Octania

Went to a party tonite, hilbilly fest out in the country. Cute, literally in the cornfields. Nice decorations, live band, a cabin like building, lots of campers. 20-30 quads running the trails out among the fields. Even little kids driving quads. I had my 22 yr old kid with me, and he wanted to go on a quad ride so we talked my friend into a quick ride just before dark. Then, a while later, it's about time to leave, and we wanted 1 more quad ride, so here's one leaving, it's a 2-3 seats in the front with a small maybe 3x5 ft pickup bed in the back. Only 1 girl in the back. They said we could jump in so the kid and I and a 2nd girl loaded in the back for a total of 7 persons. Off we go thru the narrow trails between 9 ft corn and 9 ft some other leafy weed. Turn, go thru the woods, then back along the corn field.... into the woods again. I was in the bed, RH side, hanging onto the roll bar and squatting to allow my legs to absorb the bouncing. Plenty of fun.

Then, the driver, evidently inebriated- I know, at a party, who could have guessed?- gets into some hilly areas, small like 10 ft high but steep hills with turns, and of course trees everywhere. He slows, heads up hill and ha ha heads for a small tree on the right, maybe a 2-3" dia. tree. bumps it.... ha ha oh ok, expect him to back away and go up the hill.... instead he guns it, the quad tries to climb the tree, I figure **** this thing is going over, gonna kill somebody, so I bail out the side. My kid dived under the roll bar. Quad goes over backwards downhill, then again over onto its wheels.

Oh fark

I get up, look around, my kid and I are up and walking, and a girl and 2 other guys. Other girl is lying face down in the trail, head downhill, not moving. I ck my self and my kid, ask who all is hurt... not much response- I don't really know these people. I proceeded to the girl on the ground, saw blood on her hands, maybe a facial wound, but no spurting. She said her legs hurt, I saw no major fractures- there was some light from the quad headlights, but otherwise almost moonless and in the woods out in the sticks. Then I hear that 1 guy is "under the quad" and I fish out my phone and call 911.

Turns out he was beside the quad, on the ground, not "under" it, so that's better. He has a fubar'd leg, probably broken, and protested when I touched it. He was initially responsive but quickly passed out and had labored breathing with blood coming out the nose and mouth. Back to the girl to re-assess her and relate crucial info to the 911 operator... then back to the guy who was by now unconscious but still breathing... It seemed like forever before some partygoers arrived on quads, and there was not much for them to do beyond what was already in progress. I had no phone numbers for anyone AT the party, to call for help..... didn't even have a name of the host.

After a few minutes with emergency services on the phone- they had my GPS location, and I knew the road name and nearby intersection, but the accident was WAY off the last road.... they had help on the way and all we could do was wait and direct the rescue folks when they arrived.

I got a couple abrasions on my shins, and a slight hand injury, but the one guy seemed like he was going to the hospital for a long time, or worse. We stayed until the guy was out and the girl was being boarded to a quad, then tried to walk out but got lost, had to get a ride out in a pickup from an also-lost rescue guy.

Whew, man it can go badly wrong in a hurry. I'm glad that we had consumed very little alcohol, and so were able to react quickly to stay out from under the vehicle's parts, and then find the cell phone and get that call made immediately... and relate pertinent info to the rescue folks.

I believe the vehicle was one of these:

Seff

There are a few life lessons here for people that are careless. Good that you stayed sober and had your phone. Rolling cars are no joke.

MDchanic

Truer words were never spoken.

Sounds like you got more fun than you'd bargained for.
I'm glad you and your son were okay, and that you were able to give some productive help. Multiple injuries in the pitch dark in the middle of the woods is a fairly high-pucker situation.

I believe Grandma used to say, "It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye."

- Eric

jensenracing77

I have a pretty extensive history of off road with 3 wheelers and 4 wheelers. I can say for absolute fact that alcohol and the off road sport should never be mixed. I come from the more extreme side of the sport and alcohol is not tolerated there. Reaction time is in high demand in off road and obviously alcohol is a reaction time killer. Glad you are ok and hope you learned something here.

MDchanic

I would like to add that in our current liability-infused environment, I am still a believer that each of us has the responsibility to make decisions for himself.

That being said, if the driver was, in hindsight, completely snockered, that's his problem, and the facts are what they are.
If, however, the party's host had nothing to do with it, it might be a charitable gesture to make sure that you make clear when you tell this story, that the driver appeared to be perfectly fine when you started out (you have the sense not to have gone out on a ride with Oombidiago at the wheel) - no need for the host to be on the hook for something that he was unaware of.

- Eric

drop top olds

What a sad story. Personally, I will not ride on any four wheeler/quad or ATV. In my opinion they are too dangerous. Years ago our two boys had an incident on one. The younger ended up with a lacerated liver and 23 staples in his head + a $15K care flight ride. So based on my experience with ATV's and quads, they are grenades with the pin removed.
Glad you and your son were not hurt.

Boldsmobile

Gave my quad away, too old and cautious.

Sampson

Glad you guys were OK and I hope the injured recover. The guy that had blood coming out of nose and mouth does not sound good. Alcohol and anything that involves gasoline do not mix period. On road, off road or in the water. 4 wheelers and quads are a lot of fun but deserve respect and common sense. I bought one for my kids when they were teenagers and we all enjoyed it. A girl who worked for me had twin teenage sons who got into racing 4 wheelers. They were into some pretty serious stuff. One of them lost his life at 16 yrs old in a racing accident. I really never got the part of taking something designed to go on rough terrain and then modifying it to go fast?

oldcutlass

Not much more to say here, hopefully the young man will be ok.

Koda

My old man owns a old Honda Big Red 250 Quadtrax. I have only seen him do one dumb thing on it, and it was 20 years ago, and I still remind him of how dumb it was.

However, we treat the thing as a hunting vehicle, i.e, to move about the property, as opposed to a sport competition vehicle.

I'm glad most everyone is ok. Barfing blood means internal injuries, that's not good.

CQR

I'm glad to hear the injuries were not worse. That vehicle is considered a UTV and should have a max of 3 (preferably 2) passengers. These vehicles are no more dangerous than a lawn tractor or dirt bike when used properly.

My wife and I have raced ATV's for close to 15 years, and our daughter started riding at the age of 3, and racing at 8. I have spent a large amount of my free time fighting to keep my riding privileges. When I hear of events like this that further put a black eye on those of us who are responsible about this hobby, it makes my blood boil.

Its a shame that common sense is so uncommon.

I hope everyone at the party learned a good lesson from this and no-one had to die.