Child Safety – Quad Bikes

Quad bikes are a major cause of death and serious injury in Australian children and adults. Across Australia, between 2001 and 2017, 42 children were killed in quad bike incidents.

Additionally, every year Victorian emergency departments treat an average of 85 children suffering from quad bike-related injuries. The majority of these children are aged 5 to 14 years old. Many of these incidents involved working children involved in farm work.

Because quad bikes are heavy and hard to control, children are especially at risk of being hurt or killed, even when riding smaller-sized quad bikes marketed specifically for children or youth.

Children under 16 have limited ability to judge speed and distance, and they often cannot make lifesaving decisions. They often collide with objects and other riders, causing injury to themselves and others.

• There is a clear state of knowledge in the farming industry that children under the age of sixteen years of age should not ride adult sized quad bikes
• The major manufacturers’ specifications for quad bikes almost uniformly specify that no person under the age of sixteen should ride an adult sized quad bike
• Children under the age of sixteen are unlikely to have the physical size and dexterity to be able to apply dynamic riding skills to safely operate an adult sized quad bike
• All quad bikes must be fitted with an operator protective device and all riders should wear a helmet
• To use a quad bike on the road riders must be at least 18 years old and hold a current motorcycle licence (a learner’s permit is not sufficient).
• Quad bikes used on-road must also be registered, and an approved motorcycle helmet must be worn while riding. Visit the VicRoads website for more information.