Quad Bike Safety Ruling

Incidents involving quad bikes are one of the leading causes of injury and death on Australian farms. A Majority of deaths are due to crush injury and/or asphyxiation associated with quads rolling over, or by injury associated with the victim being flung onto a hard surface as a result of a crash. Due to the quad bike being an essential part of the workplace of a farm, it was up to Safe Work Australia to look into the recent cases of death caused by quad bikes. It was found that roll bars needed to be fitted to improve on safety standards. Other important additions to their safety recommendations were farmers needing to wear helmets, and take the wearing of riding gear seriously. Too many of the deaths and injuries caused were not only due to lack of roll bars, but also lack of safety equipment on the rider.

In response to the new laws and recommendations, Honda recently put out a press release stating that they will no longer sell ‘All Terrain Vehicles’ (ATVs) in Australia after October 10, 2021. This statement came after years of major safety reform from Safe Work Australia and its enquiry into 128 quad bike fatalities, between 2011-2018. Alongside Honda, Polaris and Yamaha said they would also stop selling quad bikes in Australia if the regulation did not change.

HONDA’S STATEMENT

27/05/2020

Due to the new standard passed by the Australian government in October 2019, Honda will no longer sell ATVs in Australia after 10th October 2021.

The Standard represents a set of regulations that cannot be entirely met by any ATV (Quad) bike in the market today, and is unlikely to be met by anything in the future and forces Honda to exit the ATV category.

“The new Standard is extremely disappointing for farm safety and the countless farmers who rely on quad bikes every day. The safety of our customers is paramount, we will never compromise on this. Now that the rules have changed, it means we have to say goodbye to our ATV line up down under,” said Managing Director of Honda Australia Motorcycle and Power Equipment, Mr Robert Toscano.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is standing with the Government's quad bike safety regulation decisions. Last year the Government introduced the new regulations in response to an ACCC report outlining the risk of quad bikes rolling over and crushing riders. Under the rules, by October 2020 quad bikes will also have to come with a warning sticker about the degree of slope at which they overturn.

ACCC deputy chair Mick Keogh said the decision by Honda, Polaris and Yamaha was unfortunate. "We had to look at the safety of these vehicles, the continuing deaths that are occurring, and the injuries and take whatever steps that were practically useful in reducing those," Mr Keogh said.