Horrible ATV Accident in Ft Myers

[Thrumud]

I was there when it all happened, it was horrible.  All we heard was a very loud crash and two riders completely out cold.  The rider with a brand new Suzuki 450 was traveling over 50 mph when he hit head on with another rider on a FYZ 450. The boy on his father’s FYZ died on the scene. The other rider is in critical condition. Both kids were 16 years of age. The impact to the FYZ was so bad, it looked like the bike was torn in half.

Prayers go out to the family.  Very sad day.

It will be on the news tonight.

[SpringHill Riderz]

oh geez, that sucks.  They were both wearing helmets and other misc gear right?  It makes me feel terrible to know they were out having fun spending time with good ol pops or the whole family then bam its over.    I looked on a bunch of news sites, didnt see anything.  Maybe because it was further down south.

[k.p.]

damn...thats sad news my prayers go out to a family. my friend was in a pretty bad crash on his yfz. him and some dude on a 450r were goin about 40 and they hit head on but thankgoodnesss neither of them were hurt. it just goes to show if you ride irresponsibly you can get hurt.and please realize im not saying that to be mean

[PLEDGER#76]

I think there are starting to be alot of accidents lately, the county and state level people should notice this and hurry up with the long overdue riding park that has been promised.. I feel for the familys of these people I have got 2 kids who ride and could not imagine losing them like this, our prayers go out to the familys.....

[qt314nfla]

I am sorry for the families loss.  I may take some crap for this but the only 16yo that has any business on a 450 sport bike is a kid w/ plenty of experience that is racing.  We have many racing kids on this site and I'm quite sure they are better on those than some of the adults.  Those bikes are meant for racing hence the no reverse, I've never seen anyone use or need reverse when racing.  I really hope they were wearing their gear.  It does show that even w/ the proper gear though that stupidity hurts and sometimes kills and no amount of gear will help.  Key word is stupidity.  My prayers go out to both of these families. I can't even fathom the loss and emotions questioning what went wrong they must be going through and will go through the rest of their lives.

We could only wish that actions like this would get the state to realize the need for more OHV parks.  Unfortunately, history tends to repeat itself.  Past history of ATV accidents and the nations response to them is not good.  They chose to ban the sport rather than work towards a safe riding areas with reasonable rules and limitations.

[Thrumud]

I got there around 12:00 PM today, and I noticed the kid on the new Suzuki racing up and down over and over again, like trying to impress other riders. I arrive at the site around 2 PM, and he was still racing up and down. A rider goes up to me and said "someone is going to get hurt" 2 to 4 seconds later we heard the loud bang. I guess he spoke to soon.  The rider on the Suzuki was wearing a helmet, but the innocent by standard (the one on the FYZ) on his dad's quad was killed.

I was there with the father holding his son's body just after the impact. He died of massive internal injuries.  Medics say not even a helmet would have saved his life. It broke me down to tears to see the mom and dad next to their son’s body and yelling to God not to take him. I arrived at the hospital and the scene was more intense. 

His name was Kyle, he will be missed.

[eldiablo64]

wow that sucks!! prayers to the families.I went to croom last saturday unloaded the quad and watchin some of the shenanigans goin on for a couple hours and loaded back up and left.way to many people doin way to stupid of stuff for me.I aint ridin around that kinda stuff.both the rangers and dept.of ag police just turned there heads I don't understand that

[Thrumud]

I am sorry for the families loss.  I may take some crap for this but the only 16yo that has any business on a 450 sport bike is a kid w/ plenty of experience that is racing.  We have many racing kids on this site and I'm quite sure they are better on those than some of the adults.  Those bikes are meant for racing hence the no reverse, I've never seen anyone use or need reverse when racing.  I really hope they were wearing their gear.  It does show that even w/ the proper gear though that stupidity hurts and sometimes kills and no amount of gear will help.  Key word is stupidity.  My prayers go out to both of these families. I can't even fathom the loss and emotions questioning what went wrong they must be going through and will go through the rest of their lives.

We could only wish that actions like this would get the state to realize the need for more OHV parks.  Unfortunately, history tends to repeat itself.  Past history of ATV accidents and the nations response to them is not good.  They chose to ban the sport rather than work towards a safe riding areas with reasonable rules and limitations.

Well said QT

[Fox17]

my prayers go out to the families. people need to be more careful. 50mph around a blind corner not knowing what is round the corner is stupid. my dad had 2 friends that died on 3 wheelers a while back cause they hit head on in a trail. it took them a few hours to find them and they were both dead when they got there. very sad. we all need to be more careful.

[PLEDGER#76]

This is exactly the reason I dont take my kids to ride in Lehigh anymore, to many blind corners and 4-wheelers coming out of nowhere into the middle of a trail...

[Thrumud]

This did not happen on a trail, it was a wide open area.  We still don't understand how this could have happened. If you guys are familiar with the spot just north of 82 in Lehigh, the accident occurred just north of the canal. By the looks of the quads, the Suzuki hit the FYZ on the left side, broke the a arm, left shock and wheel right off the quad and the front end of the Suzuki smashed up against the other driver at about 60 mph.

[310R_Dude]

No matter the shoulda's, woulda's, coulda's... this is a tradgedy. I feel
sorrow for the lives affected. Surely what seemingly was gonna be an
awesome riding day turned into the worst nightmare possible

I'm speechless...

