Side-by-side vehicles: One step forward but one step back on safety

Farmers are moving to side-by-side vehicles in pursuit of safety, but that’s led to an unforeseen issue, writes Ed Gannon.

A side-by-side vehicle on display at an agricultural show. Picture: Peter Holt

WHAT happens when the solution becomes the problem?

That is the issue safety advocates are struggling with in relation to farm vehicles.

For the past decade it has become increasingly obvious quad bikes, or ATVs, can be a dangerous tool, becoming the leading cause of deaths on Australian farms.

The increasing number of deaths or injuries by operators being crushed by a flipped quad bike has seen the Federal Government impose a rule from this October that all new quad bikes must be fitted with roll-over protection.

And it has led to a push for farmers to move to side-by-side vehicles as a safer option.

Side-by-sides are enclosed vehicles with open sides, which offer the all-terrain qualities of a quad bike but the protection of a roll cage in the event of them rolling over.

The name comes from the driver and passenger sitting side-by-side.

In the past few years sales of side-by-sides have surged, while quad bikes have plunged.

But in the past two years 12 people have died on side-by-sides nationally - seven farmers and five children - causing safety experts to ponder that another problem has emerged.

Like any vehicle, side-by-sides require the driver and passengers to wear a seatbelt. This is particularly important as they are open sided, and are more prone to flipping than a normal small four-wheel-drive or ute.

But the very nature of using these vehicles - where drivers jump in and out frequently to open gates, check irrigation or grab a calf or lamb - means many don’t bother with the seatbelt.

And that becomes a problem when driving on unstable tracks or across paddocks at up to 50km/h, when a bump can send the side-by-side over.

All of those who died in the past 12 months were not wearing seatbelts.

At least one expert suggested it was also an attitude problem.

“I think there’s some suggestion it’s cultural, that farmers are on their own place, not the road, so they don’t need to wear a seat belt,” said University of Sydney farm safety researcher Tony Lower.

I’d suggest it is also historical, with few farmers wearing seatbelts when they drive around their farms in a ute.

But, the experts say, side-by-sides are still safer than quad bikes.

In 2020, 58 people died in farms across Australia - the same number as 2019.

The biggest cause was quad bikes, with 14 deaths. Nine deaths were from tractors and seven involving side-by-sides.

Farming is a dangerous business, made more dangerous by the fact families live in the workplace.

The side-by-sides provide a chance to cut down that death toll - if they are used in the way they are meant to be.

• Ed Gannon is Editor of The Weekly Times

@EdgannonWtn