New quad bikes must be fitted with roll over protection devices, the Australian Government has announced.

Within one year, all new quad bikes will be required to carry a warning to alert riders to the risk of roll overs, and meet US and European standards relating to brakes, suspension systems, throttles and clutches.

The new standards will also mandate that in two years all new bikes meet minimum stability requirements, though there are no new requirements for existing bikes.

“Quad bikes are the leading cause of fatalities in Australia for all consumer products that aren’t regulated,” Assistant Treasurer Michael Sukkar said in Melbourne today.

“This safety standard aims to address the high risk of rollovers, which is especially important for many farmers and their families who use these vehicles daily,” he said.

Push for rider age limit

Mr Sukkar said he would also write to state and territory governments calling on them to ban children from riding adult-sized quad bikes, and prohibit passengers on single person quad bikes.

He will also recommend that states mandate helmets for persons riding quad bikes.

In March 2018, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission recommended the Government mandate crush protection devices.

Manufacturers of quad bikes had been threatening to withdraw from the Australian market, if the ACCC’s safety recommendations were adopted.

But ACCC Commissioner Mick Keogh has stood by the recommendations.

“Fifteen thousand of the 186,000 quad bikes … in Australia already have rollover protection on them,” Mr Keogh said.

“And not one of those has had a death associated with it.”

Nine people have died in quad bike accidents in Australia this year, and it is estimated that six people a day present to emergency departments with injuries from quad bike accidents.

A Safe Work Australia snapshot showed that in the eight years from January 2011 to December 2018, 128 people died around the country in quad bike accidents.
 

Key points

• The Federal Government has announced that crush protection is now mandatory for all quad bikes
• Existing bikes will not be subject to the new rules, and manufacturers have two years to ensure new products comply
• The Government is also pushing states and territories to impose further safety measures around the use of the vehicles

Source
Kath Sullivan and Lucy Barbour
ABC News