Cheyenne Ellis was 12. She died after crashing her ATV at a hunt club in Gulf Hammock. Lucas Corbitt was 22. He died after racing along a country road in Bronson.
“It’s very dangerous," says Florida Highway Patrol Sergeant Mark Weber, "especially on this type of a road. It is a numbered roadway, ATV’s are not licensed to be on these roads. So, unfortunately, this is what occurs.”
As far as law enforcement officials can tell, Corbitt was riding along the path when he collided with a dirt embankment. That caused the ATV to flip. It was hours before a woman walking in the area found Corbitt's body. Police estimate he'd been dead since early that morning.
Weber says he grew up with ATV's, too, and back then, nobody thought anything of riding on trails. But things are different now.
“A lot of times your line of vision, there’s almost a zero line of vision," he warns. "Like on this road he was on and someone’s coming in the opposite direction, you have a head on collision.”
Trails are more crowded and Weber says the rules are there for a reason. Even if locals aren't happy about it.
"When something like this happens," says Weber, "now we’ve got a problem, now we’re going to come to your doorstep and unfortunately have to tell people that their loved ones have now passed.”