Surgeons see quad-bike trauma first-hand

Re A mother’s plea – End the ‘she’ll be right’ attitude to life and safety (Jan 19), after years of unanswered pleas to improve quad bike safety, the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) echoes Jane Mair’s calls for legislative reform on the use of quad bikes.

Quad bikes are not toys; they leave very little room for rider error – a lack of judgment, a lack of skill, or even a lack of body mass and physical strength, can result in serious injury or even death.

Such crashes, particularly those involving children, need to be halted – kids and quad bikes do not mix.

RACS recommends banning their use by the under-16 age group.

Despite having four wheels, quad bikes have a high centre of gravity and a narrow wheelbase, making them unstable. Most injuries and deaths involve the bike rolling on to the rider and can occur at low speeds.

Surgeons like myself are often on the front lines of these trauma injuries and we see first-hand the horrific damage that quad bike crashes cause.

Quad bikes can cause severe injury of the head, spine, chest or pelvis and RACS recommends that riders wear helmets. There is also a common need for improved stability, dynamic handling and rollover crashworthiness safety for both workplace and recreational quad bikes.

Delays in implementing effective controls will continue to result in preventable deaths and serious injuries from quad-bike crashes.

Li Hsee, chair, New Zealand Trauma Committee, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons [abridged]

Cost-benefits of light rail

Christopher Clayton (Letters, Jan 25) makes assumptions of his own in reply to Roger Blakeley on light rail. He assumes the capital cost of construction is the only measure of success. That ignores the whole-of-life costs and benefits of the scheme. The system would alleviate costly congestion, reduce fuel usage, and increase mobility including for those from the Hutt Valley and Ka¯ piti.

Secondly, he ignores the cost of doing nothing. With increasing population, congestion and infrastructure damage etc will get worse until the issues are tackled. That adds costs onto the whole population.

Thirdly, he assumes the money could be better used elsewhere. Anyone who uses that argument must front up with positive counter-proposals.

And he implies the resulting system will be less than good. There is no reason to think we cannot use the best expertise to plan a system which will be as good as, or better than, many of the scores of systems currently being built around the world. Many cities which have built modern metro systems have been astonished at the uptake, often exceeding predictions by several hundred per cent. Robert Bevan Smith, Vogeltown

Poor use of space

We are disappointed that you chose to devote a full page to the Right-wing politics of an elderly, bigoted, white nationalist male (David Moffett, playing on the Right wing, Jan 26).

Whilst Kiwis value open debate, and it was clear his views were not necessarily supported by the writer, we are appalled that you gave divisive political views a full page of free advertising. History has long taught us that xenophobic nationalism leads to division, hatred and violence. The irony is probably lost on Moffett that he himself is an immigrant, and we chuckle to think of his next hip replacement being performed by one of New Zealand’s many highly skilled immigrant doctors.

In an era of rising international turmoil, what we need is more unity, tolerance and love for one-another regardless of race, religion or sexuality. You have profiled some wonderful New Zealanders in your National Portrait section. We’d suggest it is not the place for politics. We hope your next full-page spread showcases the wonderful diversity and value immigrants bring to our multicultural society.

Hans and Angela Brounts, Johnsonville

Butt out, America

Tom Manning of the Manning Group, a company consulting on trade between various Right-wing South American countries and New Zealand, in his diatribe against Nicolas Maduro, the elected president of Venezuela, neglected to mention the incredibly harsh sanctions Barack Obama and Donald Trump have both forced upon the country (Let’s help Venezuela, Jan 25).

Sanctions never affect the people at the top but only the ones lower down, and of course the children. American sanctions on Iraq were responsible for the deaths of more than 500,000 Iraqi children, who went without food and medical care, just like the Americans are doing putting a noose around the neck of Venezuela simply because socialism is something they can’t tolerate. I wish the US would stay in its own backyard. The world would become quite a peaceful place very quickly.

John Wilson, Roseneath

Comfrey’s risks

Gardening writer Mary Lovell-Smith (Jan 26) recommends that we ‘‘eat, spray, love’’ comfrey. Whilst comfrey when applied to the skin can ease the pain of inflamation and sore muscles, it should definitely not be eaten. The US Food and Drug Administration banned ingesting comfrey because of the increased risk of liver damage. It is also a cancer-causing agent. For that reason comfey is on the US Poisonous Plant Database.

John Whitty, Aro Valley

Skateboarders on roads

Re Denise Simpson’s letter complaining about skateboarders on roads (Jan 26), anything that gets people out of cars should be encouraged. Also, in many years of driving, seeing them on the road is a relatively rare thing. She sounds like she regards the road as an exclusive place for motorised high-speed transport only. Sure, there are risks to anyone out of a car but are we going to make people crossing the road wear a helmet and hi-vis? Although an old codger now, it makes me smile whenever I see a skateboarder. Marek Plesner, Napier [abridged] Email: letters@dompost.co.nz

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