Coroner urges changes to quad bike safety

A coroner says urgent changes are needed to ensure quad bikes are safe as the death toll rises to a record high.

One solution is to make roll cages mandatory - but one expert says they can make the vehicles even more dangerous.

Maidstone Yamaha Centre owner Michael McLeod has been riding and fixing quad bikes for decades. He believes it's not the bikes that are the problem, but the riders.

"It's the people riding them not understanding them, not having the proper training, not reading the warning signs like I've said."

Coroner Brigitte Windley is calling for urgent action to make quad bikes safer after the release of yet another report into the death of a farmer killed in a quad bike accident.

Ms Windley describes the problem as a persistent concern, pointing out another coroner highlighted the problem four years ago.

In 2016 quad bike deaths reached a record high, with 14 people killed. On average 850 people are injured each year.

But Mr McLeod says many farmers are already taking safety seriously, choosing to buy recreation off-road vehicles because they have safety features like roll bars and seat belts.

Ms Windley wants the Government to consider making roll over protection devices mandatory, funding rider training and introducing a national safety rating system for vehicles.

But experts warn roll cages aren't the silver bullet, and come with their own safety problems.

"If you don't have a seatbelt you get thrown clear, just as likely damaged by roll over protection as not," Quad tutor Robin Grieve says.

A spokeswoman for Workplace Safety Minister Michael Woodhouse told Newshub he couldn't comment because he hasn't yet seen the coroner's report. 

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