Dirt bike injuries: They don’t just happen in the country

Most of us think of dirt bikes and ATVs as non-urban phenomena. We believe that people ride such vehicles only on trails in rural areas and suburbs. However, a man was recently injured while riding a dirt bike on the streets of the Lower East Side in Manhattan.

The accident occurred at the corner of Rivington and Clinton streets on July 9 when the dirt bike rider hit a parked car. Witnesses observed the man driving erratically and fast before the accident, weaving in and out of traffic. Observers reported that the man ran a red light, dodged a car that was coming toward him, and hit the parked vehicle.

People who observed the accident said that the dirt bike rider’s leg was shattered. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital.

A dirt bike accident in 2010 left a Queens man dead after he crashed into an MTA bus in Ozone Park.

Riding dirt bikes is probably no more dangerous than riding a motorcycle, but people who use them may neglect taking obvious safety precautions such as wearing helmets, knee pads and other injury prevention equipment. Because many dirt bike riders are children and teenagers, accidents and injuries occur because the dirt bike is seen as a toy, rather than a potentially dangerous motor vehicle. This causes young people to take risks that older riders might avoid.

Source: DNAInfo, “Man Riding Dirt Bike Injured After Crashing Into Car on Lower East Side,” by Serena Solomon, July 9, 2012