Off-highway vehicle (OHV) fatalities continue to claim lives at an alarming rate. According to Consumer Federation of America’s (CFA) most recent data, 632 riders lost their lives in preventable OHV accidents across the country in 2024, a 127 percent increase from the year before. Of these preventable tragedies, 119 involved children 16 years old or younger, including an infant and six toddlers.
“Year after year, CFA has found the percentage of children dying in OHV-related incidents to be deeply alarming,” said Courtney Griffin, CFA’s Director of Consumer Product Safety. “It is heartbreaking and unacceptable to see even toddlers included in these fatality statistics. These are preventable tragedies and more must be done to protect our most vulnerable riders.”
Comprehensive and publicly available statistics on OHV fatalities are sorely lacking. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) only releases aggregated numbers, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) data only covers fatalities on public roads. To address this gap, CFA has collected OHV fatality data from news articles annually since 2013. We make this data available on our website for researchers and advocates.
When the data from 2013 through 2024 is combined, we find that teenagers make up a disproportionate percentage of OHV fatalities.
“All OHVs, even youth models, pose risks,” said Dr. Gary Smith, President of the Child Injury Prevention Alliance. “OHVs are fast, complex machines, and due to their design, they roll over easily. One wrong choice could lead to the emergency department or worse. Children younger than 16 years just aren’t ready for the demands of safe riding, so we encourage parents to find a different activity for their child.”
These data points paint a sobering picture, one that becomes even more alarming when viewed through the lens of seasonal trends. Every year, as temperatures rise and more riders take to trails, dunes, and backcountry roads, OHV fatalities surge dramatically during the peak summer months. In 2024, there was an average of 72 monthly fatalities from May through September, compared to an average of 39 monthly fatalities during the rest of the year. This predictable spike continues to take lives each summer, turning what should be a season of adventure into one marked by tragedy for too many families.
According to the 2024 data, OHV fatalities disproportionately occurred on-roads (65%). Even industry groups have opposed the use of OHVs – including All-Terrain Vehicles (ATV) – on public streets, roads, or highways because these vehicles are not designed, manufactured, or intended for this use. Unfortunately, roadway crashes are more likely to involve multiple fatalities, collisions, and head injuries. Victims in roadway crashes are less likely to wear protective gear, such as helmets, and were more likely to be carrying passengers, both things that are risk factors for ATV-related fatalities and injuries.
A map of per-capita OHV fatalities by state from 2013-2024 reveals a troubling pattern: states that allow OHVs on public roads tend to experience a higher numbers of deaths per capita. West Virginia saw the most per-capita fatalities (15.28 fatalities per 100,000 people), followed by states in the northwestern part of the country (Alaska, Montana, and Wyoming). The data underscore the urgent need for government intervention and increased public awareness in these areas.
Source: Consumer Federation of America (CFA) analysis of news articles, 2013-2014.
The increasing number of OHV fatalities is especially concerning in the context of ongoing attacks on the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and efforts to undermine the agency’s authority. As fatalities rise, the CPSC plays a crucial role in enforcing safety standards, conducting research, and implementing regulations designed to protect consumers from preventable accidents. However, recent efforts to eliminate this independent, bipartisan agency and gut its leadership leaves consumers more vulnerable to life-threatening accidents. The spike in OHV fatalities highlights the critical need for a strong, functioning CPSC that can continue its life-saving work in the face of these ongoing threats.
CFA has been working to minimize deaths and injuries from OHVs for decades by petitioning the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to ban adult-size ATVs for children, convening a coalition to prevent OHV road access, compiling fatality information in real time with that coalition, and urging the CPSC to collect annual Recreational Off-Highway Vehicle (ROV) data, among other requests to take steps to reduce OHV deaths and injuries.
CFA urges consumers to take the following seven critical steps to reduce OHV deaths and injuries:
- Never operate an OHV on a road.
- Never permit children younger than 16 years old to operate an adult-size OHV or any OHV that is too large or too powerful for them.
- Always wear a helmet and other protective gear when riding an OHV.
- When riding an OHV with seatbelts, always wear them.
- Never allow more people on an OHV than it was designed to carry.
- Never ride when under the influence.
- Take a hands-on safety course.
Our partners at Prevent Child Injury have issued an important ATV safety toolkit aimed specifically at helping parents learn about the risks of children using ATVs. If consumers have experienced an incident or injury involving an OHV, reports can be submitted to the CPSC. All of the data in the blog is available on our website.