KEY POINTS:
Horse riding is New Zealand's most injury causing adventure sport, while fishing carries a higher risk of death, according to a new study.
The study by Massey University researchers, published in the New Zealand Medical Journal, looked at accident compensation claims among adventure sports and adventure tourism activities.
News media have reported extensively on accidents involving seemingly high-risk sports -- such as 25-year-old skydiver Michael Holmes, who in December suffered a punctured lung and broken ankle, but survived after his parachute failed and he hit the earth at 128km/h.
But the study found horse-riding caused far more accidents than sky diving, bungy jumping and other "extreme" sports.
There were 28.6 ACC claims per 1000 horse riders between July 2004 and June 2005.
These amounted to just over 20 per cent of all claims, and cost an average of $134.40 each.
In the 12-month period horse-riding caused three fatalities, while fishing and mountaineering caused six each.
The most expensive claims came from paragliding, parasailing and hang-gliding accidents, costing $335 on average.
However they made up only 0.3 per cent of all claims.
More claims occurred in summer, and men accounted for 60 per cent of all the accidents in the study.
They were particularly prevalent when it came to fishing (84 per cent), surfing (81.3 per cent) and hunting (91.6 per cent).
However the average cost of all claims made by males was $112, which was significantly lower than the cost for females, at $130.
The researchers said the two most injury-causing activities, horse riding and mountain biking, were not covered by regulatory bodies or approved codes of practice.
"These findings indicate the need to investigate whether regulatory intervention in the form of codes of practice for high injury count activities ... may be necessary," the study's authors stated.
Injury prevention measured should be directed at young males, who had the highest accident rate -- although horse-riding was an exception because women were more likely to participate.
- NZPA
