Two separate rollover incidents occurred when towing atrailer behind a quad bike. Thankfully, both riders survived as the quad bikeshad been fitted with Lifeguard rollover protection.
Incident one: A shepherd was mustering inextremely high winds on a quad with a trailer. On his way to the wool shed, hefound power lines had been blown down over the road. The rider took anotherroute to the sheds through side paddocks. While ascending to the top of a gullyan exceptional gust of wind picked up the trailer and threw it to the left ofthe quad, pulling the quad over. The rider was thrown to the ground and thequad rolled over him.
Incident two: A farmer was mustering on his quadin low visibility and wet conditions. He was towing a trailer with two dogs. Hewent down the wrong spur and chose to back track along a ridge he wasunfamiliar with. His back right wheel skidded and slid down a hollow, causingthe bike to roll over the rider and come to rest on its side.
Low visibility, wet conditions, and extreme weather werecontributing factors in both scenarios. In both incidents farmers were takingalternative routes.
In incident two, the additional weight of the two dogs inthe trailer contributed to the loss of control.
Discuss these incidents with your staff and teams. Trailerswere involved in both incidents.
