens again.
Corporate Changes Recommended
- The board should receive quarterly reports on production.
- Safety must be “embedded in the fabric of the organization.”
- Employees need to understand that they have an obligation to raise concerns about safety and speak up until they are heard.
- A plan needs to be put in place to ensure that executives all the way to the CEO are aware of safety concerns being raised at the production level.
The United States Department of Transportation recently announced that GM has agreed to pay a record, maximum $35 million civil penalty for violating federal safety laws by not reporting a safety issue to the Federal Government in a timely manner, and also to have unprecedented oversight requirements while the investigation is underway. The agreement, made in a Consent Order with the NHTSA, orders GM to make broad internal changes to how it handles reviews of safety-related issues and to improve its ability to decipher possible consequences to product defects in the United States. GM is also obligated to pay additional civil penalties for failing to respond on time to the agency’s document demands during NHTSA’s investigation. Federal law requires auto manufacturers to notify NHTSA within five business days of determining that a safety-related product defect exists or that a vehicle is not in compliance with federal motor vehicle safety standards and to issue a recall in a timely manner.
If you or a loved one were injured in a car accident, you have enough to deal with. Let an experienced accident attorney fight for the full compensation that you deserve. It is not uncommon to receive a settlement from the insurance company that is two to three times bigger with the help of a lawyer. Call the caring accident attorneys at Tario & Associates, P.S. today for a FREE consultation!
Read MoreTeen Driving Accidents Facts & Statistics
When a person turns 16 they are often very excited to get their driver’s license but it is probably safe to say that most parents are nervous about this milestone. Although they may relish their child being able to drive themselves to school and activities, they are nervous about their teen being hurt in an accident. Parents have good reason to worry as the car crash injury and fatality statistics among teen drivers are staggering. In fact, car crashes are the number one cause of death among teens in the U.S. and the top three predictors for fatality in a car accident are not wearing seat belts, teen drivers and roads with speed limits of 45 miles per hour or higher. Parents can influence their teen’s driving behavior; 56 percent of teens are taught to drive by their parents and 66 percent of teens say they listen to their parents’ opinion on using a cell phone while driving.
Teen Car Crash Statistics
- The fatality rate for drivers aged 16 to 19 is four times higher than that of drivers aged 25 to 69 years
- The crash fatality rate (crash fatalities per 100,000 population) is highest for 16 to 17 year olds within the first six months after getting their license and remains a high risk through age 24
- Approximately two-thirds of teen passenger deaths (ages 13 to 19) occur when other teenagers are driving
- In 2008, 2,739 teenagers died in car accidents in the United States
- Males are twice as likely as females to be killed in a car crash as a teenager
- Thirty-seven percent of male drivers between the ages of 15 and 20 were speeding at the time of a fatal crash
- Teen drivers were involved in 63% of teen passenger deaths and 19% of passenger deaths of all ages in fatal accidents.
- In the first year of driving after receiving their license, teen drivers are almost 10 times more likely to be in a crash than at any other time
- Twenty percent of 11th graders report being in a crash as a driver in the past year
- Twenty-five percent of 9th graders already report being in a crash as a passenger in their lifetimes
Top Causes of Teen Driving Crashes and Fatalities
Distraction
- Ninety percent of teens involved in fatal car crashes have other teen passengers in their vehicle to distract them
- Data on 16-year-old drivers shows that having multiple teenage passengers in the vehicle is twice as likely to cause a fatal crash as alcohol-impaired driving
Speeding
- Nearly half of teens report seeing passengers encouraging drivers to speed at least sometimes
- Half of teen drivers report driving 10 miles per hour over the speed limit at least sometimes
- The crash risk increases incrementally with each mile per hour over the speed limit
Cell Phones
- Nine out of 10 teens say that it is common to see teens driving while talking on a cell phone
Seat Belts
- Teens have the lowest seat belt use rates of any age group
- Only 65 percent of teens consistently wear their seat belts as both a driver and passenger
- Six out of 10 drivers aged 16 to 20 who were killed in crashes were not wearing their seat belt
- Almost two out of three teens killed as passengers are not wearing their seat belt
Drunk Driving
- Teens are statistically less likely than adults to get behind the wheel after drinking, but when they do; their risk of crashing is much higher when you add in other teen risk factors
- Fifty-three percent of teens have seen other teens drinking and driving at some point
- Thirty-one percent of teens who died in a car crash were drinking alcohol
Day of the week and time of day matters
- Fifty-three percent of teen deaths in fatal accidents happened on the weekends and 41 percent occurred overnight between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m.
If you or a loved one were injured in a car accident, you have enough to deal with. Let an experienced accident attorney fight for the full compensation that you deserve. It is not uncommon to receive a settlement from the insurance company that is two to three times bigger with the help of a lawyer. Call the caring accident attorneys at Tario & Associates, P.S. today for a FREE consultation!
