Plans to tackle quad bike injuries excite bosses

‘‘Their main reaction was, this is great, where do we go from here?’’

Practical, hands-on advice rather than whiz-bang safety features is the key to lowering the country’s quadbike injury rate.

Students from Wintec’s Design Hub have been exploring solutions to reducing quad bike accidents on farms.

Armed with trauma data collected by the Midland Trauma System, plus their own research, the students have devised a hands-on educational programme that reinforces quad bike safety.

The programme, dubbed Bikes, Blokes and Pies, was recently presented to staff at the Midland Trauma System.

The feedback from trauma doctors and staff was overwhelmingly positive, student Caitlynn Wendt said.

‘‘They asked a lot of questions, but their main reaction was, this is great, where do we go from here?’’

Metadata mined in the central North Island shows a huge peak in quad bike injuries in the 55-to-65 age group.

Wendt, 25, said her group’s research showed it was farmers’ attitude, rather than inherent safety flaws with quad bikes, which was behind the injury statistics.

‘‘Farmers favour quad bikes because they are so versatile and easy to use,’’ she said. ‘‘Farming is massive in New Zealand. Banning quad bikes would simply create another problem.’’