Improving the safety of quad bikes was identified as a priority in 2019 by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

Quad bikes are inherently unstable and 145 Australians have died in accidents associated with quad bikes since 2011.

The majority of fatalities and serious injuries occur when the quad bike rolls over, and without an operator protection device (OPD), people are pinned underneath the bike. Over half of quad bike deaths in the workplace and one third of deaths during recreational activities are caused by crush injuries or asphyxiation. Most of these incidents occur on a utility quad bike purchased for work but also used recreationally by family and friends.

The new standard was introduced to reduce the risk of injury to consumers that operate a quad bike for work or recreation. It was developed after a two year investigation by the ACCC found that the current designs of quad bikes, in particular general-use model quad bikes (marketed as utility quad bikes), are not safe for their foreseeable uses and misuses.

The ACCC also found consumers do not receive objective performance or safety information at the point of sale, and this exacerbates the design  limitations of these vehicles because consumers were not able to make fully informed purchasing decisions.

The safety standard has two stages:

Stage 1: 11 October 2020
All new quad bikes, and directly imported second-hand quad bikes must:

• meet the specified requirements of the US quad bike Standard, ANSI/SVIA 1-2017 or the EN 15997:2011 Standard
• be tested for lateral static stability using a tilt table test and display the angle at which they tip onto two wheels on a hang tag at the point of sale
• have a durable label affixed, visible and legible when the quad bike is in operation, alerting the operator to the risk of rollover, and must include rollover safety information in the owner’s manual.

Stage 2: 11 October 2021
All new, and directly imported second hand general-use model quad bikes must:

• be fitted with, or have integrated into the design, an operator protection device
• meet the minimum stability requirements of:
  • lateral stability—must not tip on to two wheels on a slope less than 28.81 degrees
  • front and rear longitudinal pitch stability—must not tip on to two wheels on a slope less than 38.65 degrees.

The ACCC has produced a FACT SHEET about the ACCC investigation into quad bike safety and the quad bike safety standard.