The human toll of dangerous use of side-by-side vehicles

It’s been five years since Laura Rabbidge’s three-year-old son was killed in a side-by-side vehicle accident on their Deddick Valley property. Now, she wants to share her story.

It’s five years since the death of Laura Rabbidge’s toddler son, Flynn, and she still can’t speak his name.

Nor can she have on display in her home any photographs of her cherished three-year-old, who was tragically killed in a rollover of a side-by-side vehicle on her family’s farm in Victoria’s picturesque Deddick Valley.

The accident in October 2019 sent shockwaves through the small rural community, about as isolated as you can get in the state’s far North East, close to the NSW border.

Ms Rabbidge’s then-husband, Jake Rabbidge, was at the wheel of a side-by-side vehicle with Flynn unrestrained inside, when it rolled, fatally crushing the toddler. A police inspection of the vehicle found no mechanical errors, with Mr Rabbidge charged with dangerous driving causing death. He was sentenced to 20 months in jail, with a non-parole period of eight months.

Laura Rabbidge, who's three-year-old son was killed on a side-by-side vehicle driven dangerously. Picture: Laura Ferguson.

Only now, more than five years after that terrible day, does Ms Rabbidge feel ready to speak up, and remind users of the very human toll of ignoring manufacturer safety directions as demand for the farming vehicles grows.

“(Flynn) was just three years-old and was solely our responsibility. He trusted us as his parents,” Ms Rabbidge said.

Flynn Rabbidge, who was only three years old when he was killed in a side-by-side vehicle incident. Picture: Supplied

“It crushes me that his trust was broken. I went up to the house to get morning tea with our two-year-old daughter and 15 minutes later I was an eight-month pregnant mum giving CPR to my three-year-old son.

“This shouldn’t have happened.”

Ms Rabbidge said stronger penalties to act as a deterrent were needed.

The number of incidents involving a quad bike or SSV each year is unclear, as data from industry bodies such as WorkSafe Victoria count only worksite incidents, and not recreational ones.

Data from WorkSafe shows there were 15 quad bike fatalities in an agricultural workplace setting in Victoriabetween 2011 and 2024.

This is in comparison to four SSV deaths since 2017, with no fatalities recorded since 2021.

WorkSafe executive director of health and safety Sam Jenkin said vehicles continued to be involved in “a majority of deaths on Victorian farms”. He said SSVs were a valuable tool for farmers and could be a “safer alternative to quad and motorbikes, but still come with their own risks to drivers and passengers”.

“No one is immune to tragedy when safety is not a priority every day,” Mr Jenkin said.

“Safer equipment means safer farming – farmers should always choose the safest vehicle for the job at hand.

“Failing to ensure safety features such as seatbelts and doors are fitted and used correctly greatly increases the chance of injury or death if things go wrong.”

SSV DATA UNCLEAR

Farmsafe Australia chair Felicity Richards is a cattle farmer in Tasmania, and regularly uses SSVs on farm, with regulations and rules in place for all her workers.

She said anecdotally since increased regulation of quad bikes in Australia, the SSV was an increasingly popular farm vehicle.

“However, I don’t think there’s necessarily been a really good attitude towards respecting the manufacturer’s recommendations,” Ms Richards said.

Farmsafe Australia chair Felicity Richards on her farm near Launceston, Tasmania.

Ms Richards said she uses an SSV on her farm for its ability to carry gear, increased weather protection, and terrain accessibility.

But she said farmers needed to set rules for safe use of these vehicles on farms.

“I’d be saying every farmer (should) have really clear parameters as to what responsible use on your farm looks like, so no-one picks up the keys without knowing what those parameters are.”

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries has published 25 years of member sales data in the Australian market, broken into four segments: scooters, off-road bikes, road bikes, and off-highway vehicles, which encompasses ATVs, quad bikes, and SSVs.

OHV sales year to date in 2024 were 10,272, down more than 8 per cent on the 11,175 the year prior. This is in comparison to the 24,856 OHV vehicles sold in 2020, and 17,906 sold in 2019.

FCAI motorcycle manager Rhys Griffiths said FCAI members ceased supply of new ATVs – including quad bikes – since the introduction of mandatory roll over protection devices.

“This did not mean that there was an immediate end to supply, as the government allowed a period of grace for the manufacturers with pre-orders, current stock and product on the water … by about mid-2022 the stock of that product was finished, and our members no longer supplied utility ATVs to the Australian market.”

Any current quad bike sales data is held by manufactures and is not available in any public data base. Mr Griffiths said all sales in the OHV sectors were either SSVs or sports ATVs, which are exempt from roll-over protection requirements.

“The biggest hurdle to overcome is the ability, or lack thereof, for those first responders and police to correctly identify the vehicle involved, and the critical information that could inform an accurate study of causal factors as well as vehicle characteristics that may have either prevented or caused the injury,” Mr Griffiths said.

“It goes without saying that a nationally consistent approach would be most beneficial.”

THINK TWICE

Ms Rabbidge said she was frustrated with ambiguity around reporting of incidents on farms involving SSVs and quad bikes.

“My ex-husband’s actions had nothing to do with farming. It puts farms and farmers in a bad light. A safe farm is a wonderful place for a child to grow up, it’s what I wanted for our children,” Ms Rabbidge said.

“(Flynn’s) death happened on a farm but was not when we were working. His cause of death is listed as a quad bike accident. It wasn’t a quad bike, it was a side-by-side.”

Despite the pain she lives with every day, she hopes that by sharing Flynn’s story people might think twice about safe use of SSVs on farm.

“My pain is indescribable, gut-wrenching, take your breath away kind of pain. Our lives have changed forever,” Ms Rabbidge said.

“However, I think if he is used in a way, whether it was a photo of him in a in a newspaper, and it caught someone’s eye to read story, and that even just at one point in the future, made someone think about or rethink about doing something similar. It’s enough if it prevents one more from happening.”