[klutchbuster400]

man i cant even begin to fathom such an event.
i get a feeling of emptiness just thinking about it.
we've all done stupid things at one time or another.
the death of a child should never be looked at as "well he asked for it"
i dont care who you are.

gery350

[SWFRider]

As Thrumud knows I ride out their all the time and try to avoid that area. I was out there today with my wife and when we found out about it, we ended our ride and went home. Its a tragic accident. Riding gear may not have helped in this case but I have read numerous accounts on this and other forums where helmets have saved lives so please dont down play wearing a helmet. 90% of the people in this area dont ride with helmets ( because it doesnt look kewl ) and have no real knowledge of how to properly ride ie signals and rules of the trails. After going home we went out too eat and saw a family of riders crossing the street ( about a mile from the crash) one ATV had the dad and his 2 young kids, one infront of him and one behind , no more than 6yrs old on the same quad and the kids had no helmets, WTF. I ve always said adults make up your own mind, but kids dont know better. My kids ride with us and I dont know what I would of done if it were my child.

[qt314nfla]

Sorry if my comment about riding gear was misunderstood.  I was not trying to insinuate that ppl should ride w/o gear.  I was pointing out that stupid tends to be at the root of all accidents.  Alot of those 'stupid' ppl tend to think their equiptment will save them.  It was my intention to state that even w/ equiptment fatalities happen.

I agree w/ the gear issue and SWF's thoughts on that decision.

[Cory1020]

heres a short article on the accident.  http://www.nbc-2.com/articles/readarticle.asp?articleid=9307&z=3&p=  they arnt releasing much info. so sad this kind of stuff happens

[Thrumud]

Last I heard the site is now a crime scene and is under investigation.

[Fox17]

As Thrumud knows I ride out their all the time and try to avoid that area. I was out there today with my wife and when we found out about it, we ended our ride and went home. Its a tragic accident. Riding gear may not have helped in this case but I have read numerous accounts on this and other forums where helmets have saved lives so please dont down play wearing a helmet. 90% of the people in this area dont ride with helmets ( because it doesnt look kewl ) and have no real knowledge of how to properly ride ie signals and rules of the trails. After going home we went out too eat and saw a family of riders crossing the street ( about a mile from the crash) one ATV had the dad and his 2 young kids, one infront of him and one behind , no more than 6yrs old on the same quad and the kids had no helmets, WTF. I ve always said adults make up your own mind, but kids dont know better. My kids ride with us and I dont know what I would of done if it were my child.

i dont understand why people dont wear helmets. at SE i hardly EVER see someone with a helmet on not to mention everything else. i always wear a helmet, chest protector, boots, and that stuff. i wreck so often and so bad i need it. it is just stupidity to not wear a helmet at least. if you dont i really suggest you start cause this will be you one day. weather you ride a ute or a sport. it dont matter.

[1FasterBlaster]

I rode my quad at Gandy today.I met a family with 3 kids who weren't as fortunate as my family.I made all of them dogs on the grill and rode all the kids up and down the beach all day.
  I realized, I had the lives of somone elses children in my hands.I made them all wear helmets, even if I was just going slow.I know I push it hard too, but you have to be smart and realize you hold the safety of other riders around you in your hands too!!
  Ride fun, and smart.
 My deepest prayers and thoughts to both those families.I wouldn't want to go through what they had to endure!!

[Thrumud]

I would say there were 40 to 50 riders out there, maybe less than 10 riders were wearing helmets. Only about 3 of us were wearing full gear, (Helmet, goggles, boots, chest deflectors etc.) I always ask the kids out there "where is your helmet".  They answer it is too hot to wear or I don't have one.

[53yfz450]

very very sad.......my prayers go out to the familys

[UncleRico]

It makes me uncomfortable to read about what happened, and I can't even imagine how terrible it would be to have to witness such an event and the aftermath that followed. Nor, can I imagine the immense emotional pain that one would have to endure when seeing your child die in front of you. This family and the events that transpired today will remain in my thoughts and reflections for some time..


There are certain inherent risks in our sport, that we all seem to accept. But In my opinion, the state agencies and local governments who so willingly accept funds from the taxation, registration, and titling of ATV's, need to step up and provide safe places for ATV enthusiasts to ride. They need to earmark that money for recreational OHV parks, with safe trails, with one way systems, to diminish the possibility of accidents like this happening.

I'm not saying that that would have prevented today's accident, but we should at least have the right to have a safe alternative to just open riding, where whoever wants to, can just ride at their whim, even if it is completely out of control.

[Thrumud]

Just saw NBC 2 news regarding the incident.  They did not bash the riders but said that county officials need to step up and find legal regulated areas to ride.

[Thrumud]

From the media

http://www.fox4now.com/NewsArticle/tabid/1149/xmid/5597/Default.aspx

[SWFRider]

It makes me uncomfortable to read about what happened, and I can't even imagine how terrible it would be to have to witness such an event and the aftermath that followed. Nor, can I imagine the immense emotional pain that one would have to endure when seeing your child die in front of you. This family and the events that transpired today will remain in my thoughts and reflections for some time..


There are certain inherent risks in our sport, that we all seem to accept. But In my opinion, the state agencies and local governments who so willingly accept funds from the taxation, registration, and titling of ATV's, need to step up and provide safe places for ATV enthusiasts to ride. They need to earmark that money for recreational OHV parks, with safe trails, with one way systems, to diminish the possibility of accidents like this happening.

I'm not saying that that would have prevented today's accident, but we should at least have the right to have a safe alternative to just open riding, where whoever wants to, can just ride at their whim, even if it is completely out of control.

Well put!

I also noticed that the media didnt bash ATV'n. This isnt a new sport and most of us know the dangers. We need to ride with respect and watch out for one another. My wife and I are still hit hard by this and probably will refrain from riding for a bit. this accident does show that even though you may be a good rider and dont think you need gear you cant predict what someone else will do to you accidents happen and are increased by wrecklessness , stupidity and pure dumb luck. Take care all and ride safe.