PARAMEDICS say a teenager who was not wearing a safety helmet could easily have been killed in a Netherton quad bike crash.

The smash happened in Lodge Crescent at around 4.45pm on June 26, witnesses reported the quad bike rolled over four times and landed on the rider, leaving him unconscious.

The rider, who was found half in the road and half on the pavement, regained consciousness and was treated at the scene for pain in his head, and grazing to his right shoulder and elbow.

A spokesperson for West Midlands Ambulance Service said: “He could easily have killed himself because he wasn’t wearing a helmet. “Staff at the scene described him as being ‘very, very lucky’ not to have suffered more serious injuries.”

The spokesperson added: “Ambulance staff were particularly concerned as the lad was not wearing a helmet and witnesses told them that he had hit his head when he landed.

“Whilst you do not have to wear a helmet on a quad bike, the Trust would urge you to treat a quad bike exactly the same as a motorcycle and wear appropriate protective clothing.

“As a Trust we have attended many incidents where quad bike riders have come off particularly as they go around corners. There have also been high profile cases of riders suffering head injuries after coming off quad bikes.”

Celebrities who have been involved in life-threatening quad bike crashes include rocker Ozzy Osbourne who ended up in a coma after a smash in 2003 where he was not wearing a helmet and the late Rik Mayall, who suffered near-fatal head injuries when the machine he was riding overturned in 1998.