Introduction of mandatory quad bike safety standard (News)
22 September, 2020
A new mandatory safety standard for quad bikes comes into effect nationally in October 2020.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) says quad bike-related fatalities have almost doubled this year - 14 people, including three children, compared with eight deaths in the whole of 2019.
Since 2011, 150 people have died from quad bike-related accidents, including 23 children. Across Australia, six people present to hospital each day with quad bike-related injuries.
The quad bike’s design is such that significant coordination, strength, judgement and experience are required to achieve safe operation. 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.
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. This includes having information affixed to new quad bikes about the degree of slope at which they will start to overturn.
- The second stage places additional requirements for general use quad bikes (commonly known as utility quad bikes) supplied from 11 October 2021. The requirements include fitting an OPD to reduce the risk of crush injuries.
The standard does not apply to second-hand quad bikes other than those second-hand quad bikes that are imported into Australia.
The ACCC’s Product Safety Australia website provides more information on quad bikes and the mandatory safety standards.
