WACO, Texas — As the weather gets warmer, officials are warning ATV riders to be very careful.
One area has already seen three accidents.
After those incidents, a local agency put out a formal warning on their Facebook page.
“It gave me a good little gash — I hit the ground, and it put a whole in my lip in my mustache all the way through," Mason Hood said.
Hood was riding his ATV, a Polaris RZR on Easter, then he tipped it over.
“I went through the top of roll bar. I’m a big boy and it slung me about 10 feet," Hood said.
But that’s not his first accident on ATVs.
Another time, he was trying to coral a cow on his four-wheeler.
“I t-boned the tree and the four-wheeler — went that way, I went that way and it knocked me out," he said.
It’s wrecks like that that has Hill County Sheriff’s office posting a public service announcement to properly operate ATVs, and to wear your helmet.
25 News stopped by Barger’s Allsports in Waco where they sell ATVs, and they say the biggest problem is teens getting on too big a machine.
"We argue with parents wanting bigger four wheelers than the age of child," said Trent Campbell with Barger's Allsports.
According to statistics, 700 people die annually from ATV crashes, and 100,000 ER visits a year are contributed to ATV accidents.
Extremity and head trauma are the most common type of ATV injuries.
“They’re prone to flip over," Campbell said.
That’s something Mason Hood knows all too well.
