Yough students riding ATVs, learning safety and career opportunities

Some schools offer career days that give students an opportunity to learn about fields as diverse as social work, teaching, nursing, finance, business, machining and manufacturing.

The Yough Intermediate Middle School offers a slightly different career — a Career and Ride Day to the Mountain Ridge ATV Park near the Flight 93 National Memorial in eastern Somerset County on May 13. It gives students an opportunity to learn about a variety of careers involving all aspects of off-road machinery and land and energy management, said John Lario, the intermediate middle school counselor who has sponsored the ATV career day the past three years.

In complementing an activity that so many Yough students are already involved in — riding dirt bikes and quads and spending time working on them — the career and ride day attracted more than 180 students and family members, Lario said. By spending time working on the motor bikes, the students are “teaching themselves and their friends valuable mechanical skills that could lead to future job opportunities,” Lario said.

Lario said he saw the students’ interest in ATVs as an opportunity to create an activity involving the school district community. It was a chance to establish a yearly tradition that “brings together students and their families with a unique twist on not just potential future careers, but on building bonds, friendships and memories,” said Lario who has been riding off-road vehicles at Mountain Ridge ATV Park for years.

“This event is not only an educational benefit, but a day that our students get to spend quality time with their family members doing something that they love. This is truly a home-to -school connection that they will always remember,” said Yough Superintendent Anthony DeMaro.

The Mountain Ridge ATV operators were receptive to his idea of a career day and ride day for Yough students, Lario said.

”We are the first and only school to ever do something like this with them,” Lario said.

Safety measures are an important part of the day. Helmets and safety gear are mandatory at all times, Lario said. Before the ride, they review the trail system, which is rated based on degree of difficulty like ski trails. On the rides over the trails, students on dirt bikes, quads and side-by-sides ride in groups based on their skill level, Lario said.

Dusty Weir, Somerset County sheriff, also spoke to the students and parents about the importance of safety while riding, Lario said.

There were 13 all-terrain vehicle fatalities in Pennsylvania in 2023, and 291 throughout the United States, according to are report from the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission.

Fatal accidents involving off-highway vehicles from 2017 through 2019 accounted for at least 2,178 deaths, the Consumer Product Safety Commission reported in 2022. Of that number, the safety commission said there were 1,513 deaths as a result of all- terrain vehicles. Thirteen percent of those deaths involved people age 15 and younger, with another 15% between the ages of 16 and 24, the report stated.

The most common hazards associated with those fatalities were ATVs overturning and collisions with another vehicle or object like a tree, according to the report. Those collisions frequently resulted in the ejection of those on the vehicle, according to the safety commission report.

A 2018 report on ATV accidents found that there were 81,800 ATV-related emergency department-treated injuries reported in 2018. More than a quarter of those injuries were sustained by children under 16 years old, the highest of any age group. ATVs become even more dangerous when children drive adult-sized vehicles, or when passengers ride on ATVs built for only one rider, the commission said.

“The only reason we are able to do this event is because of the stringent safety requirements and waivers in place at Mountain Ridge ATV park and the parents’ 100% attendance and participation in the event,” Lario said.