Coroner says off-road racing needs stronger fire safety rules

A coroner investigating an off-road racing crash that killed two people in Victoria's north-west is recommending stronger fire safety requirements for vehicles and competitors.On September 4, 2022, Gerald Hoekstra, 46, and Ede Taric, 50, were competing in the Desert Enduro Race at Rainbow, about 400 kilometres north-west of Melbourne, when Mr Hoekstra lost control of their vehicle and crashed into a tree.The vehicle rolled, landed on its side and was engulfed in flames.Two competitor teams stopped to help, and saw Mr Hoekstra attempting to exit the vehicle.They unsuccessfully tried to douse the flames with fire extinguishers.Both the driver, Mr Hoekstra, and passenger, Mr Taric, died at the scene.In her investigation, Coroner Ingrid Giles explored the circumstances that caused the crash and subsequent fire, the attempts to extinguish the fire, associated safety equipment, and the ability of the men to exit their vehicle after the crash.Ms Giles found that both men had survived the initial crash, but died when fire "rapidly engulfed the vehicle".She found the fire could not be extinguished until the local Country Fire Authority (CFA) arrived 12 to 13 minutes later, and said that their deaths were "unspeakably tragic".Fire extinguishers 'inadequate', coroner findsThe men had been racing in a modified Can-Am Maverick X3 side-by-side buggy, which could reach speeds of 130km/h and had been fitted with hand-held fire extinguishers as well as two auxiliary 35-litre fuel tanks.In her report, Ms Giles said the vehicle had been inspected by a scrutineer on the Friday prior to racing, and was confirmed to be compliant with requirements laid out by Motorsport Australia (MSA).During the investigation, Victoria Police's arson chemist, forensic officer John Kelleher, said the fire was likely caused by heat from the buggy's catalytic converter igniting fuel that had spilled around the vehicle after the crash."Having seen the buggy and watched the video footage of the fire starting, there is no doubt that the cause of the fire was the ignition of petrol vapour rising from the spilled fuel puddling beneath the filler," Mr Kelleher said at the time."The position of the catalytic converter and its location immediately above the spilled fuel raises the possibility that it was the source of ignition."The Desert Enduro car race was held at Rainbow in north-west Victoria. (Motorsport Australia)Ms Giles found the fuel tanks had been installed correctly, and were compliant with safety requirements at the time.However, the tanks had a plastic fuel cap and filler neck that protruded from the buggy's safety cage, leaving them "vulnerable to damage", she said.Upon collision, the cap detached from the filler neck on one of the tanks, which did not contain a reflux valve — a one-way valve that automatically closes if the tank is up-ended.Ms Giles said given the filler neck was not fitted with a reflux valve, petrol flowed freely and was able to combust easily."I consider that, had a reflux valve been present, the fire would have most likely been prevented, in that the fuel would not have spilled freely from the tank,” she said.MSA regulations at the time required each competing vehicle to be fitted with a hand-held fire extinguisher, which Ms Giles found to be "inadequate" given the fire could not be safely extinguished without the CFA's help.Ms Giles said a plumbed-in fire extinguisher system may have been more effective.“Plumbed-in systems are primarily designed to provide the occupants with an immediate extinguisher response that can increase the amount of time available to extricate from the vehicle during an incident, and limit the effect of the fire on the occupant," she said.Decisive actionAt the time of the event, MSA also required vehicles to be designed so racing crews could exit their vehicle within 10 seconds during an emergency.However, it was up to competitors to comply with the requirement, which was "not formally assessed".“At the time of Gerald and Ede’s collision, there was no mandatory self-extrication time frame, and no testing was performed of competitors' ability to do so," the coroner found.Ms Giles credited MSA for making changes following Mr Hoekstra's and Mr Taric's deaths, and said its decisive action had "obviated the need for an extensive suite of coronial recommendations".Since the incident, MSA has mandated reflux valves in fuel tanks, banned any structures protruding outside safety cage structures, and doubled the required capacity for hand-held fire extinguishers for off-road racing events.Ms Giles said that while MSA had introduced the implementation of mandatory plumbed-in fire extinguisher systems, an extended roll-out period of three years risked competitors' lives."The lives of off-road racing competitors who do not already have such a system remain at greater risk in the event of a fire – and, in my view, unnecessarily so," she said.The coroner recommended that before the end of the 2026 racing season, MSA and the Australian Auto-Sport Alliance should require all off-road vehicles participating in sanctioned off-road events to be fitted with plumbed-in fire extinguisher systems.She recommended mandatory testing of all competitors involved in racing competitions to ensure each occupant could self-extricate within 10 seconds.Ms Giles also recommended MSA develop improved guidance for race organisers as to what constitutes "appropriate firefighting equipment" at the paddock areas of an event.