Quad bike injuries still increasing - Research

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Research shows that injuries involving quad bikes have continued to increase despite greater awareness of quad bike safety.

New Zealand researchers have looked at six years of injury data between 2012 and 2018, and tallied up nearly 350 quad bike-related injuries requiring hospitalisation in the Midland Trauma System, which covers five district health boards.

Men had more than triple the number of hospitalisations than women and nearly 50 children aged under 16 were injured.

Key points

• 346 injuries resulted in hospitalisation with 70.2 per cent of events occurring on a farm.

• Males outnumbered females 3.7:1. Forty-six children (<16 years) were hospitalised, of which 23 were injured on-farm and seven on a road.

• Over six years there was an annual average increase of 7.3 per cent for all events occurring on a farm, 2.6 per cent for injuries occurring during a farming activity and 4.7 per cent for off-farm recreational injuries.

Researchers found that children continue to be injured, both as riders and passengers and that ageing farmers are a developing area for concern.

While workplace safety garners most of the safety attention, two other areas also deserve injury prevention consideration; injuries that occur on-farm but not during farming activities and those occurring off-farm to recreational riders.

Author information: Janet Amey, Midland Trauma System, Waikato District Hospital, Hamilton; Grant Christey, Midland Trauma System, Waikato District Hospital, Hamilton; Waikato Clinical School, University of Auckland, Auckland.
Corresponding author:
Dr Grant Christey, Midland Trauma System, Waikato Hospital, Hamilton 3204.
grant.christey@waikatodhb.health.nz

Meanwhile other statistics show that 117 people have died in quad bike accidents in New Zealand in the past 13 years.

Provisional figures provided by the coroner's office for up to June 30, showed men accounted for 83 per cent of those killed.

The age range spanned from 4 to 87, nine were passengers and 38 people were not wearing helmets.

The accidents were dotted around farms, roads, driveways and beaches all over New Zealand.

The data included all-terrain vehicles, farm bikes and 4x4s.