Hundreds of Americans continue to die every year in off-highway vehicles, or OHV, accidents with 583 lives lost in 2025, according to the Consumer Federation of America’s, or CFA, annual report.
Among the preventable deaths, children aged 15 years or younger represented the largest group.
The CFA’s data show the urgent need for safety reforms and awareness as summer approaches, Courtney Griffin, CFA’s director of consumer product safety, said in a statement.
“The number of children killed year after year by off-highway vehicle is a terrible indictment of our product safety system,” Griffin said. “It is unacceptable that hundreds of children have died from preventable off-highway vehicles tragedies, while nothing changes and no meaningful safety reform occurs.”
She said these statistics aren’t just numbers, they’re young lives cut too short and deaths that leave permanent scars on families and entire communities, adding more needs to be done to protect the most vulnerable.
Gary Smith, M.D., president of the Child Injury Prevention Alliance, said all OHVs, even youth models, pose risks.
“OHVs are fast, complex machines, and due to their design, they roll over easily,” Smith said. “One wrong choice could lead to the emergency department or worse.”
Children younger than 16 years aren’t ready for the demands of safe riding, so parents need to find a different activity for their child, he said
The CFA’s 2025 fatality research also shows that OHV fatalities often occurred on roads, 66 percent. This is consistent with prior CFA reports.
West Virginia leads the nation with the highest per-capita OHV death rate, followed by northwestern states such as Alaska, Montana, and Wyoming.
“This pattern underscores that permissive on-road OHV policies are linked to greater risk and loss of life and highlights the urgent need for government action and increased public awareness,” the report said.
In 2025, fatalities increased substantially during the peak riding season, averaging about 66 deaths per month from May through September, compared with an average of 36 deaths per month during the rest of the year. July and August had the highest number of fatalities, with 84 and 77 deaths, respectively.
Recent threats to the independence of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, or CPSC, may have a direct and dangerous impact on OHV deaths and overall consumer safety, Griffin said. The CPSC plays a critical role in setting and enforcing safety standards, issuing recalls, and providing unbiased, science-driven oversight. The CFA warns that politicizing the CPSC limits its effectiveness and puts lives at risk.
The CFA urges consumers to take the following steps to reduce OHV deaths and injuries:
- Never operate an OHV on a road.
- Never permit children younger than 16 years old to operate an adult-size OHV or any OHV that’s too large or too powerful for them.
- Always wear a helmet and other protective gear when riding an OHV.
- Always wear a seat belt, if the OHV has them.
- Never allow more people on an OHV than it was designed to carry.
- Never ride when under the influence.
- Take a hands-on safety course.
More information and annual fatality data are available at: ”Off-Highway Vehicle Safety and Fatality Data · Consumer Federation of America.”
