A 17-year-old girl was airlifted to a Minneapolis children's hospital and a 16-year-old passenger was taken to a local hospital after their side-by-side utility vehicle rolled end over end into a ditch north of Melrose late Saturday morning. Neither teen was wearing a helmet or a seatbelt, according to investigators.
The Stearns County Sheriff's Office identified the driver as Faith Tschida of Sartell and the passenger as Makenzy Karnes of Burtrum, according to WJON. Deputies were called to the 34000 block of Westfield Road, about three miles north of Melrose, after Tschida lost control of the vehicle while failing to negotiate a curve while heading west, as reported by KNSI. The crash happened late Saturday morning.
Rescue Crews Had to Cut the Driver Free
Tschida was partially trapped beneath the rolled vehicle and had to be cut free by fire crews. Per the same account, she was extricated by the Melrose Fire Department and then airlifted by Life Link Air Ambulance to Children's Hospital in Minneapolis, while Karnes was transported by ground ambulance to Melrose Hospital. Karnes sustained serious but not life-threatening injuries, per investigators cited by KNSI.
The sheriff's office said the crash remains under investigation, and KNSI reports that neither girl was wearing a seatbelt or a helmet at the time the vehicle flipped.
State Law Requires Helmets and Seatbelts for Young Riders
Minnesota law leaves little room for ambiguity here. Under Minnesota Statute § 84.9256, all ATV operators and passengers under 18 are required to wear a DOT-approved helmet, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Separately, a state law that took effect in July 2025 requires all occupants of Class 2 side-by-side ATVs with factory-installed seatbelts to buckle up whenever the vehicle is operated on or within the right-of-way of a public road.
Minnesota's off-highway vehicle rules also restrict who a minor driver can legally carry as a passenger. ATV operators under 18 are barred from transporting passengers on public road rights-of-way unless that passenger is a parent or legal guardian, according to Olmsted County officials.
Part of a Troubling Statewide Pattern
The Melrose crash lands amid a sharp rise in off-road vehicle casualties across Minnesota. Statewide OHV fatalities jumped to 32 in 2024, nearly double the 14 deaths recorded in 2023 and the highest total in two decades, according to Bring Me The News. DNR safety officials have explained to MPR News that low-pressure ATV tires, built for soft off-road terrain, can catch traction unexpectedly during hard turns or braking on paved or gravel roads, making high-center-of-gravity vehicles prone to rollovers on rural curves.
As of Thursday, DNR tracking showed 23 total off-highway vehicle crashes statewide this year, resulting in 22 personal injuries and no fatalities. Stearns County has seen serious ATV incidents before: in August 2021, a crash along the Woebegon Trail left one person dead and others severely injured after a vehicle carrying passengers struck pedestrians, according to Minnesota Crime Watch.
The Melrose crash also echoes a similar case in nearby Morrison County last September, when a 17-year-old driver was injured after losing control of an ATV in a roadside ditch and was airlifted by similar Life Link rescue in Morrison County to a Minneapolis trauma center. The Stearns County Sheriff's Office has not released further details on the investigation into what happened on Westfield Road.
