ATV Crash

[Westernbiker]

Off a 400 foot cliff. I have been in this area many times. Speed and not knowing the road or trail well enough will have tragic outcomes.

https://www.pinalcentral.com/arizona_news/bodies-of-men-in-atv-crash-off-arizona-cliff-recovered/article_022b1a57-78bd-55b1-bc92-b111e4ca9953.html

[f6john]

Sad for everyone involved. In a related situation, there was a death at my neighbors house last night. My neighbors wife had been out with her daughter in a Razor. My SIL had observed her riding in front of their house and it appeared she was running wide open with her daughter beside her. SIL is beside herself with grief thinking she should have called her husband to report her behavior. At any rate the lady made it home, husband comes home and takes the daughter to town for some food. The wife goes back out riding and flips the Razor multiple times and was dead at the scene. Still don’t know if this was normal behavior for her of if something else was going on but a very sad situation for sure.

[cookiedough]

speed kills and these 800cc on up ATV/UTVs are getting way too fast and powerful to handle at speeds much greater than 60 mph, even for someone with 1000's of miles experience.   My 800cc can am does 73 mph top speed and can tell you I do not hold it there for too long on a road (usually dirt/gravel) for much past 60 mph can get squirrely in a big hurry.  I wish I would have bought a 650cc can am for the 800cc is too jumpy off the line harder to maintain a constant speed as well.  Cannot imagine the 1000cc engine, no thanks.  In reality IMO,  any 500cc ATV is good enough to do anything an 800-1000cc can do just not as quick/fast off the line and less top end of course.

I have seen many atver's/utver's doing much faster than me on the trails catching me and passing me and I think in my own mind I am going pretty darn fast for conditions at most times.  The trails around me are suppose to be 35 mph being enforced with me getting stopped once by trail patrol doing 42 mph with a warning and although in most areas 35 mph in my opinion is way too slow, much past 45 mph is not really needed either. 

I use to own a 330cc polaris atv and was plenty fast enough hardly ever wanting to go much faster on the trails than 45 mph top end speed having it floored though a few times on straightaways wanted to go a few times slightly faster but not much really safely for you had to slow down soon enough anyways. 

Just this year in small town nearby a 17 year old boy high schooler was riding a sport atv illegally alongside a girl he knew her in her car on a road and he decided to go in front of the car doing over 60 mph and the girl friend of his never reacted in time and ran him over killing him from same school.  She was charged with killing him awaiting a prison sentence I heard last, not good. 

[cookiedough]

another issue I see often on atv trails is these LARGE massive UTV's are getting way too wide to be safe on what use to be ATV trails.  Much wider than 48 inches and meeting another UTV that is 60 inches wide is unsafe when coming at each other especially on tight, technical trails.  I have had a few times to run into the woods/ditch for the UTV's are in the middle of trail coming around a corner at too high of speeds, luckily I am usually seeing them coming at me to get away, but not at all times nearly clipping them with my atv.