Quad bike accidents due to uphill steering, study suggests

File photo / Supplied

The cause of a large number of quad bike accidents could be due to the steering when travelling on a left-facing slope, a University of Otago study has found.

The study, recently published in the journal Ergonomics, found farm workers with a tendency to steer uphill, instead of downhill, while moving over a left-facing slope, had the most accidents.

Study co-author Dr Stephan Milosavljevic said "the problem of retaining stability on the quad bike in this uphill, left-slope situation was compounded because the driver had to use their right hand to operate the bike's throttle on the right of the bike".

In the last 10 years, 48 people in New Zealand have died as a result of quad bikes accidents, making it the second highest cause of vehicle-related deaths in the rural community after car accidents.

The University's School of Physiotherapy looked at 30 farm workers using quad bikes in South Otago to analyse the driving behaviour of regular quad bike users.

Out of the 30 men studied, 19 or 63 per cent, had experienced loss of control on a quad bike as they tended to drift uphill when on a left-facing slope.

The men were in their mid-40s on average, and about nine years younger and less experienced than those who did not lose control.

Co-author Dr Allan Carman used a "tri-axial accelerometer" for the study. It measures tilt relative to gravity, and analyses the roll and pitch level of the quad bike for each worker during a working day.

Dr Milosavljevic said the study also found high levels of vibration exposure that were potentially damaging to the spine, contributing to a disturbance of balance.

Further research, involving 130 South Otago farmers, is investigating whether vibration exposure from a quad bike could affect a worker's balance and body position.

The research is currently under review and not yet published.

Despite the findings, Dr Carman said he believed a lot more research was needed to drill deeper into the causes of quad bike accidents.

"We have found associations with slope and turning, but there is still a lot more field research to be done to ascertain further risk factors in rollover events," he said.

"We also suspect attitudes have a lot more to do with rollovers. For example, we noticed that gung-ho attitudes versus more cautious personality traits were reflected in driver behaviour -- so it is unknown whether a tilt warning device would change behaviours."

- NZPA