WIMBERELY, Texas — WIMBERLEY, Texas — The 16-year-old boy who died in an ATV accident in Wimberley drowned, according to the Travis County Medical Examiner's Office.
He has been identified as 16-year-old Cooper David Potts of Katy.
Potts was a passenger on the ATV when it crashed in Hays County Sunday afternoon.
The driver lost control, causing the vehicle to roll over into a retention pond. Potts was wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident, sheriff's deputies said.
According to the 2016 Annual Report of ATV-Related Deaths and Injuries from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, more than 14,000 ATV-related deaths occurred from 1982-2016 nationwide.
Texas leads the nation with 735 up to 2013.
“Realize that they are a motor vehicle and they can be safe just like your pickup can be safe, your motorcycle can be safe, but you need to have the riding skills and you need to take the ATV safety course that’s offered on every ATV that we sell,” said Steve Littlefield, the owner of Central Texas Powersports in Georgetown.
He said it's no doubt people should enjoy riding these vehicles, but they have to be careful when doing it.
“It’s just a safety thing. And we need to be careful using any motor vehicle," said Littlefield. "Don’t have the illusion that just because it has four wheels that its safe ... that it's safer than a motorcycle or it's safer than a watercraft or its safer than the pickup that you drive. As I said earlier, it takes different skill sets to operate any of these."
For resources on ATV rider safety, click here.
