Nonfatal Injuries From Off-Road Motorcycle Riding Among Children and Teens—United States, 2001-2004

Abstract

Motorcycle crashes are a substantial public health problem for children and teens. This article reports nonfatal injuries from off-road motorcycle riding among children and teens, in the United States during 2001-2004. During one year (2003), among persons aged younger than 19 years, at least 245 died and an estimated 56,870 were treated in U.S. hospital emergency departments (EDs) for injuries sustained while riding a motorcycle. National surveillance has focused primarily on monitoring and characterizing fatal and nonfatal injuries from motorcycle crashes occurring on public roads. However, during 2003, at least 13 motorcycle riders aged younger than 19 years died in nontraffic incidents in places other than on public roads (data from the National Vital Statistics System). This report focuses on injuries associated with off-road motorcycle riding, an increasingly popular recreational activity among youths. To characterize nonfatal injuries among young, off-road motorcycle riders in the United States, CDC analyzed data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System-All Injury Program (NEISS-AIP) during 2001-2004. Those data indicated that an estimated 23,800 off-road motorcyclists aged younger than 19 years were treated for nonfatal injuries in U.S. hospital EDs each year. The article concludes that programs and policies directed at reducing the number of injuries from off-road motorcycle riding need to be strengthened; requiring minimum ages for off-road motorcycle riding might help prevent such injuries among children and teens. An editorial note appended to the article comments on four limitations of the statistical data presented.