Think of the following scene for a moment: you’re out checking livestock in poor light conditions – you don’t see a pole ahead and you drive into it at high speed resulting in head injuries; or the quad bike skids and you end up in a nearby stream; or it overturns and you become trapped underneath. Sadly, all of these scenarios are real life farm accidents that have happened on quad bikes or all-terrain vehicles (ATVs).

According to the Health and Safety Authority (HSA), the most frequent contributing factors to these accidents are: a lack of formal operator training and/or experience; someone not wearing appropriate head protection; excessive speed; the driver being underage; carrying a passenger on a quad bike; overloading; or poor maintenance, such as faulty brakes or incorrect tyre pressures.

So what can you do to stay safe? “Start with safety training,” says Jim Dockery, Health and Safety Manager at FRS. “The first thing we cover is legislation, then the daily checks you should do on a quad bike, like checking the tyres, fuel and oil,” he says. “The next part of the training is riding a quad on level terrain, such as a yard or flat field.”

Rough terrains

“Finally, we move on to rough terrains. That means uphill, downhill, sideways on hills, traversing – that’s more risky. It depends on how you move your body. Your centre of gravity has to change and you have to lean into the hill. If you’re going down the hill, you sit way back; if you’re going up the hill, you sit forward and maybe even stand up and lean forward.”

The one or two-day course also teaches people how to secure and balance loads using the front and back racks of the quad, as well as pulling a trailer, which can also include some balancing work as a trailer can take up to a 100kg of weight.

You have to be at least 16 years old to take part in a training course and be able to drive a quad. According to Jim, most of the people who have attended the FRS training are aged between 30 and 50 but they would like to see younger farmers taking part. One of the youngest people who took Jim’s course is Áine O’Connell, a 23-year-old farmer from Dovea, Thurles in Co Tipperary.

“I’m usually a slow learner, but Jim is very thorough and you don’t feel shy next to him. There was about six or seven people taking the course and we all had a voice – we could ask anything, anytime. Jim had a calm head, he’d walk with you while you were riding the quad, explaining everything. I feel a lot safer after taking the course.”

Áine says she’d recommend this course to everybody, including young people. “Many young people don’t see the danger with quads, they just think it’s quick and easy to drive. I didn’t see half of the dangers myself until I did the course. It’s a very fast machine – it can accelerate up to 30 km/h in 5-10 seconds.”

Jim says, “If you take a car tyre, there’s no grips on the tyre. If you take a quad bike, it has grips, and on top of that there’s low tyre pressure. So it grips like a bear grabbing you with its claws. If you press the throttle unexpectedly, it takes off from under you, because it’s designed to grip the ground.”

“So you have to wear a helmet no matter what. Jim burned that into my head,” Áine says.

Jim adds: “Nine out of every 10 times that a quad rolls over, when the bike gets turned upside down, it will crush your head – not break your arm or leg, but your head. Head injuries are very high among quad accidents.” In fact, most quad bike deaths are caused by head injury, according to the HSA.

However, when used correctly, quads are one of the most useful tools on any farm and well worth the investment, according to Jim. “You can use them for fencing, moving cattle, feeding animals with a feeding truck on a trailer, spraying, and so on. They’re used in forestry as well,” he adds. “They have plenty of benefits for young farmers but it is essential to know how to operate them safely and correctly.” CL

• Farm safety week runs from 22 July to 26 July.

• 44% of farming deaths were caused by vehicles between 2014 and 2023, according to the HSA.

• 12% of these deaths were caused by quad bikes/ATVs.

• The lack of training and helmets are two of the most common reasons for injuries from quad accidents, the HSA says.

• You have to be at least 16 years old to drive a quad.

• Quad bikes used in a public place, to cross or travel on a public road require the driver to have a licence.