ATV Florida Forum

make you want to cry...... :(



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AT1CppabBlU

man....that sucked..... I wouldnt know what to do if that happened to my daughter, good thing I taught her to always ride with an adult around and with her helmet and gear on.

a truly sad story, but I think the family of that girl is doing a disservice to her memory by trying to(in most of their writing and actions after the wreck) blame the accident on everything but her and trying to leave her completely innocent of all blame.

Read through the website and do a google search for her name and you will find that the family sued the family that owned the quad, the family of the kid who was driving the quad, the homeowner's association that owned the community where the quad was driven, and the company that managed the gated community where the quad was driven.  Also, looks like the family that owned the quads were very well off because they had recently gotten a $6 million contract to do some environmental cleanup,,,,,didn't research it any further, I guess if they smell money......

I believe it's people like them that make it hard for anyone to even attempt to open up riding areas, even states for fear of lawsuits from people who would rather blame anyone but themselves for everything that "happens" to them instead of taking some personal responibility for their actions.

Maybe I was raised a bit different, but I was told that if I got on someone's quad and got hurt, the first thing I would do was to fix their machine.

My first wreck was on a Honda 50 motorcycle and I rammed it right into a neighbor's garage door,,,,that got me 7 stitches right above my right knee,,,,,,after sitting at home for a day with it elevated, my mom and dad sent me over to the neighbor's house to fix the door and ask if there was anything wrong with the motorcycle that needed fixing.

dangit, I'm worked up over this,,,,OK one more thing and I'm going to bed.  I found this in the "South Florida Legal News"



Nov
5
Family of dead ATV rider gets $3.6 million

Filed Under Torts, Palm Beach

The family of a 13-year-old girl who was killed while riding on the back of an ATV won a $3.6 million jury verdict on Friday, according to a story in the Sun-Sentinel.

Paul Jacobs, the attorney who represented the parents of Sara Hennarichs, said the owners of the ATV knew that the warning stickers and manual stated that riders should be at least 16, the story said.

    “They chose to ignore those warnings,” he said. “As a result of their ignoring warnings … Sara was allowed to take a joy ride and she had no idea what she was doing.”








It is truly a tragedy that the girl is gone and cannot come back, but what did the money do to bring her back?  I hope they enjoy the checks or do something worthwhile with the money.

Id@

"Sara was allowed to take a joy ride and she had no idea what she was doing.”

this is unfortunate but the quote above is bull. im pretty sure she knew what she was doing unless she was blindfolded and tape on the quad and someone set the idler high and let her rip. and i too have always wondered when people are in these hard times why is it that all they can do is think of money.

i agree with the reply above me when you go ridin on someoe else stuff and bust your bum(lol). you dont get up and make someone write you a check, first make sure your ok then go fix the crap you broke.

IT may have served their daughter better to have told her that any motorized vehicle is not childs play. Then again if it were my child I would be casting blame (venting) any way I could. We can all just be gratefull it was'nt our child. All the money in the world cant heal this wound.

No supervision????Maybe her parents should of been watching her.

You must not have any kids ! If you do ....Do you lock them in your home , cage them like animals? You can't "watch" your kids 24/7 ....Like the above post stated ....."if it were my child I would be casting blame (venting) any way I could"  ...Someone would PAY ! Its not like having your grass die(oh well i should have watered it )  or your cat being hit by a car (oh well should have caged fefe up )!  ITS your CHILD !! A human LIFE! If someone is at fault then they should PAY ! The parents have closesure in a way . Suing is better then loading up your guns and taking your hurt out on those at blame .We have rules here in this world and in this case ....the rules were broke ! Little advise to all .....NEVER let someones kid ride your quads ...I don't give a flying F&^%$ who you are , if my daughter was killed riding your quad without my permission (you making a potentially life threatening decision for my child) I would sue till you had nothing to give ! Like it or not !

Why not cast the blame on yourself?  Why is it SOMEONE ELSE's fault.  If it were your kid that did something stupid, then maybe you didn't teach them not to do stupid stuff.  And, yes, my kid does stupid stuff all the time (all kids do), but I'm not going to blame someone else for it...  It's a little thing called "Personal Responsibility" that is SORELY lacking in our society today. 


And shooting someone isn't breaking the rules?????  If you shoot someone over this, what should be done to you?

And who was to blame here?  Sounds like the parents of the kid with the ATV weren't around, so maybe their kid did a stupid thing by letting someone else ride his quad, but the girl did a stupid thing too by riding it.  Why should one kids parents pay for the stupid actions of another kid?


