A 16-year-old boy has died in a quad bike accident in rural north-west Tasmania, marking the ninth quad bike fatality in Australia this year.
Police were alerted by the boy's family on Wednesday afternoon after he failed to return home. His body was discovered down an embankment in the early hours of Thursday on Minnies Road near the coastal town of Wynyard.
Safe Work Australia confirmed this is the ninth quad bike death nationwide in 2023. Police are appealing for anyone who saw a red Honda quad bike in the area on Wednesday afternoon to come forward.
The incident follows a similar tragedy in November at nearby Oldina, where a 16-year-old boy died and his 16-year-old female passenger was seriously injured. In February, a 14-year-old girl was killed while driving a Polaris Ranger on private property at Bridgewater, north of Hobart. A nine-year-old girl died in July after being thrown from a quad bike on a mountain track south of Perth.
Despite safety campaigns and efforts to improve quad bike safety, deaths continue. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission estimates around 1,000 people are injured in quad bike incidents each year.
