ATV LifeGuard collapses: lack of safety checks risks rollover failure

Farmers who fail to regularly check and service the New Zealand-made ATV LifeGuard risk it failing. See what happens when one is not maintained. Watch video of what happened.

FARMERS need to regularly check the nylon cords holding together their New Zealand-manufactured ATV LifeGuard rollover devices, after one collapsed on a southwest Victorian dairy farm this week.

Carpendeit dairy farmer Robert Campbell said the three-year-old LifeGuard on his quad bike snapped two days ago, causing it to collapse.

“I was driving along, hit a rut and heard it snap,” Mr Campbell said. “Nothing touched it”.

The service manual that comes with all new ATV LifeGuards states: “as with all equipment with moving parts, the LifeGuard also needs servicing and the cords checked for wear periodically (every 12 months minimum) or especially after a roll over.

“It can collapse if the cords fray and the LifeGuard hasn’t been serviced, so it’s essential this procedure is done. If there are any signs of chafing, the cord will need to be replaced.”

Mr Campbell said he had no idea the cords needed to be checked for wear until he went through the manual again this week, after it had collapsed.

The share farmer, who works on his father Alistair’s property, said he had adjusted the cord tension “a couple of times” using a torque wrench.

But Mr Campbell admitted that when his ATV LifeGuard’s zip-on cover had perished he had wrapped in silage tape, instead of replacing it.

Carpendeit dairy farmer Robert Campbell’s three-year-old ATV LifeGuard snapped on his quad bike two days ago.

Again the service manual states: “It is also important to replace the neoprene cover if it is worn, has holes in it, or has been removed. Without a cover, dirt and grit can get into the segments which can contribute towards the cords fraying”.

Mr Campbell said he thought roll bars and other operator protection devices did not need regular servicing. “With roll bars on cars and that, you don’t have look after them.”

Images of Mr Campbell’s collapsed ATV LifeGuard have been used by opponents of OPDs, who along with Japanese motorcycle giants Honda and Yamaha, want federal laws demanding they be fitted to all new quad bikes by October withdrawn.

Members of the Australian Motorcyclists Association’s Save the Quad Bike campaign issued a media release this week demanding an OPD product recall.

“Why are we seeing OPDs structurally failing under their own weight on Victorian farms, after being on a quad bike for only three years?” Association spokesman Craig Hartley said.

“Farmers are now asking for a product recall of thousands of OPDs on safety grounds!”

NZ Ag-Tech Industries, which manufactures the ATV LifeGuard, has dismissed the recall as a “total over-reaction”.

“To use one example of an ill-maintained LifeGuard to demand a recall is a total over-reaction,” Ag-Tech Industries general operations manager Weston Stewart said. “It’s ridiculous the lengths these guys are going to.

“Why not recall all the quad bikes that don’t have OPDs fitted, which are the ones that have killed people,” Mr Stewart said.

“Every LifeGuard is sold with a label that states it needs to be serviced and maintained.”

Mr Stewart said the company would take legal action against any damage to its LifeGuard brand as a result of publicity on the recall.

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