Harsh lesson for farmers

The very public prosecution of Gavin Vanner should serve as a warning to all farmers, says Charlie Pedersen, the president of Federated Farmers.

The attitudes of farmers to quad bike safety was touched on by Justice Rodney Hansen in his summing up at Mr Vanner's trial for the manslaughter of his 4-year-old daughter, who died when a quad bike rolled.

The judge said education programmes and guidelines seemed to have had little impact on how farmers used quad bikes. A "yawing gulf" had opened up between what safety experts said and what farmers did.

Manufacturers' guidelines say no one under 16 should ride the bikes and passengers should not be carried.

Mr Pedersen said helmets were a given and farmers' arguments that they impeded daily work were rubbish.

He said he told farmers the specially designed helmet should sit on the handlebars so it was the first thing they put on when they mounted.

Not one farmer who gave evidence for Mr Vanner wore a helmet.

They put helmets on their children while they rode small 50cc quad bikes but said the children's bikes were recreational and ridden faster, while the adult bikes were for work and ridden slower.

ACC information says the bikes are unstable and the weight of the rider affects stability and handling. The corporation receives about 50 claims every year for accidents involving quad bikes and children.

As farmers filed through the High Court at New Plymouth to give evidence, their stories were all the same.

They let their children ride on the bikes, starting in a backpack as babies, graduating to sitting between mum or dad's legs learning about the throttle, to eventually riding the bike through gateways or putting along while electric fences were shifted.

Mr Pedersen believed Mr Vanner's case alone would serve to educate farmers on the need to follow guidelines with the threat of possible prosecution.

The feeling of farmers testifying for Mr Vanner, however, was that their practices would not change dramatically unless the guidelines were made law.

Quad bike safety

* Guidelines developed say no one under 15 should be allowed to ride an all-terrain-vehicle (ATV).

* No one under 12 shall be allowed to ride an ATV.

* Children between 12 and 15 shall not drive an ATV unless their parents establish they are capable and competent.

* Protective clothing and helmets should be worn.