Call for helmets, licences for quad bikes

Making helmets, training and licences compulsory for quad bike riders should be strongly considered, a coronial inquiry has heard.

The inquiry follows the deaths of eight people in NSW between 2009 and 2014 in accidents involving quad and all terrain bikes.

Most happened on rural properties and several riders weren't wearing helmets.

"It has been said that quad bikes are now the leading cause of injury and death on Australian farms," counsel assisting the coroner Ian Bourke SC said.

Mr Bourke said more should be done to improve safety.

Citing the UNSW research, he suggested making helmets and training or licensing mandatory, preventing children from operating adult-sized bikes and introducing a safety rating system.

There's been more than 200 quad bike related deaths in Australia since 2000. Three people - including a seven-year-old boy - have been killed so far this year.

Researchers from the UNSW transport and road safety unit assessed 109 quad bike fatalities and found the main cause of death was head injury. Only 22 per cent of riders in those cases were wearing helmets.

Mr Bourke said many deaths arising from the use of quad bikes occur because of user error such as not wearing a helmet, riding while affected by alcohol and letting children use adult-sized vehicles.