A 15-year-old girl is dead and a 13-year-old is recovering from non-life-threatening injuries after the ATV they were riding flipped onto its side on a rural Osteen road just after noon Sunday. Florida Highway Patrol troopers say the teen driver lost control of the Honda ATV while heading southbound on Pell Road, south of Ashby Way, before the vehicle rolled.
Troopers responded to the scene at roughly 12:02 p.m., according to WFTV. The 15-year-old driver was pronounced dead at the scene, while the 13-year-old passenger was taken by family members to Lake Monroe Hospital in Sanford for treatment, the station reported. As of the crash investigation's last check, a roadblock remained in place near Pell Road and Ashby Way in Osteen, according to WKMG.
State troopers say the investigation into how the ATV lost control is ongoing, and no additional details about the cause have been released. Neither girl was wearing a helmet or restraint at the time of the crash. The Honda ATV involved was a 2021 Honda Pioneer 700, but its specific configuration was not identified.
What Florida Law Requires for Young ATV Riders
Florida law sets strict rules for young off-road vehicle riders that bear directly on this crash. Under Florida Statute § 316.2074, all ATV drivers and passengers under age 16 are required to wear eye protection and USDOT-approved safety helmets, with violations treated as noncriminal traffic infractions, according to Online Sunshine, the state's official legislative statutes portal.
State guidelines also restrict where ATVs can legally operate. The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles prohibits off-highway vehicles on public paved roads, generally limiting their use to unpaved roadways with posted speed limits under 35 mph during daylight hours. The agency's rules also make clear that carrying a passenger on a single-rider ATV is illegal — passengers are only permitted on vehicles specifically manufactured as two-rider models. Separately, the department notes that while off-highway vehicles are exempt from road registration, Florida Statute § 317.0006 requires ATVs purchased or ridden on public lands to be formally titled.
A Pattern of Fatal Rollovers in Volusia County
Sunday's crash adds to a string of fatal off-road vehicle rollovers involving teenagers in the area in recent years. In December 2024, a 13-year-old girl was killed and a 14-year-old passenger was not injured when a side-by-side vehicle overturned at Rasley Road and Brasher Road near New Smyrna Beach, with state troopers investigating a crash that involved four teenagers, per ClickOrlando. In February 2021, an ATV driver died after his vehicle flipped on the shoulder of Courtland Boulevard near South Dorchester Drive in Deltona, following a collision with a turning delivery truck, according to the Volusia Sheriff's Office.
The scale of the danger extends well beyond Volusia County. Florida ranked fifth in the nation for off-highway vehicle deaths in a U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission report published in May 2024, which recorded 616 reported fatalities in the state between 1982 and 2017. Nationally, the commission's data showed that nearly 300 children under age 16 died in off-highway vehicle crashes between 2018 and 2020, with ATVs involved in more than two-thirds of all off-highway fatalities.
Florida Highway Patrol's investigation into Sunday's crash remains active, and no further details have been released about how the driver lost control of the vehicle.
