Rural Iowa Adolescents’ Use, Knowledge and Attitudes Regarding ATVs on Public Roads

Cole Wymore, BS
Brooke Askelsen, Undergraduate
Jessica Halyko, MPAS
Jacob Bliss, MPAS
Delanie Moeggenberg, BA
Parker Sternhagen, Un dergraduate
Junlin Liao, PhD
Pam Hoogerwerf, BA
Brenda Vergara, No Degree
Charles Jennissen, MD

Most deaths related to all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) occur on public roads with the majority being single vehicle crashes. Manufacturers state ATVS are not designed for public roads and warn against this use. Still, municipalities, counties and states across the country are passing legislation allowing increased use of ATVs on public roads. Our objective was to examine rural adolescent’s use, knowledge and attitudes related to ATVs on public roads.

Attendees of the 2024 Iowa FFA (formerly Future Farmers of America) Leadership Conference were anonymously surveyed at the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital safety booth. Descriptive, contingency table and logistic regression analyses were performed using Stata 15.1 (StataCorp, College Station, TX).

1,029 FFA members 13-18 years of age participated. About two-thirds were 14-17 years. One-half lived on a farm, one-fifth were from the country/not a farm, and 30% lived in a town. The vast majority (96%) were non-Hispanic White. Two-thirds of respondent’s families owned an ATV and 86% had driven/ridden an ATV. Of those who had driven/ridden an ATV, 91% had driven/ridden on an unpaved public road (44% reported doing so at least weekly) and 77% had been on a paved road (25% reported doing so at least weekly). Males and owners of ATVs had greater odds of having driven/ridden on unpaved public roads and of driving/riding on them more frequently. Males, older teens, and ATV owners had higher odds of driving/riding on paved roads and of doing so more frequently. Overall, 69% and 63% stated it was safe to drive ATVs on unpaved and paved public roads, respectively, while 69% and 43% stated ATVs were designed for unpaved and paved roads, respectively. Males (1.7x), older teens (1.6x) and those that had ridden on public roads (3.4x) all had greater odds of stating it was safe to drive ATVs on both unpaved and paved roads than their comparative peers. Less than half agreed that most ATV deaths occur on public roads. Over half agreed to assertions that ATV manufacturers state ATVs are safe on unpaved (58%) and paved (51%) public roads. Generally, males, older teens, ATV riders, those who had ridden on public roads and more frequent riders all had greater proportions that held these misconceptions. Only 18% knew one had to be 18 years old to legally drive on Iowa county roads with an ATV.

A high proportion of study participants had driven/ridden an ATV and most had been on public roads. The majority held misconceptions and believed falsehoods related to ATVs on public roads with higher proportions of frequent riders and those that had driven/ridden on public roads having these beliefs. Targeted education and enforced legislation prohibiting use on public roads may be critical in decreasing ATV-related deaths and injuries.

1. Describe present practices of rural adolescents regarding driving ATVs on public roads.
2. Discuss the attitudes rural adolescents have related to the driving of ATVs on public roads.
3. State at least three demographic groups that had higher proportions who held misconceptions and falsehoods related to ATVs on public roads.