California Injury Blog
A 21-year-old Fullerton woman reportedly died when she was thrown off her all-terrain vehicle when she was riding in San Bernardino county north of Barstow, according to an article in The Orange County Register. Amanda Jane Simon was killed when she was ejected from her ATV. The vehicle then landed on her head and ran over her, the newspaper reported.
Although Simon was using safety equipment when she was riding the ATV, it didn’t do much to save her life because of the severity of the ATV crash and her serious head injuries. In fact, investigators say she died instantly on the first impact.
It is always tragic when a young life is snuffed out in an unfortunate accident such as this. Simon, for example, was a woman who was full of life. She was interested in getting a veterinary degree, was already working in a pet kennel in Yorba Linda and was about to get married later this month, the Register reported. Simon and her fiancé, Billy Paquette, reportedly often rode ATVs in the area where this accident occurred.
As we are learning from more and more news reports, ATVs can be loads of fun, but also have a certain element of risk or danger to them. This is especially true for children or teenagers. Any number of studies performed recently show that ATVs are absolutely not suited for use by young children, who don’t know how to drive a vehicle although many of these vehicles are marketed to children.
With adults too, accidents are not uncommon. Some ride under the influence of alcohol or drugs, others ride without appropriate safety equipment. In the case of this incident, the woman was reportedly sober and using all safety equipment, but somehow lost control of the vehicle. It will certainly be worthwhile for her family to check into whether there were any mechanical defects in the vehicle that caused her to lose control. They could also have it checked for product defects.
Our heartfelt condolences to Simon’s family and her fiancé, who should be celebrating a wedding, not a funeral. We hope they find the peace and the answers they must be desperately seeking at this juncture.