ATV flips over, killing 33-year-old driver
A 33-year-old central Minnesota man died after the ATV he was driving flipped over in a farm field.
It happened around 11 p.m. Saturday in Blue Hill Township near a rural intersection, the Sherburne County Sheriff's Office said in a news release.
Cmdr. Steve Doran told GoMN a nearby resident saw the accident and called 911. First responders got there and attempted life-saving measures on the man, identified as Jacob Draper. He died at the scene however.
Draper was the only one on the ATV, and the cause of the crash isn't known at this point. Doran told GoMN he didn't appear to be wearing a helmet. Whether alcohol was a factor won't be known until toxicology tests are back.
ATV crashes every year
The DNR says 16 people were killed in ATV crashes last year (three of them coming in side-by-side unit vehicles). Alcohol was known to be a factor in four of them.
That's about in line with where it's been over the past decade. From 2006-2015, an average of 16.8 people died in ATV crashes in Minnesota each year. The highest figure was 22 (coming in 2006 and 2010), while the lowest is 13 (in both 2013 and 2014).
Riding an ATV is pretty popular for youth in the state. Data shows that as of last year, 41,278 kids between 11 and 15 years old were certified to drive one.
In Minnesota, youth can take ATV safety training classes beginning at age 11. To learn more about safety classes, click here.
According to Brainline.org, wearing a helmet reduces the risk of fatal head injuries by 42 percent. And they reduce the risk of non-fatal head injuries by 64 percent.
