SECOND ATV DEATH IN TWO DAYS -10-Year-Old Killed

(07/09/2003)
Another West Virginia person has been killed in an ATV accident in less than a week.

State Police in Fayette County report that ten-year-old Jonathan McCoy of Mt. Hope died Sunday when his 4-wheeler struck a vehicle.

The ATV collided head-on with a sport-utility vehicle in a curve on a single-lane dirt road near Glen Jean.

A Cleveland, Ohio woman died Saturday night when an ATV on which she was riding went out of control. January Pierce, 23, was dead at the scene in the remote Rock Run section of Wirt County.

State Police say neither Brown nor Pierce were wearing a helmet, although there are no helmet laws.

The accident is still under investigation.

West Virginia has the highest death rate on ATVs. The vehicles can be ridden on nearly all highways with a second passenger, although the manufacturer says it is unsafe. The manufacturers warn that the vehicles are not safe on paved highways.