NT WorkSafe investigates fatal quad bike rollover at Cossack, near Katherine

The NT’s safety watchdog will investigate a fatal quad bike rollover which claimed the life of a 47-year-old man.

UPDATE THURS: THE safety watchdog will investigate a fatal quad bike rollover which claimed the life of a 47-year-old man.

NT WorkSafe said it had started an investigation into the fatal crash on a private property at Cossack, southwest of Katherine on Tuesday July 12.

“NT WorkSafe has commenced an inquiry into the incident to determine the appropriate regulatory response,” a spokeswoman said.

NT WorkSafe said an initial inquiry had confirmed a rollover protection device was installed on the bike.

On Wednesday NT Police said a 47-year-old was killed and a man in his 30s was injured after a rollover in an all-terrain vehicle (ATV).

Detective Senior Sergeant Paul Lawson said a crime scene was set up to investigate the circumstances of the crash.

NT WorkSafe said updated national safety standards required all new quad bikes to have a rollover bar, or an operator protection device.

The federal legislation passed in 2019 following a two-year inquiry by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission into quad bike safety.

Then ACCC Commissioner Mick Keogh said 60 per cent of quad bike fatalities were caused by rollovers, and “research indicates that roughly 50 per cent of these operators would have survived the crash had they not been crushed or pinned by the quad bike”.

The 47-year-old’s death comes nearly a year an a half since the last fatal quad bike crash in the Territory.

In January 2021 a 32-year-old man died after losing control of his quad bike and crashing into a guard rail on McKinley Rd, Herbert.

There were two fatal quad bike incidents in 2020, a 12-year-old boy on a pastoral property near Alice Springs and an 80-year-old man near Marrakai.

This year there have already been six deaths on ATVs nationally, according to Safe Work Australia.

INITIAL, WED: A MAN has died following an ATV rollover near Katherine overnight.

Shortly before midnight on Tuesday emergency services were called to a private property at Cossack, southwest of Katherine.

The man, aged 47, was declared dead at the scene, while another man in his 30s was taken to Katherine Hospital with non life-threatening injuries.

He remains in a stable condition as of Wednesday afternoon.

NT Police confirmed they are investigating the incident.

“A crime scene has been declared as police investigate the circumstances of the incident,” Detective Senior Sergeant Paul Lawson said.

St John paramedics also attended the scene.

“We had reports of an ATV rollover,” St John NT operations manager Craig Garraway told the ABC.

“Paramedics responded out there and on arrival did find that person passed away.

“Very sad for the family and friends.”

Member for Katherine Jo Hersey said her tight-knit had been shaken by the news of the fatality.

“It’s a tragic thing in a small community – if you don’t know them then you know someone who does,” she said.

Jo Hersey, the Member for Katherine has expressed sadness over the death close to her family’s home. Photograph: Che Chorley

Ms Hersey said she has family living close to the area and understood accidents on ATVs were sometimes easier to come by with people living on the land.

“Those four-by-four type vehicles are very common around there,” she said.

“You hear about accidents on them.”

“It’s very easy when you’re on the land to just jump in a vehicle and not do the same safety checks as you would in a car.”

She said incidents like this one would make people stop and think.

“Any deaths or accidents make people reassess no matter what it is,” she said.

National guidelines for ATV safety were brought in from October last year that made rollover protection devices mandatory on any new vehicles sold.

So far this year there have already been six deaths on ATVs nationally, according to Safe Work Australia.

It is the first ATV death in the NT since a 32-year-old man was killed in January 2021.

Two deaths were also recorded in 2020, including a 12-year-old boy in Central Australia and 80-year-old man near Marrakai.