When I was young I viewed the quad bike as a toy that only my parents had the privilege of driving.
I couldn't wait to be old enough to wrap my hands around the handlebars and take control.
But I soon realised what the quad was really capable of.
One day spreading manure with my father the quad rolled on a hill. I slipped off the back while my father had his leg pinned beneath the vehicle.
I was in shock and unable to think. Before I knew it my father had pushed the bike off and flipped it back over with the handlebars bent in an awkward position.
There and then I realised a quad is not a toy, but a machine that needs to be used for the correct purpose, with its own dangers and limitations.
Quad safety is an issue that has featured significantly in the media recently.
A quad is not a toy for enjoyment, but a machine that has a purpose in the agricultural industry. Is quad safety important? Will it aid farm safety practices in the agricultural sector?
Imagine yourself pinned beneath an overturned quad because you didn't have enough experience to handle the bike and you were not wearing the correct safety gear.
You thought the helmet cramped your style and messed up your hair, therefore it was worth the risk of not wearing one.
Would the results of a crash be worth your reckless decision? How would it affect your family and your life?
"You have to treat a quad as if it has the potential to kill you every time you get on." Therefore you have to be prepared.
Farming is a lifestyle which I cherish. The place in my heart which holds the most memories is a 125ha farm at Otaua, South Hokianga.
We grew up there - from making mud pies as children to placing cups on the cows in the 12-aside herring bone milking shed. We had a small caravan in which we constructed stories, swept the muddy floor and made works of art with our bare hands to display with pride on the flaky caravan walls.
Today you can still see the marks of our childhood inside with the beloved memories and experiences. Every child and family wants these sorts of memories of rural life to be special in their hearts.
However, one moment of carelessness can cause devastation and grief for whole families and communities.
On the farm you witness birth and death daily. You never seem to have enough resilience to cope with the devastation of an injury or death. Farming can be a very dangerous occupation.
Quad bikes are one of the most widely used motor vehicles on New Zealand farms and many farmers consider them essential to their farming operations.
Townies see quads as a vehicle to provide thrills and spills, not knowing the harm and injury you could receive from one cavalier decision.
Every year in New Zealand 850 people are injured riding quad bikes on farms. On average five are killed each year. In Northland last year four accidental quad deaths occurred.
Last August a 62-year-old woman from Kaikohe was involved in an accident that cost her life. She was towing a trailer and feeding stock on steep terrain. The trailer overturned and landed on top of her.
She was trapped beneath the quad and was eventually found by a family member.
Quite often in a workplace, it's workmates that come across an accident victim. But in a farming situation, it's often a family member - a wife, a husband, a son or a daughter - and this can devastate them.
New rules and regulations have been introduced to address quad bike safety. The Government believes these laws will reduce the number quad accident casualties.
They believe the rules are needed to provide a safer riding environment throughout New Zealand.
The new regulations require wearing of an approved helmet and proper riding gear, ban children under the age of 16 from riding, prohibit the carrying of passengers and outlaw tasks that interfere with safe riding.
Who will take on the work and labour if an accident disrupts farm operations? Will it be the husband, wife or children? Everyone will feel the urge to take over the farm with their beloved family member lying recovering helpless and frail in a hospital ward.
Fifteen months ago Mark Hobbs was thrown over the handlebars of his quad bike onto the packed dirt of a farm paddock. He can finally string a 13-word sentence together.
This is a big improvement on six months ago when he could only manage a five-word sentence. But he remains unable to read and write. It might not be days or even months but years before a quad bike accident victim fully recovers, if they do at all.
So how can we change these appalling statistics? You have to think, think, think - every time you step on the quad. Lack of concentration can lead to an accident. According to a television news report a spider contributed to a quad bike accident that killed a Westport teenager.
A 3cm trapdoor spider was found at the crash scene and investigators believe it contributed to the teenager's loss of control of the farm vehicle.
Some people say there shouldn't be a 16-year-old age restriction on riding a quad. Age restrictions could lead to work not being completed. Some farmers rely on young members of the family to take some of the farm load. If they are under the age of 16 they will be unable to do any work that requires the use of a quad bike. So the only answer is education with a safety training course.
When you visit a farm, remember, the quad is not a toy to play with, but a serious machine that needs to be respected and used correctly.
If you like to feel the wind in your hair always think safety first. When a quad flips who do you think is going to come of better - man or machine?
Laura Clark, Year 12, Northland College
Near-death experience sends safety message
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