He loved dirt bikes and had been riding them since he was a young boy. Quemond Barkley, 15, always wore a helmet and stayed away from trouble, his mother said.
But his helmet couldn’t save his life. Quemond was killed when he struck a Dodge Charger in a southwest Atlanta intersection, according to investigators.
Dirt bikes, four-wheelers and other all-terrain or utility-terrain vehicles have long been common in rural Georgia — where they are used sometimes for work and other times for fun — just about any place where there’s dirt.
Now, the same ATVs are popular in large cities including Atlanta, where riders instead hit the concrete pavement and ride illegally. Atlanta police and the Georgia State Patrol are now teaming up to get the vehicles off the streets and keep both the riders and other drivers safe.
“This is something that’s a nationwide issue, and it’s something we’ve seen the past several years. We’ve started seeing it again this year, especially with the warmer weather,” Atlanta police Sgt. John Chafee said. “Typically, it’s a group that will go out and they’ll take over the street. They’ll be on the sidewalk, on the wrong side of the road. It’s not someone out having a leisurely drive.”
Police Step Up Efforts
About 650 people are killed each year and another 100,000 are injured in crashes involving ATVs, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Georgia ranks 12th for most ATV deaths reported between 1982 through 2016, and in recent years, fatal wrecks happened on paved roads, the CPSC reported.
“They are not supposed to be on streets at all,” said Sam Kassam, who owns Atlanta’s Hitech Motorsports. “They’re not made for streets. They’re made for off-road.”
On Sunday, Atlanta officers and state troopers targeted areas popular with riders. Officers and troopers issued 11 citations to ATV riders, and also uncovered other crimes during 29 traffic stops, according to Atlanta police.
Police arrested 11 people, recovered six firearms — including two that had been stolen — and impounded numerous vehicles. Three convicted felons were charged with firearm possession, Chafee said.
Among those issued citations were two teenagers, ages 14 and 15. One was riding a dirt bike, and the other was driving an SUV.
“They weren’t licensed to be driving any vehicle, let alone those on the streets,” Chafee said.
Quemond typically only rode his dirt bike close to home, but Sunday was an exception, his mother said.
Quemond had a friend on the back of his bike, and the two went to Quemond’s sister’s house, Lisa Barkley said. They were on their way home when they crashed. Barkley said there were officers in the area attempting to stop other ATV riders.
“He could’ve panicked,” she said. “He was a good kid. He’d never been in any trouble.”
Quemond, who would have been in 10th grade at Maynard Jackson High School, died on impact, his mother said. His friend was seriously injured and remained Wednesday at Grady Memorial Hospital. Barkley said she's now hoping to raise the money she needs to bury her son.
At least two other Georgia teens were killed in wrecks involving ATVs in previous months.
In May, 15-year-old Taylor Patterson of metro Atlanta died when she crashed an off-road utility vehicle in Kansas, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported. And in February, Kate Jones, 16, of Athens died when the UTV she was riding on crashed into a lake.
Thrills vs. Staying Safe
Shana Williams admits she loves the rush she feels when she’s riding a motorbike. But she says riding a dirt bike or other all-terrain vehicle is not a license to drive recklessly, especially where they’re illegal.
“It’s terrifying, but it’s a very terrifying kind of freedom and stress release,” Williams said. “We’re adrenaline junkies, but we only want to put ourselves at risk. We don’t want to put others at risk.”
Williams, a manager at East Atlanta Motorcycles on Memorial Drive, said a group called Atlanta Bike Life organizes impromptu rides, often on the weekends. Initially, the group rides were social outings for bike enthusiasts, and the riders weren’t causing trouble, Williams said. But some riders didn’t wear helmets and others rode too fast. Others preferred showing off their wheelies and other tricks.
“It’s gotten way, way, way out of hand,” she said. “It makes the rest of the people who don’t ride look badly at the people who do ride.”
But one of the biggest issues is that riders in Atlanta don’t have other places to ride unless they have a trailer to haul their bike or ATV out of town to sanctioned areas, according to Kissy Raheem with Atlanta Urban Motor Sports in Riverdale.
“Atlanta has been building so much over the last 20 years that they no longer have the space to ride,” Raheem said. “I understand that there’s an illegal element to it. But I think Atlanta has to take care not to treat it as a criminal offense.”
Dirt bikes are particularly popular with teenagers, she said. In addition to safety issues, Raheem said there is a crime element that concerns her.
“The bikes that they’re riding, most of the kids that are on them cannot afford them,” she said. “I’m gonna guess that 30 to 40 percent of the kids can’t afford them, which leads to theft.”
The motorcycle shop owners agree there are no simple solutions. But rather than simply breaking the law, riders should organize and push city officials for changes, Williams said.
“They definitely have the numbers to get things changed,” she said.
STAYING SAFE ON ATVs
1. Do not drive ATVs on paved roads
2. Do not allow a child under 16 to drive or ride an adult ATV
3. Do not drive ATVs with a passenger or ride as a passenger
4. Always wear a helmet and other protective gear such as eye protection, boots, gloves, long pants and a long-sleeved shirt
5. Take a hands-on safety training course
Source: U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
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