Suing is not the answer to personal pain.  There is no "fix" for the blows that life gives us.  There are no guarantees that bad things won't happen, but trying to transfer the blame and pain to someone else is not the answer.

also agree with this post, just cause someone puts something in front of your face doesnt mean you have to do that or drive it or etc. the kid broke some laws by riding on a public street. but when that girl hopped on the quad she was also breaking some laws of were to ride and so on... im not trying to be mean or feelingless i just dont like when in cases like this were she obviously did it at her own free will, that someone else gets blamed for it. and you could say "well if the kid never rode over there she would have never got on" but if she thought twice about riding it, she would still be alive. both sides can be blamed no money has to come into play. but if say your were injured in a way you could not control like hit by a drunk driver, or defective equiptment i wouldnt blame you going after some cash for that.

Suing is one of the big problems in this day in age, it HAS to be someone elses fault.  That loss is very tragic  :'( but Ida is right everyone wants to sue... thus we are going to loose every right we have to be free. (or whats left) People want everyone else to take responsibility when things go wrong and then pay them. And those same people that demand accountability couldn't help them self if they had to, so lets figure out ways to make it someone elses fault.  Lazy SOB's! Bye bye free world.  Just my 2 cents.

  I agree that you can't blame someone else for what happens. I've ridden many of my friends three wheelers when I was a kid, and they rode mine. We knew that when we got on it, we were responsible. " You crash it, you buy it!!"
   I had a YZ 80 that one of my friends rode and fell off of. His leg went through the handle bars and twisted his leg almost completely off. I was scared like hell and felt responsible.   
   His parents came over and told me," It's not your fault, Jamie knew what he was doing when he got on it."
   Common sense is inherited, not learned. If it weren't, a lot of people would be dead already!!

in the state of Florida I have heard of many crashes where a 13 year old or so was inexperienced and thought they knew how to handle a bigger quad and ended up killing either themselves, a passenger or someone else.  A few years back 13 year old girl riding a 400ex... way to big for her, hit a barbed wire fence and was decapitated.  Its so sad to hear these things but people need to realize its like a gun.  Driving is like a loaded gun.  1 mistake can easily cost lives.  Its not just kids though a year ago maybe not even 2 guys were riding down a dead end road at night not wearing any helmets and I think dont quote me on this they didnt have lights either while topped out.  Well... the road ends sometime they went barreling thorugh the woods out of control hit trees both died and days later a younger kid walking through the woods happens to find 2 dead guys.  The ONLY time I can see not wearing a helmet is either loading the quad up or just trying the new quad out for a lap around the house. 

When I posted about casting blame I didnt mean I would not blame myself. What I meant was my judgement would be clouded by the loss of my child and I would blame anything and everything for my herrendous loss. I know it would really be squarely my fault but I would not be seeing things rationally. I just cant imagine losing one of mine, brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it.

I'm not a parent and hopefully I will not be one anytime soon *crosses fingers*

BUT I say its the girls fault.  Getting on the ATV is basically signing your name saying "I am responsible for my actions".  She made the choice to do it.  She easily could have said no to the boy.  And I'm sure if the parents where there they would've said "just go slow". 

dude, you gotta cross more than that to prevent becoming a parent ;-)

Id@

Not so much him as her. :D

Yeah and thats like saying I lost a loved one but 3 million dollars will make it all better

Do these people think that everytime they look at the stuff they buy with all this money, They wont think "I have this because my daughter died" I would think all that money would do nothing but make things worse.

that's what I was thinking

Id@

Now lets think about this in another light....
say the dad has a badazz corvette in the garage & the son tries to impress his g/f by letting her drive that & she loses control & wraps it around a tree. Is she still the only one to blame?

Or say the dad has loaded guns in the house & the son decides to show them off & lets a young girl hold one who has never held a gun before & she accidently shoots herself, is she the only one to blame.

These are good analogies to stir the minds of the people who feel it is all her fault. Would you guys let a 1st time ever rider get on a yfz450? I know I wouldnt!

This is a sticky situation all the way around. I would feel like WickedBanshee & the grief would cause me to do the same, sorry if you guys dont like it. That is why noone rides my quads unless they are family & my attorney is present with the release forms.
As for the "will the money bring her back?" question...... NO.
Will these people let an inexperienced kid ride their high performance toys again?.....NO.

thats a little extreme about the release forms there friend, and if she shoots herself it is her fault it would have been her choice to hold the gun noone else pulled the trigger its her mistake. this reck was an accident but it could have been prevented from both sides not just one.

The biggest part of the problem right there.

If you are going to allow your child to ride, you should make sure he or she is supervised, wearing the proper protection and riding a bike that is not only correctly sized for them but, one with which they are familiar. If you don't and something happens, it is you, the parent, that is to blame. End of story.

