LIVERMORE, Maine — A man and his young daughter were injured in an ATV accident on River Road on Monday afternoon, according to a press release from the Maine Warden Service.
John Walker, 25, was operating his 2012 Polaris 400 ATV on a small dirt track along the Androscoggin River around 3:15 p.m. Monday with his 2½-year-old daughter on the ATV in front of him. They were traveling around a corner at a slow speed when he stopped to look back because he thought he was dragging something, according to the warden service. When Walker pressed on the thumb throttle to continue driving, the thumb throttle lever reportedly stuck behind an after-market heated handlebar grip. This caused the machine to accelerate and Walker and his daughter were ejected into a nearby tree.
The girl reportedly was taken by LifeFlight to Maine Medical Center in Portland suffering from facial injuries. Walker was taken to Maine Medical Center in Lewiston for leg injuries.
Walker’s daughter was not wearing a helmet.
The crash remains under investigation. Game Warden Gary Allen is the primary investigating officer and is being assisted by Wardens Evan Franklin and Peter Herring. The Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office assisted in the investigation.
Who puts their 2 1/2 year old on an ATV?
You would be surprised. Some start their kids off running them alone at that age. Not very smart.
The same people that put them on their riding lawn mowers.
Not the first time this has happened and it won’t be the last. I have seen plenty of fathers on ATV’s with their children and most of the time neither of them have on a helmet. When I see this happen I always wonder why a father would place their own child in such a dangerous situation but I’m sure they all think, it will never happen to them.
I hope the father is charged with negligence in this case.
I hope the child is ok, fully recovers and the father learns a valuable lesson. No Child under 16 should be allowed to operate, nor be a passenger on these dangerous machines. We cant count on parental common sense anymore. How many more kids need to be killed or injured ?
Just like any other inanimate object, an ATV is not a dangerous machine. The danger comes from those using that object. I have two boys that both started riding as a passenger at the age of 3. They both started operating their own machine at age 6. They have always worn helmets and had ADULT supervision when riding. Both have logged many hours and miles with no injuries. Not knowing all of the details of the incident in the article, I will keep my thoughts to myself.
Sh. Don’t say that too loudly. My son’s pediatrician (he’s 13 and also has his own machine and is NEVER allowed to ride without a properly fitting helmet) has told us that as he is under *16*, he (the doctor) should not know this because apparently it is against the law to ride or operate the machine under 16?
The laws are tricky in Maine. A child can ride their own machine on the trails in Maine at the age of 10, if they have taken the safety course and have adult supervision. However, due to Maine law, if you go into an ATV shop and try to purchase an ATV for your child and the shop knows that the machine is for a child under 16, they can not sell it to you.
Wow. That makes a lot of sense. How am I not surprised? And yet these 125’s and other small machines – who do the shops think they’re being sold to? Very Short People?
A 2 1/2 year old SHOULD NOT be riding on an ATV!! Aren’t there any laws restricting this?
Yes, but as the child also didn’t have a helmet on, the parent clearly didn’t heed the law.
Here’s hoping the little girl recovers completely!
Prayers for that baby now, finger pointing later…
It should be perfectly safe to ride a child on an ATV just putting along. I never liked those thumb throttles on ATV’s though; they don’t work as nice as snowmobile thumb throttles.
That’s probably the same thing that little girl’s father thought, too.
A 2 1/2 year old has no business on those machines, especially without a helmet. Period.
KEEP PUTING YOUR LITTLE KIDS ON ATV’S
Quite it with the caps. You don’t have to yell.
What is your deal about Maine people? Do you have something against us? This is the second story that I have read that you have downed Mainers.
I hope and pray the little one recovers…and without any scarring on her face. It appears her Dad will recover also. It is obvious that this young father made a bad mistake by allowing the little one on the ATV. I can only imagine how he must feel today. However, I won’t harshly condemn him. According to the story, he was going slow because of the 2 yr old. He has learned a vital safety message the hard way and won’t make the same mistake again….on any sort of power machine.