Coronial inquest opens into seven quad bike deaths in Tasmania

SPEED, alcohol, overloading and the lack of helmets will be among the factors considered by an inquest into a series of quad bike deaths in Tasmania.

The inquest is being held in the Hobart Magistrates Court in Collins St.

SPEED, alcohol, overloading and the lack of helmets will be among the factors considered by an inquest into a series of quad bike deaths in Tasmania.

Coroner Simon Cooper is looking into seven deaths which occurred between November 10, 2012 and December 27, 2015.

In his opening address to the first day of hearings in Hobart today, counsel assisting the coroner David Barclay said there had been more than 200 deaths in bike crashes since 2001, most of them on farms.

The deaths being considered by the current inquest are:

- Heather Dawn Richardson, 64, who died on a farm at Chudleigh in December 2012 after apparently losing control and driving down a steep incline. She died of multiple severe trauma and was not wearing a helmet.

- Jan Severin Jensen, 47, who died at Sisters Beach in December 16, 2012. He was riding up a steep incline with a passenger on the back when the quad bike flipped and landed on his chest. The inquest heard the quad bike was not designed to carry passengers and Mr Jensen had a blood-alcohol reading of 0.012.

- Kendall Russell Bonney, 23, who died at Arthurs Beach in February 2013. He came off a quad bike after hitting a washout. He was not wearing a helmet and died two days later, Mr Bonney had been drinking and had a blood-alcohol reading estimated at 0.05 at the time of the crash.

- Retired farm worker Vicki Mavis Percy who died near Wynyard in August 2014 after turning in front of two motorcycles travelling at about 80km/h.

- Jay Randall Forsyth, 29, died at Ansons Bay on New Year’s Day 2015. He was thrown clear of his quad bike and suffered head and neck injuries after hitting the road surface at around 30km/h. He had a blood-alcohol reading of 0.349 and was not wearing a helmet.

- Jacob Graham Green, 21, in a quad bike crash at Strahan in May 2015. He was travelling at high speed, had a blood-alcohol reading of 0.243 and was not wearing a helmet.

- Roger Maxwell Larner died from head and traumatic asphyxia while working on a property at Port Arthur in December last year. His family made a statement to the inquest saying they thought he may have suffered a stroke before the crash.

Mr Barclay said the inquest would look at whether improved training, greater helmet use, rollover devices and better design and stricter safety standards would improve safety and prevent future deaths.

Barrister Liam Dollar, who is representing the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries at the inquest, said similar hearings had been held in NSW and Queensland in recent years.

He said there had been mixed evidence about the effectiveness of various forms of rollover protection, but strong support for improved and standardised training and the use of helmets.

The inquest is expected to continue for five hearing days.