I agree 100% But what if your child goes to one of her friends houses. Are you as a parent going to ask, do you own a big bore ute that you are going to let my daughter ride without adult supervision? The only thing that matters is that a young life was lost.

You, as a parent can only teach them. Children don't always make the proper descisions, thats what makes them children. She probably was told to not ride but chose to any way. How many times as a child did you break the rules?

The son and the g/f are to blame.  Doesn't sound like Dad made the decision.  And I would expect the parents of the girl to take responsibility for the damage that the girl caused.  But, if they don't, then Dad shouldn't sue them.  He should take out the damages from his son's backside.


The son and the girl are to blame.  And I would expect that the son would face some type of criminal charges.  And, although I don't agree with it, most likely the Dad would too. 


These analogies wouldn't be any different.  It is the girls fault for riding the quad and the boy's fault for letting her. 

Yes, it is a sticky situation, but using your grief as an excuse to cause injury or pain to another is despicable.  Do you really  mean to say, that as long as it makes you feel better, then screw everyone else?  The thing that a lot of people seem to have forgotten is that life isn't fair.  Deal with it and quit looking for someone to blame.

This is true here ....When i allow my child to stay at her friends house , that means her friends parents are responsible for my child !! If ANY thing happens to her that could have been prevented by ADULT supervision .Then its the parents fault ! NOT MY child !! I think the parents  of the young lady that died did right by suing ! ITS stupid to even ask "is the millions going to bring her back" .....What it is going to do is  ....Make the people at fault pay for their mistake !!! These parents of this girl are paying for their mistake of letting their child go to stay at a home where there was no adult supervision ....THEY PAID WITH THEIR CHILDS LIFE !!!! NOW ALL YOU THINK ABOUT THAT! .....sue the child's parents where the girl was staying ...why? There was no adult supervision preventing the CHILD from getting on the UTE .They could have prevented her death ! ......sue the parents of the child that rode the UTE to the home where the child was staying ! ....why? ....For allowing their child to ride a UTE that the law says is to big and powerful for one! Their child allowed the girl to ride the UTE !( they should have taught him to not allow others to ride his ATV) .......We could go on and on about this ......someone is always to blame for anything that happens ...The thing is to know when to sue and when not to sue!

i think they should have lefty it as an accident and moved on.

Sounds like your kid NEVER does anything that they should have to take responsibility for.  If you teach them that they aren't to blame for their actions, what type of person are you creating?  Oh, and don't forget, you child will be an adult one day and personal responsibility isn't something that they magically acquire when they turn 18.  You have to instill these types of values at an early age.

I do feel empathy for the parents.  It is a tragedy that their daughter died.  But, it is one that the girl herself could have prevented.  No one forced her to ride the quad.

That is an ridiculous reason.  Are you speculating that if the bike wasn't that big, this wouldn't have happened?  There are a lot of ifs and maybes involved in this line of reasoning.

And the girls parents should have taught her not to ride a quad that she had no business being on.

This is what is wrong with this world today.  Attitudes like this really mess things up for the rest of us.  This is the mentality that shutting down most of our riding areas.  Just wanted to thank you for that!!!!

amen

This is what is wrong with this world today.  Attitudes like this really mess things up for the rest of us.  This is the mentality that shutting down most of our riding areas.  Just wanted to thank you for that!!!!
[/quote]

Man I was thinking the exact same thing, you hit the nail on the head!!!!!!!!  If I left my son with someone that hurt my child in some way or another.  Then guess what it is MY FAULT for leaving them with someone who was not responsible enough to make good decisions, NOT the parents I left them with!!!!!!!! 

so if you left your kid with them, which they didnt, she was visiting her b/f from what i have read.
and the Dad keeps loaded guns without trigger locks in the house & the son shows one off & the girl accidently gets shot in the head, you are saying the dad/son/family has no responsibility for that?
TP, your posts on this matter are bashing towards myself & WB for our views. If that floats your boat its up to you.
People on here are voicing their opinions & you are insulting us for it.
I make sure my son & daughter know that NOONE rides their quads EVER!!!!
As for the release form, that was obviousley a joke.

Also, as for kids, they do make dumb decisions, I know I did many times.
I know as a teenager, if someone would have handed me their keys to a racecar, i would have jumped in. Yeah I jumped in it & drove it so I am responsible, but we all know that parents are ultimately responsible for the children in their care. The adult who handed me those keys would have been ultimately responsible as are the adults who leave loaded guns in a home unlocked.
I own many guns & keep them in a safe just so you know I am not an anti NRA guy,
and dont bash me for that.

I read this story to my 8yr old son and then asked him "Who is at fault?", His reply was " It was the girls fault because she knew that she did not know how to ride it and she did not have on a helmet."


