Tragedy spurs action; Pike County women push state for tougher ATV laws

EDITOR

Two Pike County women, devastated by tragedies involving ATV accidents in each of their families, have banded together to fight for stricter ATV safety laws in Kentucky.

It started last summer, when Linda White of Turkey Creek lost her first grandchild - tiny Kiren Blankenship, who was just two-and-a-half years old.

After the accident, she began looking online for information about ATV laws involving minors in Kentucky. In a chat room about the topic, she ran across DeAnna Parker.

It turned out that Parker, a Virgie resident, had faced a similar event in her own life.

“My nephew was injured back in the summer - he was riding a four-wheeler on the main road unsupervised,” Parker says. The 14-year-old suffered face and head fractures in the accident that caused permanent brain damage.

The women began talking on the phone, and realized they had a common goal - to see stricter laws in Kentucky regulating the use of ATVs by minors.

As Parker puts it, “We don't let kids play with loaded guns, we don't let them drive our cars, so why let them drive a four-wheeler?”

So the pair decided to take action. They began calling local legislators, urging them to introduce tougher safety laws in the General Assembly.

Then, they started a petition asking for stricter safety standards. They have 85 names so far.

“The laws need to be changed, or a lot more children will die,” says White.

Two ATV safety bills are pending before the Kentucky General Assembly. One would require that children under 16 wear helmets while driving or riding four-wheelers. The other would prohibit children that age from even driving ATVs and require all operators to wear helmets.

But, as Parker and White know all too well, similar bills have failed in past years.

“Bills have been introduced but they've been rejected,” says Parker. Politicians, she believes, have not supported the measures because “they'd lose a lot of votes because a lot of people have four-wheelers.”

The two women also say they want to see the laws already in place be better enforced.

“I think it should be a felony, I think they need to go to jail,” says White.

She would like to see a law setting stricter penalties for those who let kids drive ATVs pass the General Assembly this session. However, realistically White knows that might not happen.

If so, she says, she'll be back next session - and the one after that.

“Our grief doesn't go away when the session ends,” White said. “I have grief every day of my life, and I always will.”

Editor Rachel C. Stanley can be reached via e-mail at rstanley@news-expressky.com.