A sharemilking company and farm owner have been fined and ordered to pay reparations after a motorcyclist was caught in bungy ropes strung across a public road.
The incident occurred in March 2021 on a road in Maruia Valley, Southland.
The sharemilkers, working for Te Koru Wai Limited, had tied the ropes while moving around 800 cows across the road.
The speed limit was 100km/h, and there was "a lack of signage" to indicate cattle were being moved ahead.
When the motorcyclist got to the sharemilkers, it was too late to stop safely.
He was caught in the ropes, which pulled tight, and he came off the bike and slid along the road before hitting a fence post.
The man was taken to hospital with fractures to his right rib and a laceration on his right kidney.
"The injuries were incredibly serious, and the rider is lucky to be alive," WorkSafe's national investigations manager, Casey Broad, said.
The businesses failed to notify WorkSafe about the accident, meaning the motorcyclist was forced to do it himself weeks later.
A WorkSafe investigation revealed the bungy ropes had been across the road for three hours, and just two workers were at the farm.
The sharemilkers, alongside the farm's owners Dairy Holdings Limited, were sentenced at the Christchurch District and ordered to pay huge fines.
Te Koru Wai was fined $220,000 and ordered to pay reparations of $13,200.
Dairy Holdings Limited, the farm's owner, was ordered to pay a fine of $211,700 and reparations of $8,800.
Judge Jane Farish said the crossing was "an extremely obvious hazard with a simple method of avoiding it".
"The blocking of a public road should ring significant alarm bells."
Broad said the sharemilkers should have followed official guidelines when moving the animals.
"NZTA guidance requires farmers to install a temporary warning sign at an adequate distance ahead of the crossing when more than 50 animals are being moved."
"Stock crossings are commonplace in rural New Zealand, and the risks to motorists are well known. Having signage up and farm workers present while cattle are crossing is the safest way to go.
"Working farms, like any other business, are responsible for ensuring work is safe. Our role is to influence businesses to meet these responsibilities and we hold them to account if they don't," he said.
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