A School-Based Study of Adolescent All-Terrain Vehicle Exposure, Safety Behaviors, and Crash Experience

Article Figures & Data

Table 1

Survey Questions and Response Options Probing ATV Exposure and Riding Behavior

Question	Response Options
Q1. How old are you (years)?	–
Q2. What is your gender?	Male
Q2. What is your gender?	Female
Q3. How often do you drive or ride on an ATV?	Almost daily
	About once a week
	About once a month
	Only a few times a year
	Never
Q4. Have you ever been in an ATV crash (rolled over, hit something, fallen off)?	Yes
	No
	Never been on an ATV
Q5. Have you ever ridden or driven an ATV with more than 1 person on the ATV?	Yes
	No
	Never been on an ATV
Q6. Have you ever ridden or driven an ATV on a public road?	Yes
	No
	Never been on an ATV
Q7. How often do you wear a helmet when riding an ATV?	Always or almost always
	More than half the time
	Less than half of the time
	Never or almost never
	Never been on an ATV

Table 2

Demographic Characteristics of Study Population

Characteristic	All, No. (%)	Isolated Rural, No. (%)	Rural, No. (%)	Urban, No. (%)	P Value^a
Total number	4,684 (100)	1,554 (33)	1,834 (39)	1,296 (28)	–
Sex
Male	2,153 (49)	760 (52)	775 (45)	618 (50)	.001
Female	2,255 (51)	710 (48)	929 (55)	616 (50)
Age, y
11	690 (16)	263 (19)	228 (13)	199 (16)	<.001
12–13	2,526 (58)	780 (58)	882 (52)	864 (68)
14–15	952 (22)	285 (21)	463 (27)	204 (16)
16	54 (4)	26 (2)	123 (7)	5 (<1)

Note: Column totals may not equal overall population totals because of missing or indeterminate responses.
↵a χ² analysis for comparison of proportions.

Table 3

ATV Exposure and Riding Behaviors (N = 4,320)

Exposure/Behavior	All, No. (%)	Male, No. (%)	Female, No. (%)	P Value^a	Isolated Rural, No. (%)	Rural, No. (%)	Urban, No. (%)	P Value^a
Exposed to ATVs
Yes	3,344 (77)	1,620 (79)	1,626 (76)	.095	1,196 (82)	1,267 (75)	881 (76)	<.001
No	976 (23)	442 (21)	502 (24)		269 (18)	429 (25)	278 (24)
How often do you drive or ride on an ATV?
Almost daily	666 (20)	378 (23)	263 (16)	<.001	274 (23)	221 (17)	171 (20)	.005
About once a week	606 (18)	301 (19)	289 (18)		226 (19)	231 (18)	149 (18)
About once a month	636 (19)	276 (17)	341 (21)		221 (18)	231 (18)	184 (22)
Only a few times a year	1,436 (43)	665 (41)	733 (45)		475 (40)	584 (46)	337 (40)
Have you ever ridden or driven an ATV with more than 1 person on the ATV?
Yes	2,948 (92)	1,409 (90)	1,455 (94)	<.001	1,086 (92)	1,065 (91)	797 (93)	.19
No	261 (8)	155 (10)	100 (6)		89 (8)	109 (9)	63 (7)
Have you ever ridden or driven an ATV on a public road?
Yes	2,534 (81)	1,237 (81)	1,226 (80)	.75	889 (82)	952 (79)	693 (81)	.096
No	604 (19)	292 (19)	298 (20)		191 (18)	255 (21)	158 (19)
How often do you wear a helmet when riding an ATV?
Always, almost always	530 (17)	288 (19)	233 (15)	<.001	185 (14)	163 (22)	182 (22)	<.001
More than half the time	251 (8)	139 (9)	104 (7)		99 (6)	75 (9)	77 (9)
Less than half the time	366 (12)	200 (13)	157 (10)		142 (10)	119 (13)	105 (13)
Never, almost never	2,032 (64)	921 (59)	1,052 (68)		731 (70)	833 (56)	468 (56)

ATV=all-terrain vehicle.
Data are provided as No. (column percentages). Column totals may not equal overall population totals because of missing or indeterminate responses.
↵a χ² analysis for comparison of proportions.

Table 4

Unsafe Behaviors and Crashes Among ATV-Exposed Students (N = 4,320)

Note: Data provided as No. (row percentage). Row totals may not equal overall population totals because of missing data.
↵a Unsafe behaviors were ridden/driven with more than 1 person, ridden/driven on public roads, and almost never/never wear a helmet.
↵b χ² analysis for comparison of proportions for indicated variable.
↵c Fisher exact test used for comparison by age where data included cell sizes smaller than 5.

Table 5

Multivariable Analysis of ATV Exposure and Unsafe Behaviors (N=4,320)

	Exposure/Behavior

Characteristic	Rode on an ATV, aOR^a (95% CI)	Rode/Drove With >1 Person, aOR^a (95% CI)	Rode on a Public Road, aOR^a (95% CI)	Wear a Helmet, aOR^a (95% CI)
Sex
Male	1.11 (0.94–1.32)	0.61 (0.45–0.82)	0.96 (0.83–1.12)	1.40 (1.18–1.67)
Female	1.00 (ref)	1.00 (ref)	1.00 (ref)	1.00 (ref)
Age, y
11	1.00 (ref)	1.00 (ref)	1.00 (ref)	1.00 (ref)
12–13	1.00 (0.76–1.33)	0.61 (0.38–0.96)	0.54 (0.39–0.75)	1.36 (1.02–1.81)
14–15	1.03 (0.80–1.32)	0.77 (0.55–1.08)	0.70 (0.59–0.83)	1.24 (1.01–1.52)
16	1.39 (1.02–1.89)	2.74 (1.11–6.74)	1.11 (0.73–1.69)	0.76 (0.51–1.12)
Rurality
Isolated rural	1.39 (1.11–1.75)	0.95 (0.58–1.57)	0.93 (0.64–1.35)	0.74 (0.55–0.98)
Rural	0.90 (0.70–1.17)	0.79 (0.47–1.34)	0.78 (0.57–1.08)	0.61 (0.41–0.90)
Urban	1.00 (ref)	1.00 (ref)	1.00 (ref)	1.00 (ref)
Riding frequency
Daily/weekly	NA	2.03 (1.51–2.74)	5.64 (3.91–8.13)	0.94 (0.80–1.10)
Monthly		2.24 (1.58–3.18)	3.48 (2.68–4.52)	1.20 (1.01–1.43)
Yearly		1.00 (ref)	1.00 (ref)	1.00 (ref)

NA=not applicable; aOR=adjusted odds ratio; ref=reference category.
Note: Students with missing data for 1 or more of the variables in the model were not included in multivariable analysis.
↵a Controlled for all variables in the table.

Table 6

Multivariable Analysis of Having Experienced a Crash (N = 4,320)

aOR=adjusted odds ratio; ref=reference category.
↵a Students with missing data for 1 or more of the variables in the model were not included in multivariable analysis.
↵b Controlled for all variables in the table. Helmet use was not included in the model because it was not associated with crash risk and did not affect the aORs for other variables.