Finding into death of Justin Richard Harris
Deceased
Justin Richard Harris
Demographics
17y, male
Date of death
2023-02-19
Finding date
2023-11-01
Cause of death
Injuries sustained in an all-terrain vehicle incident (driver)
AI-generated summary
A 17-year-old male died from injuries sustained in an ATV rollover when momentarily distracted by his hat flying off while driving on a property driveway. The deceased was not wearing a seatbelt, protective gear, or helmet, despite the ATV's explicit warnings and safety features. His passenger, who was wearing a seatbelt, survived relatively unscathed. The coroner found that failure to use available safety precautions (seatbelt, side nets, protective gear) was a significant contributing factor to the severity of injuries sustained. The case highlights the inherent dangers of ATVs and the critical importance of adhering to manufacturer safety recommendations, particularly for inexperienced young operators.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Contributing factors
- Failure to wear seatbelt
- Failure to wear protective gear or helmet
- Side nets not fastened
- Momentary distraction by hat flying off
- Loss of vehicle control on unsealed driveway
- Rollover of ATV on left side of curve
- Seatbelt improperly secured (fastened underneath rather than across body)
Full text
Related cases
Source and disclaimer
This page reproduces or summarises information from publicly available findings published by Australian coroners' courts. Coronial is an independent educational resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any coronial court or government body.
Content may be incomplete, reformatted, or summarised. All court orders for redaction and non-publication are respected; documents with technically defective redaction have been excluded from the database entirely. Always refer to the original court publication for the authoritative record.
Copyright in original materials remains with the relevant government jurisdiction. AI-generated summaries and tagging are for educational purposes only, may contain inaccuracies, and must not be treated as legal documents. We welcome feedback for correction —