PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. – An ATV crash Sunday that left a 7-year-old boy dead is the fourth deadly accident at Hog Waller Mud Bog and ATV Park in Putnam County since 2019.
The 1,100-acre park off County Road 310 in Palatka is popular for those with ATVs, side-by-sides and other rough terrain vehicles.
Hog Waller’s website shows it updated its waiver policy in 2019 to require guardians to sign a separate form when children are riding.
The form lists these risks:
“There is a chance your child may be seriously injured or killed by participating in this activity because there are certain dangers inherent in the activity which cannot be avoided or eliminated.”
“By signing this form, you are giving up your child’s right and your right to recover from Magnolia Dunes, LLC in a lawsuit for any personal injury, including death, to your child...”
WAIVER: Click here to see the full waiver for Hog Waller
Jacksonville Attorney Shannon Schott said she doesn’t sign liability waivers in which patrons release their rights to sue in the event of catastrophic injury or death.
“There’s a lot of waivers that I as a parent do sign but they are not waiving all liability under any circumstance. And those are the ones you need to be very wary of,” Schott said.
She recently made a TikTok explaining how she sometimes gets around signing away liability--and it resonated with more than 100,000 people.
“If I am forced with a form that is a piece of paper, I sign the piece of paper, and then on the section that waives my child’s rights, I draw a line, and I write ‘decline’,” Schott said.
It’s not clear what government oversight an ATV recreation site such as Hog Waller receives--it’s not registered under the Department of Agriculture, which regulates recreational activities and facilities.
A spokesperson with the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office talked about their involvement at Hog Waller.
“We do contract deputies to work off-duty as security for criminal infractions only. As such, deputies do not patrol, nor do they have a way of patrolling the entirety of the property considering the off-roading nature of the park,” a spokesperson said.
They also said any violation of the state helmet statute for kids riding on ATVs is considered a civil traffic infraction.
Recent deaths at Hog Waller
- A 7-year-old child riding an ATV behind an adult died Sunday afternoon after the ATV overturned on him. Both the child and the driver are from Reddick, Florida. Neither was wearing a helmet, FHP said.
- Last year, a 30-year-old Deltona man was thrown off a side-by-side vehicle when the driver lost control. He died at the hospital.
- In 2021, a 65-year-old man was riding on an ATV when it went through a mud pit and over raised terrain, flipping when it landed. He died from his injuries. Neither the 65-year-old nor the man driving the ATV were wearing a helmet, FHP said.
- In 2019, a 31-year-old man from Starke was killed when he crashed during the Dirty Deeds ATV Bounty Hole Extravaganza at Hog Waller. He fell off his ATV when it flipped. He was not wearing a helmet, FHP said.
Looking further back, a 3-year-old died on New Year’s Eve in 2011 when a relative backed a pickup truck over the child.
FHP said the fatal crash is under investigation and no charges have been filed at this point.
News4JAX has reached out to Hog Waller for comment about the 7-year-old’s death over the weekend. We are still waiting to hear back.