The number of four-wheel ATVs in use in the United States has increased from just over 2 million to more than 6.9 million over the past decade. From 1982 through 2004, there were nearly 6,500 deaths involving ATVs. In 2004 alone, an estimated 136,000 people were treated in hospital emergency rooms for ATV related injuries – many life-altering. In 2003, an estimated 740 people died nationwide in ATV incidents. About 30 percent of all deaths and injuries involve children younger than 16.