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ATV Safety Basics for Farmers

An ATV is a useful tool on a farm, but it is also one of the machines that injures people most often. Safe use starts with understanding that it is not a small car or a toy.

Why do ATVs hurt so many farm riders?

An all-terrain vehicle is narrow, light and sits high, and the rider's body is part of how it is steered and balanced. That design lets it go places a truck cannot, and it also means a bump, a slope or a sudden turn can change the situation quickly. Agricultural safety groups, including NIOSH, treat ATVs as a recurring cause of farm injuries and deaths.

Farm use adds its own pressures: uneven ground, loads, livestock, ditches, gates and long days. Hurry and familiarity are common companions of a bad day. Check the current numbers on the NIOSH Agriculture page rather than relying on anything you have heard secondhand.

Think of safe riding as a set of small decisions made before the ride, during it and after it. Most of those decisions cost nothing: a slower speed, a walk around the machine, a phone in a pocket, a helmet on the head. The sections below walk through each of them in plain terms, without technical limits that belong in your manual.

What should every rider do before starting the engine?

Read the owner's manual and the warning labels on the machine. They state the rider age and size the manufacturer intends, the limits for loads and towing, and the basics of operation. If the manual is missing, ask the dealer or the manufacturer for a copy.

Then do a quick walk-around. Look at the tires, the controls, the lights and the brakes, and make sure nothing is loose or leaking. A machine that feels wrong in the shed will feel worse on a hillside.

Keep the machine's manual somewhere you can find it, and read the sections on loads and towing, since those limits are the ones most often ignored on a working farm.

• Wear a helmet made for motorized riding, eye protection, gloves, sturdy boots and long sleeves and pants.
• Tell someone where you are going and when you expect to be back.
• Carry a charged phone, kept where you can reach it after a fall.
• Never ride after drinking alcohol or while taking medication that makes you drowsy.

How should you ride on the farm?

Ride at a speed that lets you stop within the distance you can see. Slow down before turns, before crests and before ground you cannot read. Sudden throttle, sudden braking and sharp turns at speed are common starting points for loss of control.

Keep both hands on the bars and both feet on the footrests. Shift your body weight with the terrain, as the manual and a trained instructor describe, rather than staying frozen in one position.

Plan the job before you start. If a task means crossing a slope, carrying a heavy load or working near animals, decide whether an ATV is the right tool or whether a different vehicle or method is safer.

Are ATVs meant for passengers or for riding on public roads?

Most ATVs are designed for one rider. Carrying a passenger changes balance and steering, and the manual for your model will say what the manufacturer intends. Public roads are another matter: whether an ATV may cross or use a road depends on your state and county, so confirm with your state agency or local sheriff instead of assuming.

Paved surfaces can also behave very differently from the soft ground many ATV tires are built for, which is one more reason to check the manual.

Tires, tread and loads also matter on pavement. Ask the manufacturer and your state before assuming a road is fine to cross.

Who should not be riding at all?

Children and teens should only ride machines that are the right size for them, with training and supervision. Anyone who is tired, ill, stressed or distracted should hand the job to someone else or do it another way. Visitors and new workers should be shown the machine and watched before they are trusted with it.

Labor rules about youth doing farm work exist, and they vary. Confirm current requirements with the U.S. Department of Labor and your state.

Training for new riders is covered in its own guide on this site, and it is worth reading alongside this one.

What if someone is hurt?

Call 911 right away. Do not move a person who may have a neck or back injury unless there is immediate danger, and wait for responders. Know your farm's address and the best way to direct an ambulance to the field, so you can say it clearly under stress.

Make a habit of saving your farm's location details in everyone's phone and in a note by the kitchen or office phone.

Last reviewed: November 12, 2026. Written by the Farm Safety Editorial Team. See our editorial policy.