A 28-year-old woman from Staten Island slammed her all terrain vehicle (ATV) into a tree at Bates State Forest in the Schoharie County town of Broome on Saturday, August 2, according to Tony Desmond, the Schoharie County Sheriff.
The woman, Lauren Galante, was taken by helicopter to Albany Medical Center in "serious condition with numerous injuries," according to a press release issued by Desmond. Galante had been riding the ATV without a helmet when she struck a tree and was ejected into two other trees.
That's just one of several ATV incidents that made headlines in New York this weekend. Also on Saturday, a 6-year-old boy with autism drove a battery-powered ATV onto the Bronx River Parkway in Westchester County, according to the Times Herald-Record:
They say several motorists managed to surround the boy and take him off the parkway. He was taken to a hospital for observation and found to be OK.
ATV accidents are disturbingly common in the Catskills, particularly in Schoharie County.
On July 4, 64-year-old Pennsylvania resident Joseph Kruithoff drove his ATV into a tree. Kruithoff escaped with only minor injuries. On April 24, Franklin Butler of Sprakers was severely injured while driving an ATV on Route 10 in the town of Sharon.
While speaking with a reporter on Monday, August 4, Desmond said that another ATV accident had just been called in. It's too soon to have any details about the accident, he said.
When asked asked how many ATV accidents his office had responded to this year, Desmond said he wasn't sure.
"There have been so many," he said.
