Teenager Dies In Hope Mills ATV Accident

Layton Taylor, 13, died Tuesday when the ATV he was riding on with Cory Cook flipped over as they drove up a home-made ramp.

Taylor, who had been driving the ATV, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Cook was treated for facial wounds and was released from Cape Fear Valley Medical Center.

Investigators said neither boy was wearing a helmet or any safety equipment.

The accident took place in a wooded area near Hope Mills. Investigators said the boys had made a make-shift ramp out of plywood and used passenger tires to prop up the ramp.

"Two teenagers [were] enjoying their day home from school and riding around on their four-wheeler and they made a ramp and when they jumped it they lost control of the four-wheeler," said Trooper J. Hammonds of the Highway Partrol.

An investigator said that when the boys tried to jump over the ramp, they landed some 30 feet away. They apparently came down the wrong way, tumbled and flipped over several times.

Investigators said the absence of any safety equipment was perhaps the most important factor in making the accident a bad one.

North Carolina is one of 23 states with no age requirements for ATV riders.

Fifteen states, including Virginia, require ATV riders to wear helmets. Only six states require a safety certification course for riders 16 years of age or younger.