While the weekend is often a great time to take ATV vehicles off-road to have a fun time, a recent Massachusetts ATV accident teaches an important lesson about knowing the riding and safety laws in your state, especially for children!

Just last Super Bowl Sunday, a nine-year-old boy who shouldn’t even have been riding an ATV was involved in an extremely dangerous Massachusetts ATV accident, according to a recent story in The Salem News. The boy had been riding with a party including an 8-year-old boy and that friend’s father. While trying to cross a road, the boy’s ATV was struck by a minivan. Somehow the boy, who was thankfully wearing a helmet, avoided a serious personal injury after the collision caused his ATV to burst into flames. Since the boy is a juvenile, his name was not released by police.

Massachusetts police officer Gayle Haley described in the story how the boy was not supposed to be on an ATV. Haley said that eight and nine year olds are not allowed to ride ATVs under any circumstances in the state. Massachusetts law requires a child to be 10 years old to ride an ATV and 16½  years old in order to cross a road.

The adult supervising the nine-year-old boy is now facing some very serious charges following this Massachusetts ATV accident. 47-year-old Ronnie G. Ouellette was specifically charged with:

• “3 counts of allowing the operation of unregistered recreational vehicles, and the unsafe operation of them;

• 2 counts of allowing a child under 161/2 to cross a highway on the ATV; and

• trespassing on the power line right of way.”

Ouellette would not comment on the incident, but did say that he was extremely upset about what happened. Preventing these types of ATV accidents has become a major source of concern lately, as evident by the various ATV bills in state legislatures throughout the country.