Kids on quads: responding to rural risks.

AuthorCampbell, Maxine
PositionReport

Abstract

The rural sector features prominently in the statistics for All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) injuries and fatalities amongst children in New Zealand. ATVs are the new workhorse of the farm and their increasing popularity suggests the rate of accidents involving children will not abate of its own accord. This paper summarises and updates research on ATV farm accidents involving children undertaken early in 2006. It reiterates the unsuitability of ATVs for use by and around children and examines accident statistics in the wake of a court case resulting from the death of a child on the family's farm. It argues that voluntary compliance with existing guidelines for the operation of ATVs is an insufficient strategy for reducing or eliminating existing risks to rural children. While the specificity of rural circumstances is acknowledged, it is not accepted as an adequate justification for maintaining the status quo. Rather, in light of the increasing numbers of ATVs and their growing popularity amongst lifestyle block holders, reducing unacceptable levels of risk to rural children requires the development of legal restrictions on the operation of the vehicles.

INTRODUCTION

In the summer of 2005/06 the Child Accident Prevention Foundation of New Zealand (CAPFNZ) funded a summer scholarship for research on the nature and extent of All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) accidents involving children on New Zealand farms (Basham et al. 2006). Over the same period, a high-profile manslaughter case was brought before the High Court. In September 2005 a four-year-old child was killed on her family's farm when her father allowed her to operate an ATV while he attended to a call on his cell phone (Rennie 2005:4). The Crown alleged that her father was grossly negligent in allowing her to ride his quad bike to round up the cows for milking. The girl lost control of the bike, it rolled on her and she died instantly from massive head injuries (Boyes 2006). This paper draws on and extends the substance of the CAPFNZ report, ultimately seeking to ascertain whether the farm is now a safer place for children since 2005. It begins with an outline of the vehicles, their governance, typical accidents and the environment and culture in which they are used. It canvasses the recommendations provided in the CAPFNZ report, and examines the means by which safer outcomes for farm children might be achieved.

The research for the original project involved an extensive literature review in which the general paucity of ATV studies published in New Zealand and Australia contrasted sharply with the abundance of statistical data from the United States. Because ATV use in the United States is largely recreational, however, the findings were not always directly transferable to the predominantly agricultural use of the vehicles in New Zealand, though they provided good background data in regard to the vehicles themselves and typical accidents and injuries. Within the somewhat sparse New Zealand literature, a key resource was a workplace accidents report (Lilley et al. 2004) in which the farm as a workplace featured prominently.

Additional data were gleaned from a review of New Zealand media reports, editorials and commentaries on ATV safety between 1999 and 2005. The project also incorporated interview data from two groups of respondents closely associated with key aspects of the topic. The first group consisted of experts in child, farm, ATV and workplace safety and comprised representatives from OSH, ACC, Safekids, Ag ITO, Agribusiness and Federated Farmers. The second group comprised parents who own and use ATVs on their farms.

THE VEHICLES

In 2002, OSH estimated that there were about 70 000 (2) ATVs in use on New Zealand farms (OSH 2002a) and in 2005 approximately 95% of ATV use in New Zealand was for farm work (ACC 2005). They are rapidly replacing tractors as a multi-purpose farm workhorse. Designed for use by a single operator, ATVs are open, motorised, four-wheeled vehicles with low-pressure tyres and with handlebars for steering control. They have a high centre of gravity and tend to be unstable (American Academy of Pediatrics 2000' Phrampus et al. 2005). They can be difficult to turn and have an ineffective, or no suspension system (American Academy of Pediatrics 2000), though newer models now offer improved handling through, for example, limited-slip differentials. Engine capacities can vary enormously (from 50cc to more than 800cc), but mid-range engine capacities are the most popular in New Zealand (OSH 1998:15). As engine size has increased, ATVs have become heavier and larger and the increase in average engine size is attributable in part to the increase in nonrecreational use of ATVs (Rodgers 1999:418).

Dry weight of the vehicles ranges from about 180kgs to more than 400kgs, with the lighter models being used primarily for recreation and sport and the heavier models more commonly used as work vehicles. The design and weight of the vehicles is such that operation of ATVs requires that drivers manoeuvre their body weight in a practice referred to as active riding, which in turn requires a combination of adequate height, weight, cognitive capacity and dexterity. ATVs are not designed to be modified or to carry passengers (Phrampus et al. 2005:58). In New Zealand however, many bikes are used for carrying farm equipment or supplies, further increasing the high centre of gravity, and 92.5% of farmers in a 1998 survey admitted to carrying passengers (OSH 1998). Infants' car seats are also often affixed to ATVs, which again alters the balance of the vehicles.

THE LAW

Land Transport legislation prohibits children under 15 riding ATVs "on roads and beaches" (OSH 2002b), though there are no laws to prevent younger children from driving ATVs off road, including on farms (OSH 2002b). (3) The vehicles are subject to two forms of regulation in terms of farm use, however. Work-related on-farm use of ATVs is covered by OSH, whereas non-work-related on-farm use of ATVs comes under the 1961 Crimes Act, which is enforced by the Police (OSH 2002b).

Regulations developed under the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 require employers to ensure that children under 15 do not operate tractors and other "self-propelled mechanical plant" (Langley 1997:10), but this applies only to employees and even then, because ATVs weigh less than 700kg, no age or employment restrictions actually come into effect (Langley 1997:10). Under Land Transport regulations, ATVs must be registered (and therefore warranted) only if used on public roads. Helmets are compulsory only when riding ATVs on the road, though farmers are not legally bound to wear them when riding ATVs on roads that border or intersect their own farm, subject to a 30kph speed restriction (Land Transport New Zealand 2005' OSH 2002b).

In the absence of specific legislation, the agricultural sector is guided by a set of operational guidelines, the Safe Use of ATVs on New Zealand Farms Agricultural Guidelines (2002). (4) Published by OSH, the Guidelines were composed in consultation with a number of stakeholders under the auspices of the Agricultural Health and Safety Council. (5) They provide standardised operational rules and practical safety advice to ATV users. Among the these rules is a stipulation that children less than 12 years of age shall not ride the vehicles and youth aged between 12 and 15 years should do so only under certain conditions, such as meeting safety criteria in regard to training, physical strength, helmet use, absence of passengers and loads, speed limits and supervision of the rider. (6) In this respect, the Guidelines implicitly condone ATV use amongst 12--15-year-olds. The Guidelines also advise that ATVs are not designed for carrying passengers. While the Guidelines cannot be legally enforced, its authors note that they represent--and may be interpreted by the Courts as--an industry agreed position and best practice (OSH 2002b). There are also various manufacturers' guidelines also in existence, though they provide inconsistent operational advice, particularly in regard to minimum rider ages.

While the literature is unanimous in its insistence that ATVs are not designed to be ridden by children, and that children lack the physical strength and cognitive capacity to operate them safely, ATVs are commonly ridden by children on farms in New Zealand. Existing research shows that children begin to drive ATVs at well below the ages recommended by manufacturers and the Guidelines. Despite the increasing number of accidents involving children, our key...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT