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ATV crash claims 2 lives

Two men die when an all-terrain vehicle drives into a stand of trees in Hernando County, causing alarm about ATV wrecks in the bay area.

By ASJYLYN LODER
Published August 27, 2006

BROOKSVILLE - A 12-year-old boy found two dead men Saturday morning in the woods northwest of Brooksville, apparent victims of an ATV accident.

Tracks show that James Freeman Jr., 34, and Richard R. Martin, 28, drove straight into a stand of trees above a steep drop-off. Investigators did not know how fast the men were going, but the impact sheared off branches and uprooted a small tree.

The victims were found more than 10 feet apart, one flat on his back with his arms splayed above his head. A bright orange 2005 Polaris Predator was found 20 feet downhill.

The men were not wearing helmets or safety equipment of any kind.

Freeman Jr., of New Port Richey, and Martin, of Weeki Wachee Springs, died sometime Friday night or early Saturday morning, said Bill Grotjahn, an investigator with the Medical Examiner's Office.

These are the second and third ATV deaths in Hernando County in less than two weeks, and the fifth serious ATV accident in the Tampa Bay area in recent weeks.

"I've had dirt bikes and ATVs my whole life, and I know how dangerous they are," said Kip Wyand, who lives next door to where the two men were found. "They're fun, but they're dangerous."

The rash of incidents prompted Hernando County to schedule a public hearing to opt out of a new state law allowing the popular all-terrain vehicles on county roads. Beginning Oct. 1, ATV riders will be allowed to drive on unpaved roads with a posted speed limit under 35 mph, unless local governments opt out of the law.

Hernando County Sheriff Richard Nugent urged the County Commission to opt out. Allowing ATVs on the same roads with cars and trucks is asking for trouble, he said.

"I'm not opposed to ATVs, but there are places where they should be ridden," Nugent said. Riding in the dark on unfamiliar terrain compounds the risks, he said.

The deaths electrified the Royal Highlands community, a rural area where ATV tracks criss-cross the lime rock roads and trail through the soft mud of construction sites.

Paul and Denise LaRose were at home Saturday morning, a little past 9 a.m., when a 12-year-old family friend pedalled up to their door in tears.

The boy had already knocked on Wyand's door, but Wyand wasn't home. Then he raced for the LaRose house about a half mile from the accident, the nearest family he knew, Denise LaRose said.

"He was crying when I answered the door," she said. "He said he found a wrecked four-wheeler, and it looked like two people were dead. Then my husband called the cops."

The boy told them he had been riding his bicycle where Papercraft Avenue, a limerock road, dead ends into a forked trail. Authorities got the call shortly before 9:30 a.m. The LaRoses arrived at the scene about the same time as the ambulances and patrol cars pulled up.

"We wanted to see the four-wheeler and see if it was anyone we knew," said Tina LaRose, a 16-year-old Central High School student. The family didn't recognize the ATV.

As word of the accident spread, neighbors pulled up their pickup trucks and asked what was going on. Hearing that two men died in an ATV crash, almost everyone asked after the color and make of the vehicle, hoping they'd recognize who owned it.

And just about everyone said that the trail can be treacherous, especially to strangers trying to run it in the dark. The trail splits on either side of a stand of trees and brush, just past a crest in the road. Coming east, it's hard to see the drop-off until you're almost on top of it.

"They must not have known the road stopped there," said Patty Lack, who lives nearby. "They must not have known, and it had to be dark."

Lack said her husband heard a sound like a chainsaw late Friday night, probably between 9 p.m. and midnight. Saturday morning, she wondered if that had been the bright orange ATV. She had seen a sport quad fitting that description barreling down her limerock road recently.

Wyand, who is familiar with ATVs, said he had seen a bright orange Predator a few weeks before, but he wasn't sure where it had come from.

Scott Wolfson, spokesman for the U.S. Consumer Product and Safety Commission, told the St. Petersburg Times earlier this month that more than 400 people die in the United States each year in ATV accidents. Florida ranks among the top 10 for ATV deaths, with 72 between 2002 to 2004, according to Wolfson's most recent data.

In the Tampa Bay area, there have been at least five serious ATV accidents this month. On Aug. 12, Danielle M. Frascello, 13, died when the ATV she was riding with her cousin struck a tree.

In Hillsborough County, three people were hurt in separate ATV accidents in the weeks before Frascello's death. On Aug. 5, an Odessa teen was hospitalized after the ATV he was driving flipped. Five days later, a Seffner man flipped the ATV he was driving, and was taken to Tampa General Hospital in critical condition. And on Aug. 12, a Tampa resident was severely injured when his ATV collided with a Toyota.

Keeping the vehicles off Hernando County's roads will help keep residents safe, but the machines are still dangerous, said County Commission Chairwoman Diane Rowden. "We have a really serious problem still going on out there. People seem to think that these are toys, and that they're not dangerous."

Times staff writer Andrea Chang contributed to this report. Asjylyn Loder can be reached at aloder@sptimes.com or 352754-6127.

[Last modified August 27, 2006, 11:59:04]