A couple of weeks ago my family and I went riding our UTV’s and ATV’s on some beautiful trails around Clints Well. When we stopped to admire the beauty of the area we were in, our oldest son let us know he was hanging back so he could go really fast on the trails (we were traveling at a reasonable, yet challenging pace on some of the more technical trails, but he didn’t think it was fast enough). My wife and I were in a UTV and he was on an ATV. My wife cautioned him that he would get hurt if he kept going too fast. Of course, he felt he was invincible.
After riding about two hours, we headed back to base camp for lunch. We waited at the last turn to make sure everyone was with us. When our son did not show up, my wife and I re-traced our path. About a mile back, we saw something I never want to see again: our ATV was about 8 feet down a ravine and was smashed. At first we couldn’t see our son, then as we got closer we saw him lying still another 15 feet down the ravine.
We called out to him and couldn’t hear a response. We ran down to him with a prayer in our heart that he was still alive. When we got close to him, we heard him whisper, “I hurt really bad!” Adrenaline was the only thing holding back the tears. We asked if he could move his fingers and toes: he could. Thankfully, he was wearing a helmet.
Significant bruising, shoulder surgery with plate and screws, and significantly hurt pride (as well as a totaled ATV) are the result of our son putting his desire for adrenaline above wisdom and common sense. I cannot say I’ve never been there myself, but (hopefully) with age and experience has come wisdom.
On the bright side of things (if there are any), nobody else was injured, our son is still alive, and we had sufficient insurance coverage on the machine to pay for the total loss, as well as MEDICAL PAYMENTS COVERAGE to take care of any co-pays and deductibles.
Many people fail to purchase the right policies when shopping for insurance. May I strongly suggest purchasing medical payments coverage in an amount up to $5,000 (or more) when you purchase a UTV or an ATV. The coverage is inexpensive and comes in handy when medical bills result from riding a bit too aggressively.
Because my son did not injure any passenger or anyone other than himself, this is not a situation where UTV LAW ATTORNEYS were needed to make sure the insurance company was held accountable to take care of the medical bills, lost income, and loss of enjoyment of life’s activities. These are some of the types of recovery UTV LAW ATTORNEYS obtain for our clients when they are passengers on an ATV, in a UTV, or when they are harmed by someone riding a UTV or ATV.
If you or someone you love suffers an injury due to an ATV or UTV crash, please give us a call.
