SIDEBY-SIDE SAFETY
Quad bikes have reigned supreme on Aussie farms for three decades, but they may have had their day. As Dubbo Photo News focuses on National Farm Safety Week, our coverage is set against a backdrop of incoming regulations for All-terrain-vehicles (ATVS) which will see many brands of quad bikes exit the market rather than have their model meet the new safety standards. Already this year there have been 11 quad bike fatalities in Australia.
FOR decades, ag and trail bikes were the mainstay for stock and general work on farms across the state, until they were overtaken by the ubiquitous quad bikes. Now Alex Mendham says buggies could become the standard mode of getting around.
The Dubbo City Motorcycles owner spoke to Dubbo Photo News on the eve of National Farm Safety Week and said safety concerns were driving the industry at a global level.
“Definitely, I think we’re seeing quad bikes phased out. New ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission) laws are coming in October this year, that’s going to pretty much reinvent the wheel of what we see on farms and what farmers are now using,” Mr Mendham said.
“A big push is now on for sideby-side. Anything with a certified ROPS (Roll Over Protection) is a big thing now, safety being the main concern around why people are going for side-by-sides.
“Safety’s the key, that’s the big thing around everything nowadays, that’s where everything’s going with the ACCC ban coming in, that’s around safety and not practicality and productivity of an ATV (All Terrain Vehicle). We all know how handy a quad is on the farm, but safety’s the big push.”
Safework Australia data shows there have been 11 quad bike fatalities nationwide so far this year, and in the period from January 1, 2011, to December 31, 2018, 128 people died in quad incidents, 14 of them children aged 11 years or under.
More than half of those fatalities (77) were the result of a rollover and 78 fatalities occurred on a farm or property. Of the 128 fatalities, at least 76 were due to unstable or uneven terrain, for example an incline, ditch, embankment, sand or mud.
Currently there’s no legislation for rollbars to be fitted to quad bikes but in October last year the federal government said that within 12 months, by October 2020, all new quad bikes will need to have information affixed to them about the degree of slope at which they will start to overturn.
And by October 2021, all new general use quad bikes will need to conform with minimum standards for stability on slopes.
That standard will also require that all new general use quad bikes sold in Australia will have to have an operator protection device, or rollover bar, to reduce the risk of serious crush injuries and deaths in the event of a rollover.
Already those mandatory requirements and the impacts from those tougher regulations are being felt by manufacturers and farmers.
“Polaris is removing itself from the quad bike market from October 2020. The side-by-sides will still be available but the All-terrain Vehicles (ATVS, or quad bikes) will be gone,” Mr Mendham said.
“If you already pre-own a quad, nothing needs to happen.
“In these side-by-sides, two-up, three-up, depending what options you’ve got, six-up depending on how big you want to go in a machine, the options are there and every single passenger has got a seatbelt and they’re safe.”
Meantime, Dubbo Photo News has learned many landholders have been buying up current complianced quad bikes so they’ll still have legal four-wheelers for years to come.
Alex Mendham confirmed the squeeze has been put on quad bike stocks in Australia.
“There’s definitely stockpiling happening, a bit of panic-buying similar to what we see with the likes of the supermarkets and toilet paper,” he said.
“It’s happening with ATVS. I’ve got not a single ATV to sell between now and October. I’m completely sold out, they’re sold out pretty much nationwide so I cannot get a new machine, they’re well gone.
“Obviously we only hear about the bad things, we don’t hear about the good things, but we’ve got guys who’ve used their quad bikes for 10,000 to 11,000km a year, which is equivalent to 1000 hours, so you have many people who just operate them safely in their daily work.
“We’re seeing side-by-sides getting more hours on them now, more kilometres on them because they’re more comfortable, more practical, and again, safer so that’s a big thing as well.”