Greenmachine, I don't think that Tony is trying to be disrespectful, he is just trying to express his view of what happened. I happen to agree with his points of view. I also feel that you have the right to your point of view. I don't dislike you nor am I mad at you for your views. We all feel that our view is right and everyone else is wrong or else we would not have our views. In one of your posts you said that you teach your kids to NEVER let ANYONE ride their quads(good thinking), so may i assume that also means that they are not to ride anyone else's quad either? If my assumption is correct then what if your son went over to a friends house and made the decision to ride his friends quad and he ended up dying. Do you feel that it is the other kids or his parents fault? Or do you feel that your son knew better and chose to do wrong thus causing his own death?

We also need to keep in mind that this girl was 13yrs old. She obviously knew that she had zero experience(SP) and that she would get in trouble if her parents knew about it. My personal opinion is that the blame is solely the girl and her parents for not teaching her better.

I feel that i have taught my son son well enough to know what is dangerous and right from wrong so if if a tragedy like this should happen I will be able to determine if the blame is mine and my sons or if it was out of our control.

Kids do and will make mistakes, as for me and my house we will own up and pay for ours!


In the case of the boy taking his dads car and then letting his girlfriend drive it................if its my son then he is in trouble with me for taking my car without permission he will lose his license until he graduates. If it is my daughter that chose to drive the car after the fact(knowing that it is not her car) and wraps it around a tree then she will use all her savings to pay for the damaged caused and i will pay any remaining and make her work it off. If there are criminal charges then she will face the judge for her punishment.

The same goes for the gun situation. My son will be in trouble for touching the guns without permission and if it was my daughter then she paid for her mistake with her life.

I may sound cruel and heartless to some but I feel that when you know the consequences are steep you are less likely to commit the offense. If you think there is a possibility you will get off easy then you are more likely try it anyway.

I only like to stir thought from different angles.
As for my son, no he will not ride anyone elses quad unless I am there as well as the other parent.  When he turns 13 & I am not around that may be different, but I know I jhave done everything I can to teach him better & to make good decisions. Also When my son turns 13, he will have 9yrs of quad riding experience.
I am not saying anyones opinion is wrong or right I am just making analogies.
The quad should have stayed in the garage.
This is what happens when spoiled little rich kids get all the toys in the world & have no responsibility for them or their actions. They know mommy & daddy willl buy their way out of it.
The kids that owned the quads obviousley were never taught respect for them or they wouldnt have let the girl ride them in the neighborhood on the street!
The girl was obviousley as stupid as her friends who owned the quads.

One last thing, quad riders will always say the girl is at fault, which she is.
Post it on a non quad friendly forum & I bet it would be the other way around. I just look at things from both sides of the fence before I post my opinion.
I say the girl is 75% & the family is 25% to blame if you all want to split hairs.

I 100% agree on you need to teach kids and get it through to them they need to tell right from wrong and such.  When I was younger and would ride a 4 wheeler I would never think of riding without a helmet.  One day a saw another kid with a gun in the woods with his friends so I ran I didnt stick around because I was brought up to know what to do.  Sure everyone will do something stupid that they shouldnt have but people just need to learn common sense.  Dont let some inexperience person ride a quad way too big and powerful for their skill.  If you have a gun dont let it be accessable by anyone but you.  Tell your kids guns are dangerous they are bad, if you ever see a gun dont play with it or pick it up.  I could go on and on about how people need to teach kids stuff so they ont do it and how people should take responsibility for what they are doing and think of the consequences but i'm gonna end it here

fair enough both sides have valid points ;)

Fox hondarider quoted about 2 guys riding and were killed in hudson, Well one of the guys was a friend on mine, His name was jimmy, Jimmy was drunk that night him and his friend riding tandom on the bike at night no lights no helmet. and missed a curve, common sense was not involved here. sad to loose a friend but thank God he didnt pull out in front of a car and made the car swearve off the road and maybe kill someone else. live and learn.

i think we are all coming to terms here lol shall we say that this CL

That is very tragic....No amount of money would be worth it to me if she had been my daughter :(

if someone from peta read this, theyd be all over your azz. they think fefe is more important.



anyway, it is solely the girl, the boy, and his parents fault. she was stupid for doing it. it was illegal in many different ways. the boy shouldnt have let her ride it nor should he have been riding it illegally. the boys parents shouldnt have let him have it. its not the neighborhoods fault, the manufactures fault, or anyone elses. stupid hurts or in this case kills. common sense fixes alot. i know that is a tragic loss but she did it to herself.

I would tend to disagree on the parents of the boy being at fault, but in the day and age, I would probably be on the losing side of that argument.  Anyway, I'm curious to know what was illegal about the boy riding the quad.

they were riding in the gated community on the streets.