Surgeon urges safer quad bikes
The Australian Government is to make rollbars mandatory on all new quad bikes within two years.
It raises the question of whether New Zealand will follow suit but also of how many quad bikes bought in this country are manufactured in or distributed from Australia and therefore will carry them as standard equipment. Federated Farmers said it continued to oppose the mandatory use of the protection devices, while New Zealand surgeons congratulated the Australian Government on its new safety standards and urged New Zealand to follow suit.
Since 2006, 64 people have been killed on quad bikes while working, most of them farmers and farm workers.
Royal Australasian College of Surgeons member Li Hsee, who chairs the New Zealand trauma committee, said the same standards were needed in New Zealand. ‘‘People are continuing to die or suffer horrific injuries as a result of quad bike crashes ... these deaths and injuries are entirely preventable.’’
Federated Farmers president Katie Milne said quad bike manufacturers had not done indepth testing in New Zealand on any specific products. ‘‘Feds believes WorkSafe’s stance of ‘strongly recommending’ rollover protection in conjunction with the ‘right vehicle for the job’ and ‘identifying hazards on-farm’ is appropriate. If there is further research indicating rollover protection provides a net decrease in risk, and warrants regulation, we will work with WorkSafe to consider policy implications,’’ Milne said.
Weston Stewart, whose company Ag Tech Industries manufactures the ATV LifeGuard, said the Australian move was a ‘‘huge step forward.I grew up riding quad bikes and, like many others, I had always believed the theory that rollbars on quads kill more people than they save. It wasn’t until I became involved in the industry in 2012, that I soon figured this wasn’t quite right.
‘‘Of course rollbars or crush protection devices won’t save everyone, and there will be some circumstances where they may make the situation more dangerous in a rollover, but it is really like a seatbelt in a car – they won’t save everyone but the majority of the time you will be a lot safer with it,’’ Stewart said.
There were two main issues with quad bikes: they have little space underneath upside down, and the centre of gravity is low making them hard to push off if the rider is pinned underneath. A roll bar helps both problems.
Stewart said some of the early, rigid rollbars might have been dangerous but the flexible ATV LifeGuard was ‘‘revolutionary’’.
Hsee urged the Government to introduce rollbars and ban the use of quad bikes under 16 years old.