Quad bike crashes are a major cause of farm injuries; new laws that come into effect on February 1 aim to reduce quad bike and utility off-road vehicle accidents (Photo: RACQ LifeFlight)

January 30, 2017

Children under eight will not be allowed to be carried as passengers on quad bikes under new laws that come into effect on Wednesday (February 1).

They will also be prohibited from being passengers in utility off-road vehicles being used on a road.

Children of any age will also not be able to be carried as passengers in off-road vehicles if they are unable to sit with their feet flat on the floor and hands on handholds.

As well, quad bike and utility off-road operators and passengers will also be required to wear a motorcycle helmet from February 1 if the vehicles are driven on roads and road-related areas, or face a $365 fine and the loss of three points.

This offence will also be subject to existing motorcycle helmet double demerit point penalties, which means that if two or more motorcycle helmet offences are committed within a 12-month period, the second and subsequent offences will incur double demerit points.

These new requirements will be enforced by Queensland Police.

From February 1, there will be no exemptions from wearing an approved motorcycle helmet for quad bike riders and passengers.

Exemptions from wearing an approved motorcycle helmet will still apply for the driver and passengers of utility off-road vehicles being operated under conditional registration code LO3, provided the vehicle has factory-fitted seatbelts and a roll over protection system.

A Workplace Health and Safety Queensland spokesperson said WHSQ and the quad bike industry were working together to ensure quad bike riders understood a helmet was the most effective defence against often-fatal head injuries.

More than 70 people have been killed on quad bikes in Queensland since 2001 – approximately 30 per cent of all quad bike-related deaths in Australia.

Queensland also has the highest number of quad bike-related hospitalisations with about 1500 between 2009-2013, as well as 3000 quad bike-related emergency department presentations and more than 1000 ambulance attendances.

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[Originally published as “New Traffic Laws Start Wednesday”]

 

40 Responses to "Quad Laws Start This Week"

  1. Don’t base this law on children being passengers, add to the fact that they shouldn’t own let alone operate such machinery.

  2. Hi! So does this new law on quad bikes and ute four wheel drives. Mean you can’t have kids under eight unless their feet can’t touch the floor and hold hold hand grips, can’t go in the car at all not even to do school drop off or the shops or anything … wow! Really not sure cos that’s the way it has come across

  3. Let common sense prevail – you can’t make laws that make the majority suffer because of a few idiots. Some responsible parents love taking their under-8 child in all off road ATV fitted with a child seat and screen around the passenger side so sticks and branches can’t flick up and hit them. Why can’t there be more safety procedures to follow then to stop it altogether? My child seat from our registered car is fitted in my Polaris buggy. But the law reads you can’t take an under 8 in a registered on road or off road car/ute in car seat because their feet can’t touch the floor. So what’s the difference? 6 years ago I replaced all four wheelers with buggys on my station. Picture.

    • Yeah. I don’t think they should have used the word utility as that made it very confusing as some quad bikes and gators don’t have trays and some do but the powers-to-wanna-be’s know best .

  4. Thats ridiculous. These laws are made up by people sitting in a skyscraper in the city. How are us farmers who farm as families meant to look after our kids if we are droving or moving cattle or sheep etc. Pull your head out!

    • If you are on private property I don’t believe they have right of access to enforce any road rules. As I understand it, you can even operate over the legal alcohol limit on private property because they are not allowed to come onto your property to breathalyse you.

  5. OMG. What a sad state of affairs when the Aussie farm life we all have come to love is restricted like this. Absolutely put in place safety regulations – roll bars, helmets and whatever else but DO NOT ROB our youngsters of the simple pleasure of tending to farm activities with their very responsible farming parents just because of the irresponsible few. “Feet must reach the floor” For god’s sake get a grip! What is the world coming to?

  6. One paragraph states that the new law applies to road and road-related areas only . The next paragraph states that there will be no exemptions from wearing a approved helmet for riders or passengers. So does this mean I don’t have to wear one in the paddocks as long as i am not on a road or what?

  7. Making more laws is not going to stop accidents happening. It will just make it harder for the average farmer to get work done on his farm if the kids can’t help out. If I read correctly these laws only apply to “road use” which means that they have no control what happens on the actual farm, away from roads. Only that if you were wanting your Under 8 kid to help move the cattle across the road, you now can’t. So from what I read, they have no control over what people do on their own private property…

    • So the farmer and his under 8 passenger on the quad or in the 2 seater ATV buggy/gator can fly through the paddock (safely of course) until they come to the farm gate. The farmer puts on his helmet and tells his under 8 to get off and walk across the road. After under 8 has duly opened and closed all the gates onto the road or road-related area (verge), he can get back on the quad or into the buggy. Farmer removes his helmet and off they go again through the paddock, all legal. WTF.

