A Southland farmer died when he became trapped under a quadbike after a crucial piece of equipment failed, a coroner has found.
David O’Callaghan was 59 years old and lived in Waikaka.
On July 26, 2024, Mr O’Callaghan did not return home from the farm when expected and was later found deceased under his quadbike.
Following a hearing in the coroner’s court in Dunedin, Coroner Heather McKenzie reported Mr O’Callaghan was operating a quadbike with a chow-cutter attachment on its front.
A chow-cutter is a wedge-shaped implement mounted to the front bull bar used to cut and flatten growing feed.
The chow-cutter extended about 1m in front of the quadbike and weighed about 20kg.
Mr O’Callaghan’s partner, Tania Williams, later told police that she did not like riding the quadbike with the chow-cutter as she felt the cutter itself was too low to the ground and it felt very heavy to turn the handle bars.
Mr O’Callaghan and Ms Williams were going to his mother’s place for dinner and were due to leave home about 4pm.
Ms Williams thought Mr O’Callaghan might have been in a hurry.
Mr O’Callaghan did not return home at the expected time and his phone went unanswered.
Ms Williams and others started looking for him and he was reported missing to police just after 8pm.
He was eventually discovered with the quadbike on top of him in a large feed paddock.
Aimee McGregor and her son Kane Winter (who worked for Mr O’Callaghan) got the bike off him, checked for a pulse (there was not one) and then called emergency services.
They also worked to fence off the cattle from the scene.
"The terrain was slippery and extremely muddy such that the police vehicle could not reach it and they had to continue on foot and with the aid of a farmer’s bike.
"Police observed a disconnected chow-cutter slightly dug into the ground.
"To police, it looked like it had gripped the ground while attached to the bike, potentially causing the bike to tumble and Mr O’Callaghan ending up underneath it."
Ms Williams told police that Mr O’Callaghan was very experienced with quadbikes “although like most farmers he would always go too fast”.
Mr O’Callaghan had rolled his quadbike two years in a row and Ms Williams thought he was very lucky not to have been injured.
The scene was also assessed by the serious crash unit (SCU), who refitted the bike and chow-cutter after the crash.
They found the bike functioned as intended, including its steering, braking and operations.
However, "the chow-cutter becoming detached was the causative factor in the crash".
The SCU concluded that while traversing a hillside the chow-cutter separated from the bull bar and fell to the ground.
The quadbike travelled over the cutter, causing it to roll to the right-hand side.
Mr O’Callaghan fell from the seat and landed on the ground and the quadbike "came to rest on top of him".
The SCU said that "no indications of distraction, fatigue, or speed were displayed or considered factors in the crash".
"There was no evidence that the terrain or surface of the paddock contributed to or caused the crash."
The toxicology report also found nothing of significance.
WorkSafe New Zealand investigated the crash and elected to take no further action.
The coroner decided not to make any further recommendations, other than the guidelines WorkSafe issued on the safe use of quadbikes.
"I find that Mr O’Callaghan died from positional asphyxia due to a quadbike rollover."
