A new study says that all-terrain vehicle (ATV) and the injuries incurred driving them have resulted in an average of 19 people a day ending up in hospital emergency departments (ED) in Ontario.
The researchers from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) say the injury toll has climbed dramatically in less than a decade.
In an analysis on the number of hospitalizations related to ATV accidents the researchers found that hospitalizations related to ATV accidents increased 25 per cent from 1996-1997 to 2004-2005.
Both doctors and emergency workers say there has been a major increase this summer in ATV accident patients, and they are mainly in young adults and adolescents; they say teenagers and young adults have the highest risk of injury
The report says most hospitalizations caused by accidents on off-road vehicles and snowmobiles involve multiple injuries and as many as one in five ATV -related hospitalizations involve injuries to the head, while those admitted for a snowmobile-related injury are more likely to suffer from a fractured vertebra, rib or sternum.
The vast majority of all ED visits were by males (80%) and occurred during the months of January to March for snowmobiles and July to September for ATVs.
In those cases where blood-alcohol concentration was recorded, 27% of these severe injury ATV incidents involved alcohol levels above the legal limit of .08%.
Alcohol use above the legal limit was a factor in 23% of specialized trauma unit admissions for snowmobiling incidents and 28% of incidents involving off-road vehicles.
Of those injured with alcohol levels above the legal limit, 94% were the drivers.