Guest columnist: No easy answer for quad bikers

While everyone knows an all terrain vehicle (ATV) by its popular quad bike moniker, farmers know these aren't toys. In the hands of the untrained or the over-confident they can be deadly and the entire agricultural sector knows it needs to do better to ensure safety but perspective is also needed.
According to ACC in 2008-09, there were 417 ATV-related claims but the minority, 159, were work related. By way of comparison, in 2009 621 were people accidentally killed in their own home according to ACC - much higher than the corresponding road toll. While 18,600 people were injured in farm-related accidents in 2009, 632,920 people were injured in their home.
It's why Federated Farmers and the Agriculture Health and Safety Council stress that education is the solution, aided by technology. Farmers also have a strict duty of care to ensure any ATV user is trained or proficient in their operation. This has been rammed home by successful health and safety in employment prosecutions. The ATV has become the farmer's Swiss army knife, explaining why there are upwards of 90,000 about.
Yet for 46 farmers last year, a ride on an ATV ended in serious injury and for five, it was tragically worse. Wellington's coroner has called for mandatory Roll Over Protection Systems (ROPS) with harnesses. Some of our members have developed alternatives, like T-Bars, that may have a safety role to play but what the coroner seemingly wants is a full roll cage. Yet almost all commercial users of ATVs are in agreement that ROPS and harnesses may increase the risk of injury. As with any motorcycle, you have to actively ride an ATV so a harness would make this impossible. Farming here poses a greater challenge than flat Australia due to our undulating terrain, rocks and stumps. ROPS also fundamentally changes an ATV's centre of gravity, making a bad situation worse.
This is why Federated Farmers is looking at tilt warning systems, but it's no magic bullet. An Otago University study published last year found, no amount of safety training, equipment or procedure will overcome bravado. Instead of advocating for ROPS and harnesses, showing a lack of understanding over how ATV's are used in the real world, maybe tilt warning systems could be part of a wider solution. Inclinometers and clinometers, which are the key to any tilt warning system, have been around for centuries and are in everything from a Nintendo Wii to an iPad.
We have been in contact with an American company which manufactures a warning switch weighing just 85 grams. Connected to a lamp or audible warning alarm, multiple trip settings can be arranged to indicate caution, before a final alarm near the point of no return - a bit like a car's reversing sensor. This device was designed for off-road, in-motion vehicles operating in high vibration or rough terrain. In other words, the environment farmers work in daily. The Otago University study also found that vibration may disturb a user's sense of balance. Having such a warning system that cuts through this would help warn of danger, especially in rough terrain.
Yet there needs to be a further examination into recreational accidents, which are the majority. ATVs may be farm implements but it's untenable for every ATV incident to be classed as a farm accident. My final message is this. No amount of regulation or overt safety devices will overcome a "gung-ho invincibility" as Otago University found. Instead, cultural change requires ongoing education and training. With this, Federated Farmers is on the same page as ACC, Farmsafe and the Department of Labour.
Donald Aubrey is vice-president of Federated Farmers and chairperson of Agricultural Health and Safety Council.