Read MoreRoad Construction Accidents
In the Pacific Northwest, warmer weather means road construction season. Road construction can seem endless but projects are often necessary to keep roads in good driving condition or to expand roadways to adapt to increased traffic flow. Flaggers are usually in place to remind drivers to slow down, navigate around pot holes, debris and cones, and to help cars take turns but road construction accidents do happen. To avoid an accident, it is best to slow way down, follow the instructions of the flagger and be aware of pot holes and equipment on the road.
Road Construction Accident Statistics
- In 2010, there were 87,606 car accidents in work zones which accounted for just 1.6% of total roadway crashes in that year.
- Only 0.6 percent of road construction accidents were fatal, 30% were injury crashes and 69% were property damage only crashes.
- There were 37,476 injuries in road construction work zones in 2010. This means that there was one work zone injury every 14 minutes (96 a day), or about four people injured every hour.
- Texas, California, and Florida ranked as the States with the highest number of motor vehicle crash fatalities in construction and maintenance work zones in 2012, each with at least 50 deaths.
- In 2012, 75% of occupational fatalities in work zones occurred to workers in the following occupations: construction laborers, highway maintenance workers, heavy and tractor trailer truck drivers, first-line supervisors of construction and extraction workers, and construction equipment operators.
Work Zone Car Accident Fatalities
- In 2010, there were 514 fatal road construction accidents which caused 576 fatalities.
- 576 fatalities in a year is equal to one work zone fatality every 15 hours (or 1.6 a day) and 2% of all roadway fatalities that year.
- The number of work zone fatalities has been steadily decreasing since 2002. There was a 51% decrease in work zone fatalities between 2002 and 2010 compared to a 23% decrease in overall highway fatalities during that timeframe.
- Common Factors of Road Construction Car Accident Fatalities
- Not wearing a seatbelt (53% of cases)
- Speeding (31% of cases)
- Alcohol (20% of cases)
- Time of Day
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Dirt Bike Accidents
Many people are drawn to the dare-devil aspect of off road biking but each year hundreds of children and adults are killed or injured in accidents involving a motorcycle, dirt bike, trail bike, moped, motor-scooter or mini-bike. Between 2001 and 2004, an estimated 500,000 people were in dirt bike accidents and 75 percent of those injured were hospitalized. In 2003 alone, dirt bike and motorcycle accidents accounted for 245 deaths among children and teens under the age of 19 and almost 57,000 trips to the emergency room to treat injuries.
CDC study on Dirt Bike Injuries:
- The majority of injured children are male.
- The majority of injuries involved a dirt bike/trail bike.
The six most common non-fatal injuries endured by youth riding a motorcycle, dirt bike, trail bike, moped, motor-scooter or mini-bike between 2001 and 2004 were:
- Fracture 7,282 (30.6%)
- Contusion/Abrasion 5,565 (23.4%)
- Laceration 3,893 (16.4%)
- Strain/Sprain 2,866 (12.0%)
- Internal injury/Concussion 2,016 (8.5%)
- Burn 562 (2.4%)
Off-road riding motorcycle riding requires physical skills and judgment that most children and young teens do not yet possess. In 2000, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that parents not allow their children and teens under the age of 16 to ride off-road motorcycles or ATVs and that states prohibit the use of such vehicles by children and teens under the age of 16. Studies of ATV use have shown that state laws with age restrictions for off-road vehicle use are effective in decreasing the number of riders under the minimum age and that requiring off-road riders to wear helmets can reduce the risk of fatal injury. According to the American Motorcycle Association, only 19 states require off-road motorcyclists under the age of 18 to wear helmets and only eight states have set minimum ages (range: 8 to 14 years) for operation of off-road motorcycles.
Dirt bikes are similar to motorcycles but they are designed for off-road riding. Some characteristics specific to dirt bikes are a light weight, narrow body and high-ground clearance for easy jumping and stunts, a long suspension travel for landing jumps, small engines, and large wheels with knobby tires. Dirt bikes are often modified to suit the needs of the particular sport. For example, in Motocross which is a race over jumps, bikes need a particularly large suspension travel, smaller fuel capacities, and no indicators. Endura racing on the other hand is a long distance travel competition requiring an engine with high speed, a low-weight frame, and no seats since the rider uses a half-sitting position.
Washington State Off-Road Laws
- Eye protection is not required
- Headlights are required after sunset
- Maximum Sound Level:
- 86 db(A) measured at 50 feet
- Minimum operator age is 13 except under the direct supervision of a person 18 years of age or older possessing a valid license to operate a motor vehicle.
- Mufflers are required by law
- No operator license is required
- Registration is required by law
- Rider education certification is not required
- Safety helmets are required by Law
- Spark arrestor is required by law
- Taillights are required after sunset
- Trails program is available
- Vehicle title is not required
If you or a loved one were injured in a car accident, you have enough to deal with. Let an experienced accident attorney fight for the full compensation that you deserve. It is not uncommon to receive a settlement from the insurance company that is two to three times bigger with the help of a lawyer. Call the caring accident attorneys at Tario & Associates, P.S. today for a FREE consultation!
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