They’re loud. They’re obnoxious. They’re unnecessary.

But are they a menace worth headlines, public meetings, and amped up policing?

The data, inconveniently, points to no.

With a recent bout of kvetching over ATVs in Hartford and West Hartford, I was curious as to whether or not these demands for a crackdown on ATVs were warranted. Using the UConn Crash Data Repository, I determined that residents are making a fuss over one thing, when their energy would be better given to another.

From January 1, 2018 through October 12, 2021, there were eighteen reported ATV crashes in these two municipalities. Three of those were in West Hartford; the remainder, in Hartford. From those collisions, there were six minor injuries, two serious injuries, and no fatalities. Most involved collisions with either moving or parked vehicles. One ATV rider struck a pedestrian. Another hit a traffic sign.

Let’s compare this to what happened during that time in those towns involving cars (passenger cars, SUVs, pickups, passenger vans, cargo vans, and other light trucks). There were 27,085 crashes, with 7436 injuries and 57 deaths. Here, 436 pedestrians and cyclists were struck during these collisions.

Using drones and confiscating ATVS from those driving them recklessly has become an accepted practice. One wonders what would happen if law enforcement began surveilling and confiscating cars at the same rate, rather than issuing tickets for speeding and recklessness.

Because the data does not support the level of outrage toward ATVs, what actually is going on here? It seems some could benefit from a lesson in distinguishing between being inconvenienced and being placed in immediate danger.