A 10-year-old boy from Steamboat Springs died earlier this month driving an all-terrain vehicle near Silverton in San Juan County.
It followed the death two weeks earlier of a 14-year-old Florida boy driving an ATV in adjacent Ouray County.
The two deaths expose a curious discrepancy between state and county law as it relates to the legal driving age for ATVs.
Children as young as 10 can drive ATVs in Colorado parks and on U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management roads, said San Juan County Sheriff’s Deputy John Jacobs.
But counties have the ability to raise the age limit, he said.
San Juan County allows ATVs on most of its roads because it is good for tourism, Jacobs said, but the age limit is set at 16 and older.
The boy was riding on a road that is maintained by the county but has a Forest Service designation, Jacobs said. He therefore was within his rights to be driving the machine on that road, he said.
The accident occurred Aug. 12 on San Juan County Road 7, a couple of miles northwest of Silverton in an area known as South Mineral Creek Campground.
On Aug. 2, a 14-year-old Florida boy died while riding an ATV in Uncompahgre National Forest in Ouray County. He hit a bump and lost control on a turn, the Silverton Standard & Miner reported.
Jacobs said he supports San Juan County’s 16-and-older age limit for ATVs on county roads.
“I agree with it 100 percent for the very reason right there,” he said.
The Steamboat Springs boy, Cory Ferrier, was following his grandmother in the rain. His father came up from behind him in a vehicle to deliver rain gear to them.
The boy possibly was looking over his left shoulder and drifted off the right side of the road where there was a left-hand turn and was unable to bring the ATV back onto the road.
The boy, who was wearing a helmet, went airborne and down a 30-foot embankment covered in shrubs, aspen trees and spruce trees.
He apparently landed on a log and suffered severe internal injuries to his right side, Jacobs said.
The boy’s father attempted to administer CPR, but to no avail.
Jacobs said the crash occurred as a result of distraction, but the ATV also probably was too large for the boy.
shane@durangoherlad.com
