Comcare has announced a new national mandatory safety standard for quad bikes is to come into effect this October.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said quad bike-related fatalities had almost doubled this year, with 14 people, including three children, losing their lives in quad bike accidents compared to eight deaths in the whole of 2019.
Comcare said that since 2011, 150 people had died from quad bike-related accidents, including 23 children.
“Across Australia, six people present to hospital each day with quad bike-related injuries,” Comcare said.
“The quad bike’s design is such that significant coordination, strength, judgement and experience are required to achieve safe operation,” it said.
“Most fatalities and serious injuries occur when the quad bike rolls over, and without an operator protection device (OPD), people are crushed or pinned underneath the vehicle, often with tragic consequences.”
Comcare said that to help protect quad bike users, the Australian Government introduced a mandatory safety standard under the Australian Consumer Law, the Consumer Goods (Quad Bikes) Safety Standard 2019.
“The Standard is being introduced in two stages; the first stage of requirements for all quad bikes will become mandatory on 11 October 2020,” it said.
“This includes having information affixed to new quad bikes about the degree of slope at which they will start to overturn.”
It said the second stage of the Standard, effective from 11 October 2021, placed additional requirements for general use quad bikes including fitting an OPD to reduce the risk of crush injuries.
