politicnewsbusterinsiderpostreview: ATV crashes and deaths on the rise

Friday, 2 December 2022

ATV crashes and deaths on the rise

Good morning,

🎧 At noon on Big Books and Bold Ideas, MPR News host Kerri Miller chats with author David Treuer about what he's learned. What does he know now that he didn't know when "Little" was first released? What does he think about his younger self? And how does he view the burgeoning field of Native writers and books today? Listen in. Here's what else we have planned today.

🌬️ Friday will bring highs near 40 in the southeast while cold already starts to slip into northwestern Minnesota with teens there. Get the latest on Updraft.

ATV crashes, deaths involving kids rise in Minnesota as popularity climbs

Four-year-old Steve "Owen" Meyer died in July after losing control of the all-terrain vehicle he was driving on a gravel road near a Morrison County farm, without his parents' permission.

A 6-year-old passenger jumped off before the ATV rolled but Owen didn't make it, dying two days before his fifth birthday. His obituary described him as a "resilient, fearless, little boy that believed that nothing could hurt him."

He was the youngest victim of an ATV crash this year in Minnesota, but he wasn't the only child to die that way.

All-terrain vehicle use has surged as an outdoor recreational activity across Minnesota, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. But their popularity has come with a human toll: 67 Minnesotans have died in ATV crashes in the past three years, including 21 this year. Of the 67 victims, 12 were children younger than 18.

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— Sam Stroozas, MPR News

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