Lap belts for quads! Coroner Smith needs ta get a life!

[4stroke]

most deaths on farm bikes dont come from head injurys, usually from crushed lungs and being pinnned under neath.
roll bar on the back is the most dangerous as it gets hooked on trees etc and flips the bike on its arse, tho it makes it easier to wash as they sit on the roll frame and wash underneath.
i dont wear a helmet on the farm, and most likly never will, its hard enough getting a mx helmet to fit let alone a ag helmet.
neather would i wear a lap belt, could you imagine when opening and shutting gates when doing irrigation, 15 gates to open and close twice a day.

and do you realise that the number of quad accedents include racing quads and beach goes (fishing and recreational) so i found out from a guy whos trying to sort it out.

the majority of the problems come from not concentrating and doing stupid fkn things.

[RiderInBlack]

Go with the cigarette package legislation
Why not just put stickers on the tank/ bar/ somewhere on the Quad that if you ride like a dick your brains will be crushed out of your ears...... With added photo like the lungs one? Maybe black and white so it's not as gory?

Already Idiot Labels on the farm Quads (and the Tractors) to stop American Idiots (Love that Green Day Song) from suing the Manufacturers. Not that Joe Dirt Riders can read, or if they can, gives a shit about the labels. Doesn't work with the smokers ether.
The roll bars were stopping the Quad from rolling off the rider, trapping them under the Quad. At least without the roll bars, the thing would roll off ya.
One thing I really hate seeing on the Farms is Farmer Joe with all his kids on the Quad, with some in front of the handle bars, whipping down the road

[D3ALN]

Dont see anything wrong with quads as they are. nothing wrong with carrying a couple of people on if your not hooning around. People just need to learn what angles are safe on hills and be sensible

[Winston001]

Yep he's an idiot alright. Quads, as indeed are many things, are inherently dangerous, but ill-thought out legislation will not stop people dying or being injured on them....

We can't protect everyone from everything.

Mr Smith is wrong but not an idiot. He's a Coroner. Dealing with death. Often preventable death. Its his job to point out risks.

Unfortunately he is probably a city dweller with no experience of ATVs. His suggestions are well-intended but not practical. I doubt even a helmet would be effective on low speed 4 wheelers which tend to crush riders rather than throwing them off.

I was particularly unimpressed by the guy interviewed on TV who demonstrated leaning into a turn instead of putting his weight to the outside. It should the complete opposite to riding a 2 wheel motorcycle.

[RiderInBlack]

Mr Smith is wrong but not an idiot. He's a Coroner. Dealing with death. Often preventable death. Its his job to point out risks.

No he is an Idiot. Just another clever person saying stupid shit without thinking it though properly before writing an official letter of recommendation around it. That makes him the worst kind of Idiot to me, cause some other Idiot would use that letter to make more Stupid laws. Lucky they didn't.
Maybe he needs to think things through more thoroughly so he can see the risks his suggestion pose.

[Jay GTI]

I'm with RIB, just because the man has a job that requires a reasonable amount of study and intellect, does not preclude him from blatant idiocy. It may be his job to highlight risks and try and prevent deaths, but suggesting 'safety measures' that will actually increase the risk of death and injury are not part of his job.

Good intentions or not, he has not thought through his proposals and anyone with a smattering of quad bike experience will look at what he's said and quite rightly surmise that he needs to get out of his office/morgue and actually ride one for a decent length of time on a farm, before telling people who ride one day in and day out, what is safe for them.

Sounds like an idiot to me.

[Scuba_Steve]

I'm with RIB, just because the man has a job that requires a reasonable amount of study and intellect, does not preclude him from blatant idiocy. It may be his job to highlight risks and try and prevent deaths, but suggesting 'safety measures' that will actually increase the risk of death and injury are not part of his job.

Good intentions or not, he has not thought through his proposals and anyone with a smattering of quad bike experience will look at what he's said and quite rightly surmise that he needs to get out of his office/morgue and actually ride one for a decent length of time on a farm, before telling people who ride one day in and day out, what is safe for them.

Sounds like an idiot to me.

exactly, intelligence isn't a blanket covering it is a relative term, so why he might be intelligent at his job, when trying to tell others how to do theirs he's a fucking moron. he might have good intentions but the saying "the road to hell is paved with good intentions" was created for a reason.

[MSTRS:Me]

the majority of the problems come from not concentrating and doing stupid fkn things.

Not limited to quads...

[HenryDorsetCase]

I was particularly unimpressed by the guy interviewed on TV who demonstrated leaning into a turn instead of putting his weight to the outside. It should the complete opposite to riding a 2 wheel motorcycle.

wait, whut?

if you weight the outside wheel doesnt it come up on two wheels? When I used to ride a tiny little kids 4 wheeler we used to do that: it was fantastic fun. but if you fell over it was on the lawn and no injuries.

Also relevant: and hilarious



why doesnt it embed?? its got img tags!!! Gah!!

[oneofsix]

At least the Labour Dept seems to be taking a more reasoned approach. Their take is that helmets help, Roll cages are being discussed with manufacturers and across the Tasman but are problematic and lapbelts are dangerous as the rider needs to be able to shift their weight and stand up to properly control the Quad. Pity I can't now find the link

[evoetr]

I think a lap belt would only do more damage with out a roll cage, you would be stuck under the quad instead of getting thrown away from it when it rolled...

So it sounds like a dumb idea if you ask me... , maybe these people should be getting their ' hoon ' stage out on a mini quad or pit bike before stepping up to a bigger farm quad that will crush them because of the weight of them

[Kickaha]

I was particularly unimpressed by the guy interviewed on TV who demonstrated leaning into a turn instead of putting his weight to the outside. It should the complete opposite to riding a 2 wheel motorcycle.

You should be leaning into the turn, either that or the 20 quads I watched at speedway last weekend all had it wrong

Leaning to the outside will just help you roll it over

[steve_t]

I got told to put weight to the outside for slow turns and to the inside for fast turns. Not sure what the weight to the outside is all about though

[idb]

I got told to put weight to the outside for slow turns and to the inside for fast turns. Not sure what the weight to the outside is all about though

I always figured it was so that the extra weight on the outside wheels would help them bite more and stop the bike from sliding.
I suppose that if you are going faster you would lean to the inside to stop it rolling over.

[HenryDorsetCase]

could it be because they dont have a diff, so the two rear wheels must always turn at the same speed, so weighting the outside wheel will allow the inside wheel to spin? Whereas weighting the inside for fast turns is because the whole thing is sliding?

pure speculation: do they have diffs?