CARMEL – A 6-year-old boy who rolled over an all-terrain vehicle on Sunday afternoon near his home on Hinckley Hill Road suffered head injuries and was in stable condition Monday at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.

Officials from the Maine Warden Service went to the scene of the accident, which occurred around 3:45 p.m. Sunday while the boy was riding a youth model ATV in his yard during a family get-together.

The boy, whose identity was not released, lost control of the vehicle and hit the limb of a pine tree, Warden Dan Scott said Monday.

“It looks like a combination of operator inexperience and operator inattention,” Scott said.

The boy suffered what Scott called “fairly serious” injuries, including a skull fracture. He was taken to EMMC late Sunday and still was being monitored Monday, the warden said.

“He was wearing a helmet, but it was a bicycle helmet,” Scott said. “Anybody under age 18 is required to wear a helmet, but it has to be a DOT [Department of Transportation]-approved helmet, and a bike helmet is not that.”

The boy’s helmet was cracked from the fall. Scott said a proper helmet might have prevented injury.

There is no law restricting the age of an ATV operator, provided the rider is on his or her own property and has parental supervision, the warden said.