Off-road vehicle safety data shows a large burden of U.S. deaths and emergency-department-treated injuries, with risk patterns differing by vehicle type, age, roadway exposure and crash behavior. The measures below cover OHVs, ATVs, ROVs and UTVs, but the populations and periods vary by source and study design.
Key Off-Road Vehicle Safety Statistics
The most broadly useful figures are:
- In the United States, 2,448 OHV-related deaths were reported during 2018–2020 for OHVs with more than two wheels.
- In the United States, 504,400 OHV-related emergency-department-treated injuries were estimated for 2018–2022.
- During 2018–2022, annual estimated OHV injury rates ranged from about 28 to 33 per 100,000 people in the United States.
- In 2020, 990 OHV deaths were reported in the United States, compared with 744 in 2019.
- During 2018–2020, ATVs accounted for 1,643 reported OHV deaths in the United States.
- During 2018–2020, males comprised 82% of reported OHV deaths in the United States.
- During 2018–2020, people aged 55 and older represented 30% of reported OHV deaths in the United States.
- During 2018–2022, ages 16–24 represented 22% of estimated OHV injuries in the United States.
- During 2018–2022, four-wheel ATVs excluding dune buggies produced an estimated 303,300 injuries, or 60% of the U.S. total.
- During 2018–2022, utility vehicles, including ROVs and UTVs, produced an estimated 39,400 injuries, or 8% of the U.S. total.
- In a nine-year hospital study, 21% of 521 ATV injury admissions were severe, defined as an Injury Severity Score above 15.
- In the same hospital study, 11 of 521 patients died, an overall mortality of 2%.
- In a CPSC review of 801 incident reports, more than 80% of ROV fatalities involved occupant ejection.
- In the United States fatality analysis covering 1985–2009, roadway fatality victims were 11 times more likely to collide with another vehicle than off-road victims.
- In a Nova Scotia major-traumatic-brain-injury cohort from 2002–2017, 45% of ORV-crash patients were wearing helmets.
- In a fatal ATV-crash study, alcohol was detected in 50% of decedents.
- In Alberta from April 1, 1998, through March 31, 2008, mortality was 17% in a selected serious ATV-trauma cohort.
Contents
- Key Off-Road Vehicle Safety Statistics
- Deaths and Emergency-Department Injury Data
- Age, Sex and Vehicle-Type Trends
- ATV and UTV Injury Severity and Outcomes
- Rollovers, Ejection and Roadway Crash Hazards
- Helmet Use, Alcohol and Traumatic Brain Injury
- Costs, Mortality Predictors and Regional Concentration
Off-Road Vehicle Safety Statistics: Deaths and Emergency-Department Injury Data
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) uses OHV for a broader category than ATV. Its report covers ATVs, recreational off-highway vehicles (ROVs) and utility terrain vehicles (UTVs) with more than two wheels, while NEISS injury estimates are emergency-department-treated cases rather than every injury.
| Measure | Period and population | Finding |
|---|---|---|
| Reported deaths | United States OHVs, 2018–2020 | 2,448 |
| Estimated injuries | United States OHVs, 2018–2022 | 504,400 |
| Refined 2022 estimate | United States OHVs | 90,400 injuries |
| Original 2022 NEISS estimate | United States OHVs | 94,700 injuries |
The CPSC’s 2023 Report of Deaths and Injuries Involving Off-Highway Vehicles with More than Two Wheels recorded 2,448 deaths during 2018–2020. The annual count rose from 744 in 2019 to 990 in 2020, a reported 33% increase, but these are counts rather than exposure-adjusted risk rates.
For 2018–2022, CPSC estimated 504,400 emergency-department-treated injuries, averaging about 100,900 per year. Annual estimated injury rates ranged from about 28 to 33 per 100,000 people; that is a population rate, not a rate per ride or rider.
CPSC’s refined 2022 estimate was 90,400 injuries, compared with 94,700 in the original NEISS estimate. The refinement used 132 special-study responses and should not be generalized to earlier years.
