Should the Seahawks Malik McDowell have been on an ATV at all?
Seahawks rookie Malik McDowell was injured in an offseason accident on an ATV. Is riding an ATV something a professional athlete should be doing at all?
I’ll start with the obvious answer. No, of course the Seahawks rookie shouldn’t have been on an ATV. I mean, they’re dangerous, right? Hmmm…let’s look at that, shall we?
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, 2005 saw 171.5 injuries per 10,000 four-wheel ATVs in use. That means 1.72 percent of ATV riders had an accident that year. Now for some good news: deaths from ATV accidents have dropped from a high of 832 in 2007 to 340 in 2015. I don’t have solid figures, but ridership certainly seems to be on the rise since 2005, so the accident rate has almost certainly dropped quite a bit since then.
Still, it’s risky. How risky, compared to getting in your car? Glad you asked! We average six million auto accidents in the U.S. every year. We have 218 million licensed drivers. Throw in a couple million bums driving without a license, because it makes the math easier. That means 2.75 percent of all automobile drivers are involved in an accident, every year. Kinda feel sorry for those folks, year after year…same poor 2.75 percent. What, that’s not how statistics work?
Fine. Let’s move on.
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Driving an ATV and a car isn’t the same thing, no
Anyway, McDowell was more likely to be involved in a car accident than while he was on an ATV. Ah, but ATV accidents are more dangerous, you say. No doubt about that, right? Let’s look at the last year the CPSC has complete data, 2012. There were 573 deaths, and just under 108,000 injuries treated at hospitals. That means .53 percent of all injuries were fatal.
Lets look at autos again. In 2012, there were 5,615,000 car accidents, and 30,800 fatalities. The rate of fatalities was .55 percent. Slightly higher than the rate for ATVs.
Driving a car is pretty much a necessity in the U.S. Rambling on an ATV is a necessity for very few people. I doubt Malik McDowell is one of those who absolutely had to be on an ATV to reach his remote living quarters. Whether it’s more dangerous than a car or less dangerous, it’s an additional risk. That’s where a lot of people may have a problem with McDowell riding an ATV. It may not be more dangerous than just driving to CenturyLink, but it’s an unnecessary danger.
Seahawks know there are infinite dangers in life – weird dangers, too
You know what else is dangerous? Fondue. Kickball. Golf. These amazingly dangerous activities and more are among the more bizarre injuries NFL players have had, as reported by Tadd Haislop of the Sporting News. Yes, fondue. Seriously.
Related Story: More on Malik McDowell, plus bad behavior in camp
Listen, people are going to get hurt. It’s an unfortunate part of life. Did Malik McDowell owe it to the Seahawks to stay off the ATV? I’d say if anything, he owed it to himself to stay off. Let’s remember this, though. We’re talking about a man who plays a violent contact sport. Football is a sport that could well be far more dangerous than riding an ATV. Or even riding an ATV with a fondue pot in a game of kickball.
Malik McDowell needs zero judgment on his actions. Life itself is a risk. If it isn’t, you aren’t living. We wish Malik the best.