Quad bike pins girl with dying mother

Michelle Goodgame. Photo / Supplied

A girl was pinned under a quad bike with her dying mother after the bike stalled on a steep track, rolled and plummeted 7m into a creek bed.

Michelle Lee Goodgame, 45, was dead when paramedics arrived just before 8pm on Saturday at the remote spot above Whareata Bay on the eastern side of D'Urville Island in the Marlborough Sounds.

Seven-year-old Laura Goodgame was flown to Nelson Hospital in the Summit rescue helicopter with suspected spinal injuries, but was discharged yesterday.

The pair had been carting supplies and were making a fourth trip up the zig-zagging track to their one-room house when the accident happened.

When Ms Goodgame couldn't find the brakes in the darkness, she panicked and the bike stalled and rolled.

"It didn't actually roll down the bank," said Senior Constable Maurice Horne, of Havelock Police.

"It's just gone over the edge - boom - then hit the stones on the stream bed."

Ms Goodgame's partner heard her screams and was able to drag Laura out from underneath the bike but could not save Ms Goodgame.

Kayaking out to a nearby yacht, her partner sounded the alarm via VHF radio.

Her partner and the yacht's skipper were able to pull the bike off Ms Goodgame, but it was too late, Mr Horne said.

It is understood Laura was in a state of shock after the accident, weeping and aware her mother was dead.

A relative said Ms Goodgame's father was last night returning to Christchurch with the children.

It is understood Mrs Goodgame's two other primary-aged children were on the island, too.

Her uncle, Gordon Goodgame, said Ms Goodgame had grown up in Wanganui, moving to Christchurch as a teenager.

He understood she had been just the second women to qualify as a prison guard in New Zealand.

Police are awaiting the results of a post-mortem examination and will investigate the incident alongside the Department of Labour.

A spokesman for Labour Minister Kate Wilkinson said it was upsetting to hear about another quad-bike death.

"The number of accidents we are seeing is concerning, and obviously everyone wants to prevent deaths occurring," he said.

"Unfortunately the only way to ensure no one ever dies on a quad bike ever again is to ban all quad bikes."

He said the department was working with Federated Farmers to update quad-bike guidelines.

Mr Horne said his staff had not examined the bike, but "if it was okay for four previous trips, it's not likely to be a mechanical fault".

Summit Rescue helicopter pilot Jarrod Colbourne said his staff attended a lot of quad-bike accidents.

"I think it's the weight of them. They're unstable and they roll on you, whereas a two-wheeler is not quite as heavy," he said.

It is understood Ms Goodgame - a recently contracted health and safety officer with Fanselow Bell HR & Recruitment Specialists - was commuting from the island to Nelson for work.

Company director Judy Fanselow was devastated to learn of the death, describing her as a great employee and devoted mother.

Ms Goodgame worked with companies assessing their workplace safety needs.

D'Urville Island resident Craig Aston said the family had only recently moved to the house - which is accessible only by boat.

"[I] only saw them at the wharf if they were loading on," he said. "It's all a bit sad really."

Bike fatalities:

* August 2008 - British backpacker Sarah Bond died after quad bike plunged more than 150ft down a bank near Waitomo.

* November 2008 - Brian Roland Earp, 56, found pinned under quad bike in Te Puna.

* December 12 2009 - Amber Taylor Vincent, 6, quad bike rolled, crushing her, at Thundercross Valley Bike Park in the Waikato

* February 21 2010 - Blake Fowlie, 10, crashes trail bike outside Paeroa home, dies next day.

* March 19 2010 - Honey company PA and SC Steens fined $78,000 and ordered to pay $60,000 in reparation over quad-bike death of farmhand Jody Santos last August.