The Dark Side of Nighttime Off-Road Vehicle Use

Background: Off-road vehicles (ORVs), which include all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and side-by-sides (SxSs), are designed for off-road use only. Iowa law restricts roadway riding to occupational purposes and limits it to daylight hours. A growing number of Iowa counties are opening roadways to recreational ORV use and many counties are choosing not to include a daylight restriction. To better understand this issue, the study objective was to compare and contrast daytime and nighttime ORV crashes …