It will be a tough day today in Kahutara. Classrooms will be shut for the first day of term at the 100-pupil Kahutara School in honour of 10-year-old student Shane White, who died last week in a quad bike accident.
Shane's funeral will be held today.
Just a day after Shane'stragic accident on a farm in South Wairarapa, a woman was critically injured in another quad bike accident, this time near Port Waikato.
The Australian woman was wearing a helmet during a quad bike farm tour, but suffered a serious head injury and was airlifted to hospital after being found unconscious. She remains in critical condition in hospital in Auckland.
Shane's death was the third this year involving quad bikes. You could speculate that the injured woman may have been a fourth had she not been wearing a helmet.
What more will it take for tougher rules to be put in place around the use of quad bikes?
It's all too easy to imagine that when the next accident takes place we will be having this same discussion, with the same ignored coroner's recommendations being dragged into the light but no real progress having been made.
* Well done to all those who turned out on a wet and blustery Sunday morning for this year's Wairarapa Times-Age fun run and walk.
More than 500 people registered - including those entered in the Fagan Motors marathon and half marathon events - and were not deterred from their morning exercise by a very brisk and chilly spring wind.
See our photos from the event on P4 and look out for a full gallery of pictures on www.times-age.co.nz.
