ATV victim

ATV victim's mom teaches hard lesson

Rita Griffith, speaking at her late son's school in Murray, wants his friends to "really take a look at how they drive.'

By MARK SIEBERT

Murray, Ia. - Just two weeks before the accident, Rita Griffith told her only son to be careful at that intersection.

"I told him he had to be very careful and don't rely on the dust," Griffith said. Oncoming cars don't always kick up dust, especially after a rain, she told him.

On July 22, Griffith's son, Curtis Phillip Eckman, 15, died of head injuries after his all-terrain vehicle slammed into a van driven by his best friend's mother. Eckman was on his way home when he turned left - directly into the van's path - at the T-intersection of two gravel roads in rural Clarke County.

Eckman's death is one of at least five ATV-related fatalities this year in Iowa. Already, 2002 is the state's deadliest year on record for ATV accidents.

Griffith is not anti-ATV. Her son made a mistake, she said. He was on the road illegally but was an experienced rider within three months of securing a restricted driver's license. Griffith simply wants others - especially rural Iowa teens - to be aware of dangers on the road.

State and federal groups, however, are becoming alarmed by increases in ATV injuries and are pushing for stiffer rules and additional safety measures. On Tuesday, national advocacy groups asked the government to ban children under 16 from riding ATVs. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, injuries from ATV accidents across the nation jumped from 36,000 in 1993 to 100,000 in 2001. Children make up a disproportionate number of victims, figures show.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources doesn't have an age breakdown, but it reports 46 injuries in Iowa this year, along with the five fatalities. Over the past five years, the state has averaged 60 ATV injuries a year and fewer than three fatalities. Dr. Philip Caropreso, an emergency-room surgeon in Keokuk and chairman of the Iowa Committee on Trauma, suspects those numbers are misleading.

"I've got 24 injuries in Keokuk alone," Caropreso said. "Some of these things are only scrapes or bumps or bruises. But they are people who are coming into the emergency room." He called ATVs "a menace."

Rod Slings, recreational safety program supervisor for the Department of Natural Resources, said Iowa's 28,000 registered ATVs have become as common on farms as tractors and pickups. He said officials from the Natural Resources, Transportation and Public Health departments plan to meet next month to discuss the possibility of additional safety programs or new laws.

In Iowa, children under 12 are not allowed to operate ATVs on public land. The vehicles cannot be on a roadway except as part of a farming operation; even then, the driver must have a valid license and not exceed 35 miles an hour.

Industry officials contend ATVs are safe if operated as recommended. For children, that means riding the appropriate size ATV and being supervised by an adult.

Griffith is not pushing for more regulations. She is on her own safety campaign.

"I just don't want my son's death to be in vain," she said. "I want other kids to really take a look at how they drive."

On Wednesday, she spoke at an assembly at Murray High School, where her son would have been a sophomore. It was a somber start to the school year.

Students sat hushed on the gymnasium bleachers as she spoke. Photographs of Curtis sat on an easel beside a sign that read "Welcome back to the 2002-2003 school year!"

Griffith thanked her son's classmates for their support and presented them with a wildlife painting, a gift from her and her husband, Jeff. Curtis loved the outdoors. She mentioned that the painting's inscription included the affectionate nickname Nerd, which brought laughter from the crowd.

Senior Beth Gilbert read a poem and talked about Curtis and his ornery smile. He acted like everyone's little brother, she said. Then she gave her own warning to her classmates, many of whom ride ATVs.

"You need to be careful," she said quietly into the microphone. "It can happen to us. We know that now."