Federal safety officials are taking a closer look at ATVs. At least 555 people were killed in accidents involving the all-terrain vehicles in 2006. That includes more than 100 children.

And officials say, based on reports from coroners and hospitals, the problem is getting worse.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates more than 146,000 people were injured in ATV accidents in 2006 and more than a quarter of them were children.

The commission said today that Pennsylvania has had the highest number of reported ATV deaths since 1982, followed by California, West Virginia, Texas and Kentucky. Virginia is Number 23 on that list, with 153 deaths.

The industry says the problem is not with the machines but with how they are used. A spokesman for a trade group called the Specialty Vehicle Institute of America says, "ATVs have never been shown to be an unsafe product." He says the problem is "bad decisions" by ATV riders.