ATV DEATH TOLL NEAR RECORD

(08/08/2006)
Another ATV accident over the weekend has resulted in the state's 39th or 40th ATV-related death this year.

In 2005 there were 40 deaths at the end of the year, the most of any state in the USA.

State Police say 38-year-old Jeffery Stapleton died Saturday after losing control of his ATV in a curve on Long Run Road in Ellamore in Randolph County and hitting a tree.

The Weston resident was thrown from the four-wheeler and hit another tree.

Two of the recent deaths were on highways with center lines.

A Monongalia County man and a teen from Marshall County were killed on Friday in separate accidents.