A safety feature on a cart track contributed to the death of an Auckland man at a Rotorua adventure tourism park, an investigation has found.
James Skipper, 18, of Helensville suffered chest injuries when a three-wheel cart he was riding at Mountain Action crashed in September.
An investigation by Occupational
Safety and Health found Mr Skipper failed to take a corner during his first run on the Offroad Freestyla ride and lost control of the cart.
It became airborne before hitting a partially buried tyre on the edge of the track.
His fatal injury was the result of hitting the tyre at around 35km/h, said Murray Thompson, OSH service manager for Taupo-Eastern Bay of Plenty.
The force of the cart hitting the embedded tyre meant Mr Skipper was thrown chest-first into the cart's steering column, he said.
The embedded tyre was the most significant contributing factor and not an acceptable safety feature, said Mr Thompson.
Mountain Action was to remove the tyre before reopening the luge and make other improvements to the track design and carts.
The investigation found some issues with cart maintenance and track design but neither contributed to the accident, said Mr Thompson.
"Mountain Action did not act recklessly or negligently and took all reasonable steps to comply with their duties under the Health and Safety in Employment Act," said Mr Thompson.
