Boy dies in ATV rollover

Boy dies in ATV rollover

Sept. 12, 2000

BY MATT GLECKMAN
Journal Staff Writer

An 8-year-old Mancos boy died of asphyxiation Saturday afternoon after the recreational all-terrain vehicle he was driving rolled over and landed on his chest.

The Colorado State Patrol report said that Layton Graf was driving a three-wheel ATV — with his sister Kae Lynn Graf, 4, as a passenger — when the vehicle rotated clockwise a quarter-turn and then rolled 1 1/2 times before coming to rest upside down on top of Layton Graf.

Kae Lynn was not injured.

The report said that Graf was traveling south from Hillside across a private drive and down a steep embankment into an open field when the three-wheeler rolled.

Colorado State Trooper Steve Nowlin, who investigated the incident, said it occurred on level ground. "I’m sure he saw the barbed-wire fence coming and that’s why he turned it — and it rolled over," Nowlin said.

Nowlin estimated the boy was pinned under the ATV for 20 minutes. "From the time that it may have happened to the time that he was discovered was about 20 minutes," he said.

Nowlin said the Grafs’ mother found the boy after she could no longer hear the ATV running. The engine apparently shut off when the ATV rolled, Nowlin said.

"It’s just a really sad deal all the way around. He was way too young to be able to control an ATV of that size . . . Those three-wheelers are by far the most dangerous," Nowlin said.

Nowlin said the three-wheeler was adult-sized, a 185cc.

The trooper said on public land a person must be at least 16 before he can legally operate an ATV. But on private land that law cannot be enforced, he said.

"When the property is solely owned by the person who owns the ATV (there is no mandatory age limit)," Nowlin said.

Layton Graf enjoyed drawing and had recently won an award from the Mancos Public Library’s summer reading program. He is survived by his parents, Dee and Kathy Graf, and three sisters, as well as many relatives.

Funeral services will be at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Mancos on Tuesday at 10 a.m.