Two adults were killed and seven children injured in an accident in a remote area of an all-terrain vehicle park in Alabama, authorities said. No one was wearing a harness or restraint in the off-road vehicle.
The side-by-side RZR, an ATV model, crowded with nine people hit another ATV Saturday, overturned and struck a tree at Indian Mountain ATV Park in Piedmont, Cherokee County Emergency Management Agency Director Shawn Rogers said during a news conference Sunday.
The male driver was ejected from the vehicle and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Cherokee County Sheriff Jeff Shaver said it appears the deceased driver was operating the ATV at a high rate of speed when it struck the other vehicle, whose driver tried to avoid the collision.
The sheriff’s office is awaiting toxicology results to determine whether alcohol played a factor. It’s illegal to possess alcohol outside municipalities in Cherokee County, which has been dry since the Prohibition era a century ago.
Four medical helicopters transported an adult female and three children to trauma centers in Birmingham. The woman later died from her injuries, officials said. Ambulances took the other four children to a hospital in Rome, Georgia.
Rogers said officials have been told not one of the nine in the ATV was harnessed or restrained.
“’I’m sure that it’s not recommended to have nine people, especially young children, in a RZR not using safety harnesses,” Shaver said.
“There’s nothing that says that everybody that gets in a side-by-side has to restrained,” Rogers said. “That’s one of those things that personal responsibility has to be taken, to ensure your own safety and the safety of those that’s in your care.”
The children injured ranged in age from 1 to 12 years old. Cherokee County Coroner Paul McDonald said in a text to The Associated Press Sunday that the man who died was the father of all seven children and that the woman was the mother of three of the children.
All the victims were from Georgia, McDonald said.
No identities have been released pending family notifications. Rogers said officials did not know the medical status of any of the children or have updates on their conditions.
The two people in the other ATV were not injured and tried to render aid, Shaver said.
The accident site was in a remote location inside the park and difficult to access. Staff at the ATV park, located about 75 miles (121 kilometers) northeast of Birmingham, had to escort medical personnel to the scene.
The sheriff’s office is leading the investigation into the accident with assistance from McDonald’s office.
Indian Mountain ATV Park says on its website that at just over 7 square miles (19 square kilometers) in the Appalachian Mountain range, it’s one of the largest private off-road parks in the South.
A woman who answered the phone at the park on Sunday said officials were meeting with counsel and may release a statement later.
Sen. Andrew Jones, R-Centre, has brought multiple bills in recent legislative sessions to put more government oversight on this ATV park and others. His bills have failed.
“I have long been concerned about unofficial reports from the park of rampant drinking and driving under the influence, virtually zero enforcement of the park’s own rules, and an inadequate emergency response plan in coordination with first responders,” Jones said in a statement on social media. “These are just a few of the reasons that I authored SB 234 to provide REASONABLE safeguards for Cherokee County ATV parks. Unlike almost every other business in Cherokee County, there are virtually no regulations at Indian Mountain ATV Park. As we saw this weekend, operating these machines can be dangerous and even deadly, and public safety is paramount.”
Jones also said about future legislation “without the 100% unconditional support of Cherokee County elected officials to assist me in putting reasonable safeguards in place, there is no point in bringing ATV park legislation during the next session.”
Alabama Daily News Mary Sell contributed to this report.