Farmers and rural residents are being asked to use commonsense when it comes to transportation in rural areas.

Two recent accidents in the Bay of Plenty on rural roads point to the importance of adhering to road rules.

This call comes after 13-year-old Eastern Bay of Plenty resident Shane Hohepa was killed when he was thrown from the back of a ute in January.
He was travelling on the back of the ute along Galatea Road in Te Teko, when the ute swerved and the boy was thrown from the tray of the ute.
Police Senior Constable Stephen Allen says Shane was one of two people on the back of the ute at the time of the accident.
There was one passenger inside the cab with the driver.
Emergency services were called to the scene and closed a section of Galatea Road, between State Highway 30 and MacDonald Road for three hours to enable the serious crash unit to do a scene examination.
A karakia was given by local kaumatua before the road was reopened.
Stephen says the circumstances of how Shane died are still being investigated.
He says there is no indication at this stage of another vehicle being involved.
Western Bay of Plenty road policing Acting Senior Sergeant Mark Holmes says people need to pay particular attention to the conditions of the roads and their driving behaviour.
Mark says when motorists are confronted with a hazard, the speed they are travelling affects their ability to react and possibly avoid a crash.
Police are also currently investigating the death of two teenage girls who were killed on Christmas Day when the car they were in collided with another vehicle on a rural section of Welcome Bay Road.
Brooklyn and Merepeka Morehu-Clark died at the scene and a police investigation into the incident revealed the two weren't wearing seatbelts.
Three people, including the girls' mother, are facing manslaughter charges in relation to the crash.
A two-year-old girl is still in Starship Hospital as a result of the crash.
Welcome Bay labourer Phillippa Vanessa Morehu, 37, Haki Tepuere Davey, 17 and 20-year-old Aucklander Hateraka Hikurangi Reihana are all charged in relation to the crash.
The sisters, Reihana and a two-year-old girl were in one vehicle and Morehu and Davey were in the other.
Police said earlier that the driver of the sisters' vehicle was passing another car at speed when the collision occurred.
Police say the girls and the two-year-old girl, who remains in a full body cast at Starship Hospital, were not wearing seat belts at the time.
Davey and Reihana were expected to appear before a registrar in court in January, but were excused appearance. They were remanded until February 23.
Morehu was remanded without plea to appear on February 23 at an earlier hearing.
The accused have not yet entered pleas.