Quad bike rides need extra care

He said previous statistics had shown the vast majority of riders killed while riding quad bikes were not wearing a helmet.

"It's the quickest and easiest thing people can do to keep themselves safe on a quad bike – putting a helmet on whenever they ride," Steve said.

Quad bike and all-terrain vehicle manufacturers have focused on improving safety features in recent years, with models like the Sportsman Ace featuring a rollover protection system.

"Manufacturers such as Polaris have listened to what people are looking for and we're starting to see rollover protection being used more on these type of machines," Steve said.

"A lot of companies and government departments don't want their employees on regular quad bikes without rollover protection these days."

Quad bikes are now packed with features that riders would expect to find in a car, including hill descent control for steep terrain, electric power steering, disc brakes and independent suspension.

But Steve said improvements in safety features would never make up for risky riding.

"Whenever we sell a quad bike, we always include an operational DVD, and there's various courses people can enrol in to get a really good idea of how to operate them properly and safely," he said.

"Unfortunately though, you can tell people how to be safe until the cows come home, but you can't control how they ride when they're alone."