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Injuries appear to be occurring at an equally unsettling rate . According to information from the Commission ' s National Electronic Injury Surveillance System ( NEISS ) , hospital emergency room - treated injuries associated with ATVs have increased dramatically and consistently since 1980 . There were an estimated 4 , 929 injuries in 1980 , 6 , 008 injuries in 1981 , 8 , 585 injuries in 1982 , 27 , 554 injuries in 1983 , and 66 , 959 injuries in 1984 . In the first four months of 1985 , an estimated 28 , 400 ATV - related injuries were treated in hospital emergency rooms . ( This represents approximately an 80 percent increase over the estimated number of injuries treated during the same period in 1984 . ) Correspondingly , children under 15 years of age appear to be disproportionately represented . Almost one - third of these hospital emergency room - treated ATV - related injuries in 1984 involved children under 15 years of age .

The increases in these deaths and injuries are occurring against a backdrop of consistently high ATV sales . The Commission estimates that there were 1 . 8 million ATVs in use at the end of 1984 and that 2 . 5 million ATVS ( an increase of 700 , 000 ) will be in use by the end of 1985 . Given the evident popularity of the ATVs and the clear increase in deaths and injuries associated with their use , one can reasonably anticipate a continuation of the rising toll into the foreseeable future in the absence of effective activities to prevent them .

In addition to the personal devastation experienced by the victims of these tragedies and their families , the preliminary economic impact information suggests that ATV - related injuries are costly to both the injured persons and the Nation ' s overall economy .

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