The recipe for a deadly ATV crash in Maine

By V. Paul Reynolds

Driving or riding an All Terrain Vehicle in the Maine woods is supposed to be a fun thing, and it is if done responsibly. But tragedy can be just around the next corner if critical safety parameters are ignored or flaunted.

In late August, in the same week, two ATV operators or passengers were killed in separate ATV accidents. On Aug. 16, a Fort Fairfield 15-year-old male passenger was killed in a side-by-side when the operator lost control and the ATV rolled over. The driver sustained injuries, but will survive. Neither the driver nor the passenger was wearing a seat belt or helmet. During the same week in Piscataquis County near Wadleigh Pond, a North Berwick man was killed when he failed to negotiate a curve and crashed. Wardens said excessive speed was a factor. The deceased was not wearing a helmet.

Nationwide, thousands of people die each year in crashes involving all-terrain vehicles and other off-highway vehicles. Maine has averaged roughly five to seven ATV fatalities a year in recent years. We are well on our way to that number again.

What causes the Maine deaths?

Looking at Maine Warden Service reports, a remarkably consistent pattern emerges:

Losing control and rolling over or striking something.

This is probably the single most common immediate mechanism. A rider goes too fast for a curve, hill, bridge, trail condition, etc., loses control and the ATV rolls or hits a tree.

2. Failure to wear a helmet.

This is especially important because a rollover or ejection doesn’t necessarily have to be fatal. A helmet can make the difference between a serious injury and a fatal head injury.

Alcohol

Alcohol appears repeatedly in Maine fatal ATV investigations. Maine’s transportation-safety data also found a significant relationship between alcohol and ATV crashes. An older Maine DOT analysis found 267 alcohol-related ATV crashes — 10.2% of all reported ATV crashes — during the period examined.

Speed and inexperience

These two frequently go together. The Warden Service routinely emphasizes riding under control and within one’s ability, particularly on unfamiliar trails.

Trees and other fixed objects

This is a particularly Maine-like hazard. In the woods, there isn’t much room for error. A rider who leaves the trail or loses control can hit a tree with enormous force.

Water and ice

Maine has an additional hazard that isn’t as prominent nationally: ATVs breaking through ice. The Warden Service counted three ATV-through-ice fatalities in 2023 and 2024 combined — two in 2023 and one in 2024.

The takeaway is clear

Like most accidents, they don’t just happen. They are the result of choices made and often a culmination of behavioral consequences. If you are an ATV operator who drinks, speeds, and does not wear a helmet or a seat belt, you are bucking the odds. The fun stops when an ATV careens off the trail and hits a tree. The statistics will invariably catch up with those ATV riders who don’t heed the basics of ATV safety.

The author is a Maine outdoor columnist and editor of the Northwoods Sporting Journal.