The refined 2022 estimate included 62,200 injuries involving ATVs with more than three wheels and 26,100 involving ROVs or UTVs. In the CPSC five-year summary, the OHV & ATV Safety page reports that ATVs represented 92% of OHV injuries.
Off-Highway Vehicle Safety Trends by Age, Sex and Vehicle Type
The fatality profile and injury profile are not identical because they cover different periods and outcomes. The death percentages below describe reported U.S. OHV deaths in 2018–2020, while the injury percentages describe estimated emergency-department-treated injuries in 2018–2022.
| Category | Reported deaths, 2018–2020 | Estimated injuries, 2018–2022 |
|---|---|---|
| Males or ages 16–24 | Males: 82% | Ages 16–24: 22% |
| Ages 25–34 | 15% | 19% |
| Ages 35–44 | 14% | Not supplied |
| Ages 55 and older | 30% | Not supplied |
| Ages 12–15 | Not supplied | 14% |
| Under 12 | Not supplied | 13% |
According to the CPSC report, females represented 18% of reported deaths, with six deaths having unknown sex. People aged 55 and older represented 30% of deaths; ages 16–24 represented 15%, ages 25–34 15% and ages 35–44 14%, while eleven deaths had unknown age.
The CPSC safety summary reports nearly 300 deaths among children under 16 during 2018–2020. For estimated injuries, ages 16–24 accounted for 22%, ages 25–34 for 19%, ages 12–15 for 14% and children under 12 for 13%.
Vehicle categories also differ materially. During 2018–2020, ATVs accounted for 1,643 reported deaths, ROVs for 635 and UTVs for 56; 114 deaths were unresolved between ROV and UTV classifications.
For estimated 2018–2022 injuries, four-wheel ATVs excluding dune buggies produced 303,300 cases, or 60% of the total. ATVs with unspecified wheel count excluding dune buggies produced 155,200 cases, or 31%, while utility vehicles, including ROVs and UTVs, produced 39,400 cases, or 8%.
ATV and UTV Injury Severity, Treatment and Outcomes
National CPSC estimates show scale, but hospital studies provide a closer view of injury severity and disposition. These studies are selected hospital populations and should not be read as the probability of injury on an average ride.
A nine-year observational hospital study identified 521 ATV-related injury admissions, equal to 4.3% of all admissions in that hospital population. Adults represented 59.8% and children aged 18 or younger 39.3%, with subgroup totals not summing exactly because of missing age data or rounding; males comprised 80.2%.
The study recorded chest injuries in 29.8% of casualties and upper-extremity injuries in 28.8%. Head injuries occurred in 25.9% and spine injuries in 21.7%; body-region percentages can overlap because one patient can have multiple injuries.
- Severe injury, defined as ISS greater than 15, occurred in 21% of subjects, or 109 patients.
- The mean Injury Severity Score was 10.6, with a standard deviation of 7.7.
- Eleven of 521 patients died, producing overall mortality of 2% in the hospital study.
- The median ICU stay was 3 days, with a range of 1 to 35 days.
The same study reported that 90.2% of patients were discharged home, 5.2% were transferred and 2.5% were sent to rehabilitation. Only 3.6% were documented as wearing helmets.
Age concentration was also visible in the hospital data: the 11–20 age group represented 36.8% of ATV injuries and the 21–30 group 26.1%. Among pediatric cases, ages 11–14 represented 48.9% and ages 15–18 represented 30%.
These findings come from All-terrain vehicle (ATV)-related injuries among different age groups: insights from a 9-year observational study, a single-center observational study.
Off-Road Crash Hazards: Rollovers, Ejection and Roadway Exposure
Crash mechanism matters because roadway and off-road fatalities show different patterns. The comparisons below concern fatality populations, not all crashes or all riders.
More than 80% of ROV fatalities in a CPSC review of 801 incident reports involved occupant ejection. This incident review is not an exposure-based risk estimate, but it identifies ejection as a prominent feature of the reviewed fatal events.
