ATV meeting
Released 08 Nov 2010
Stew Wadey, Federated Farmers Waikato provincial president
I attended a meeting at the Mystery Creek Events Centre in Waikato recently, where the Minister of Labour, the Hon Kate Wilkinson launched the Department of Labour's (DoL) new campaign to raise awareness about quad bike/All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) safety.
The new campaign has four main points and these are: users must be trained and experienced in the use of an ATV; the right vehicle must be chosen for the job and this is about knowing the limits of your vehicle; helmets can save your life and all though they are not compulsory, using them is highly recommended; and lastly, children should not ride ATVs that are designed for adult use.
Federated Farmers, along with the Agricultural Health and Safety Council and FarmSafe are right behind the DoL's campaign and we have commended the Department for the effort it has made in this regard.
Federated Farmers is determined to help reduce the number of ATV accidents that occur and we believe this lies largely through safety, training and education and this should also encompass two wheel farm motorbikes. It has been a long time since a Government has put effort into co-ordinating an ATV safety programme such as this one and so it is very promising to see.
However, it's not only farmers and farm workers that are suffering injury as a result of using ATVs. We need tourist operators and recreational users to ensure they are receiving the right safety education as well.
And while the rate of ATV accidents is very worrying for Federated Farmers, we hope the public can see it in perspective. When compared to household accidents, a person is 47 times more likely to die as a result of an accident within their home than they are due to an accident on an ATV. In fact, on average 12 New Zealanders die within their own home every week and every 50 seconds, one person is injured.
Aside from supporting DoL's new campaign, Federated Farmers is looking for solutions as well. Recently we've raised the profile of Personal Locator Beacons, which can be very beneficial for farmers caught in an on-farm accident, especially those in remote areas.
We are also talking to DoL about a proposal to trial rollover warning systems, recently developed by an American company. These systems, called ‘slopealert' can indicate both safe and unsafe conditions, as well as providing a control signal to help prevent a rollover situation. A recent survey conducted by the University of Otago found that the use of a system like this, on an ATV, could help reduce accidents.
ATVs are dangerous vehicles and Federated Farmers knows this all too well, however, they are also vital for on-farm work, so we find the DoL's new campaign very promising and we look forward to working with the Department in the future, to help bring accident numbers down.
