THE tragic death of a seven-year-old boy on a quad bike at Barellan at the weekend offers another sobering reminder of the dangers posed by the vehicles.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
For the boy’s loved ones and the close-knit community, it is a time to grieve and a time to remember a young life snatched away so suddenly.
But for the nation’s farm sector, it should reignite the debate about how we slow the endless tide of lives lost on farms.
The Barellan death comes just weeks after Tumblong man Phillip Derrick, 54, was killed in a quad bike accident on his rural property near Gundagai.
Close to 200 people over the past decade nationwide have lost their lives riding quads. They were real people, like Mr Derrick and this young boy, not just numbers.
Only those who have lost a loved one in an accident can truly appreciate the sense of shock and anguish that accompany it.
Quad bikes are a tool of the trade for those on the land, so residents in our region are even more exposed to the lurking dangers.
The starting point to any debate over quad safety is a mature recognition that accidents do occur, just like they do with cars.
But just like we have seen with cars, it is incumbent on manufacturers and lawmakers to take reasonable steps to help reduce those risks.
In November, 2015, deputy state coroner Sharon Freund recommended a safety rating system for quad bikes and mandatory licences, helmets and seatbelts.
She also recommended children under the age of 16 be banned from riding the vehicles, arguing the social and emotional costs of quad deaths were so “enormous”, they warranted a dramatic culture shift.
Fourteen months on and little has changed.
We live in an over-regulated society and we should resist the push to always put regulations before personal responsibility. But the quad bike death toll is already too high.
Decisive and swift action is needed. It starts with the obvious –making helmets compulsory and ensuring manufacturers implement a safety rating system. And legislators must also strongly consider banning children from riding the bikes.
Quad bikes are inherently unstable and only experienced riders should be at the helm.
The penalty for an error of judgement or not having enough physical strength to control a quad should not be a loss of life.