In a CPSC fatality analysis covering 1985–2009, nearly three-quarters of off-road ATV fatalities followed a non-collision event such as a rollover. The same analysis found that roadway fatality victims were 11 times more likely than off-road victims to have collided with another vehicle.
| Fatality comparison | Roadway victims versus off-road victims | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Passenger status | 48% more likely | 1985–2009 |
| Helmet use | 44% less likely to be helmeted | 1985–2009 |
| Alcohol-involved crash | 77% more likely | 1985–2009 |
The roadway analysis is summarized in More fatal all-terrain vehicle crashes occur on the roadway than off: increased risk-taking characterises roadway fatalities. Its odds and relative-likelihood comparisons apply to fatality victims, not general crash incidence.
A separate fatal ATV-crash study found collisions made up 56% of 54 traffic crashes, while rollovers made up 55% of 58 nontraffic crashes. Head injuries occurred in 65% of fatal traffic ATV crashes, while compression injuries of the thorax and abdomen occurred in 36% of fatal nontraffic crashes.
Helmet Use, Alcohol and Traumatic Brain Injury Statistics
Helmet and alcohol measures come from selected fatality and major-traumatic-brain-injury cohorts. They show associations and observed patterns, not prevalence among all off-road riders.
A Nova Scotia trauma-registry cohort from 2002–2017 included 424 patients with major traumatic brain injury: 220 from ORV crashes and 204 from motorcycle crashes. Only 45% of ORV-crash patients were wearing helmets.
In the Nova Scotia cohort, criminal intoxication was associated with 3.7 times the odds of being unhelmeted. Legal intoxication was associated with 5.63 times the odds of in-hospital mortality compared with BAC-negative patients, while criminal intoxication was associated with 4.97 times the odds; these mortality models combined ORV and motorcycle patients.
The findings are from Alcohol is a risk factor for helmet non-use and fatalities in off-road vehicle and motorcycle crashes, a retrospective registry cohort limited to major traumatic brain injury.
In a fatal ATV-crash study, only 15% of decedents were known to have worn helmets. Alcohol was detected in 50% of decedents, and 88% of alcohol-positive decedents had BAC at least 0.08%; drugs of abuse were identified in 21% and marijuana in 11%, with toxicology categories potentially overlapping.
Those fatal-crash findings are reported in Fatal all-terrain vehicle crashes: injury types and alcohol use. The study period and geography are source-specific, and its percentages describe decedents rather than the riding population.
Off-Road Vehicle Safety Costs, Mortality Predictors and Regional Concentration
The supplied studies measure healthcare use and postdischarge needs more directly than dollar costs. Their results show how serious ATV trauma can extend beyond the initial emergency visit.
An Alberta cohort covering April 1, 1998, through March 31, 2008, included 459 serious ATV trauma cases and 395 trauma-center admissions among adults with ISS at least 12 or death. The admissions represented 4,117 total trauma-center days.
- Mortality was 17% in the selected Alberta serious-trauma cohort.
- Nearly 30% of patients required postdischarge care.
- Male Alberta patients aged 18–19 had the highest incidence, at 6.5 per 100,000 people.
The Alberta results come from Ten years of all-terrain vehicle injury, mortality, and healthcare costs. The cohort is restricted to serious adult trauma or death, so its mortality and incidence measures do not describe all ATV incidents.
Regional concentration is visible in the CPSC public summary: Pennsylvania, California, West Virginia, Kentucky and Florida together accounted for 613 OHV deaths during 2018–2020. That is a combined count, not a state-adjusted rate, and it should not be used to rank population risk without denominators.
Across the evidence, the central definitions remain important: OHV is broader than ATV, hospital cohorts select more serious cases, fatality analyses compare deaths rather than all crashes, and CPSC injury estimates cover emergency-department-treated injuries rather than every injury or exposure-adjusted riding risk.