A 17-year-old passenger remains hospitalized in New Orleans with serious injuries following a November 7 ATV rollover near Kentwood in Tangipahoa Parish. The Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office announced November 10 that Mason Simpson, 18, had been arrested following the crash, which injured four teenagers.
Deputies said the wreck occurred shortly after midnight Saturday in the 20000 block of Green Farm Road. According to their account, the ATV lost control, overturned multiple times and came to rest against a tree.
The 17-year-old passenger was flown to a New Orleans hospital and remained there as of November 10. Simpson and a 16-year-old passenger were treated at a local hospital and released. An 18-year-old passenger declined treatment at the scene. The injured minor’s identity has not been publicly released.
What Investigators Say Happened on Green Farm Road
According to the sheriff’s office, Simpson owned and was driving the ATV and was traveling too fast when he lost control. Deputies reported that the ATV had seatbelts but that none of the four occupants was wearing one. The vehicle’s precise make, model, seating configuration and applicable manufacturer guidance have not been publicly established.
Simpson was booked on three counts of negligent injuring and additional alleged offenses involving reckless operation, seatbelt use, operation of an off-road vehicle on a roadway, registration and proof of insurance. He subsequently posted bond. The charges are allegations, not convictions. The sheriff’s account is preliminary and does not establish the outcome of any civil negligence investigation.
The public reports do not establish a final reconstruction or the actual speed of the ATV at the time it overturned. They also do not establish impairment in this incident.
Why the Multiple Rollovers and Passenger Injuries Matter
This investigation presents two related but different questions: why the ATV overturned, and what happened to each occupant during the rollovers. A report that occupants were not belted does not, by itself, answer either question or determine legal responsibility.
Preserve the ATV and its restraint systems. The vehicle’s seating arrangement, seatbelts and anchor points, any rollover-protection structure, tires, steering, braking components and damage patterns should be photographed and examined before repair or disposal. Its exact make and model matter when evaluating what the vehicle was designed to do and how its restraints were intended to work.
Document Green Farm Road and the tree impact. Original scene photographs, tire and ground marks, the path to the tree, the ATV’s resting position and any roadway features could help reconstruct how the vehicle lost control and how many times it rolled.
Preserve contemporaneous accounts and recordings. Early witness statements, available phone recordings and relevant location information may help establish the order of events and the occupants’ positions. Investigators should distinguish evidence of crash causation from evidence bearing on why one passenger suffered more serious injuries.
Insurance and Potential Civil Claims
A criminal charge involving proof of insurance does not establish that there is no applicable insurance. A serious ATV passenger-injury case may require identifying the owner, where the vehicle was being operated, potentially responsive liability policies and exclusions, and any other applicable coverage. Those questions cannot be answered from an arrest report alone.
The reported lack of seatbelt use may raise an injury-causation or comparative-fault issue, but it does not automatically establish that an injured passenger caused the ATV to overturn or eliminate a civil claim. Any assessment requires the actual vehicle, applicable law and reliable evidence about how the injuries occurred.
Babcock Injury Lawyers would examine these issues with litigation in mind from the outset, including prompt vehicle preservation and identification of all potentially applicable insurance. For more background, see our ATV accident guide, our Louisiana personal injury resources, and The Babcock Benefit.
Help After the Kentwood ATV Crash
The injured passenger’s family does not need to determine legal fault before seeking advice. The ATV, roadway evidence and early witness accounts can be more difficult to recover as time passes. Babcock Injury Lawyers can investigate serious ATV injuries, help preserve evidence and examine possible insurance coverage. Call (225) 500-5000 or contact the firm online. We do not claim to represent anyone involved in this crash.