Farmers call for more education for recreational ATV use

Federated Farmers is urging more stringent education for the recreational use of all terrain vehicles (ATV).

“The tragic death of Michelle Goodgame this weekend highlights an area of concern around ATV use that needs to be addressed,” says Donald Aubrey, Federated Farmers agricultural health and safety spokesperson.

“We are deeply concerned about the influx of recreational accidents, especially when they involve children.

“ATVs are heavy, powerful machines and people need training to ride them.

“We’ve been doing a lot of work with ACC and the Department of Labour to promote education for farm use, but recreational use seems to have fallen by the wayside.

“It concerns me that the public thinks that whenever something goes wrong with an ATV, farmers are at fault.

“Sadly, statistics show that while we’re taking one step forward in regards to the safe use of ATVs on farm, we seem to be taking two steps back when it comes to recreational use.

“The only way that future tragedies like this can be avoided is through better education.

“Even though incidents involving farm use are actually declining, that’s no consolation in this case,” Mr Aubrey concluded.