    • We plan to have another report up later today, which we hope will clarify things … but a utility off-road vehicle is what is sometimes referred to as a “side-by-side”, basically a heavy duty golf-buggy type vehicle often used on farms (eg, Polaris)

  8. My son presented to hospital recently with a self-inflicted injury that he acquired when riding his two-wheel motorbike and his foot clipped a rock causing his foot to break. When at the hospital they didn’t have a category for his injury so the nurse entered collision on quad. How often does this happen and the statistics aren’t right.

  9. So does this mean kids aren’t allowed to be passengers in a 4WD, even if it’s not used off road? I have a 5 year old niece and she comes in my Toyota Landcruiser frequently, so I don’t want any dramas with the law

  10. If you read your motorcycle manual, whether it be 2 wheel or 4 wheel they all state the compulsory use of helmets, boots and safety clothing. They also have the minimum age requirements in the manual and a sticker on the quad, we’re talking large quads here because they do make baby quads for kids. My kids have been on bikes since they could walk, probably before. I do insist they wear helmets when riding their dirt bikes. The thing that concerns me is that health insurance companies will clamp down on payouts of injuries if they can prove you were breaking the law. They introduce this law and yet elderly people operating a motorised scooter can fly down the footpath or the middle of the road without any safety gear. Not even a push bike rider can do that…..

  11. In the article you advise that “More than 70 people have been killed on quad bikes in Queensland since 2001”. The article further advises that “Queensland also has the highest number of quad bike-related hospitalisations with about 1500 between 2009-2013, as well as 3000 quad bike-related emergency department presentations and more than 1000 ambulance attendances.”

    Would your News Desk please research and advise, how many deaths, hospitalisations, presentations and ambulance attendances occurred on a road or road-related area?

    My guess is that the large majority of such deaths and injuries occurred on private property, in which case the purpose of the proposed legislation will not alter the accident statistics.

    • We do not have those statistics, and we doubt anyone has such a break-down. However … although this legislation only pertains to on-road use, the statistics we published – which cover all deaths – highlight the dangers inherent in quad bike use, whether on a soft soil paddock or on a hard bitumen road. There has been a long-standing recommendation that people wear helmets when riding quad bikes, as highlighted by the Coroner. There has also been much publicity about children not being allowed on quad bikes. The only thing that will alter the accident statistics is if people don’t act like yahoos after they’ve been drinking, if they always wear a helmet, and if they don’t let their kids ride them.

  12. Typical. How did this law get through. Whenever there’s fun to be had there’s always some idiots that will stuff it. No longer the land of the free, hey folks.

  13. From 1 February there will still be no exemptions from wearing an approved motorcycle helmet for quad bike riders and passengers. Exemptions from wearing an approved motorcycle helmet still apply for the driver and passengers of utility off-road vehicles being operated under condition code LO3, provided the vehicle has factory fitted seatbelts and a roll over protection system

    Would be good if you explain all the facts around the helmets

    • The official documentation refers to motorcycle helmets only. but a quick Google search shows there are some helmets on the market specifically designed for quad bikes. According to WH&S helmets for off-road or on-road use must comply with AS/NZS 1698:2006 or Europe Regulation 22.05 (UNECE22-05).

  14. The new legislation is only in effect on a road and the definition of a road under Queensland law includes areas such as shopping centre car parks, railway crossings, areas open to the public for use as a road and
    road-related areas—areas that are part of a road, which includes areas such as footpaths and nature strips.

    So while on private property, children under 8 still can be passengers. Don’t let the kids use it as an excuse to get out of their chores.

    With regards to the use of helmets, on road or on private property, I am totally for ensuring that my kids are wearing appropriate safety clothing to minimise injury when something happens. You wouldn’t do burn-off in thongs, would you?

  15. The Police are going to monitor “road related areas “. Does this mean that farms where unfortunately the majority of deaths and injury occur, are going to be policed by this new law for Queensland?
    No good making regulations if it can not be implemented. There needs to be internal checks from within federated farmers communities. It’s a start Queensland, and good on you, but unfortunately falls short in my mind and is ambiguous in it definitions.

    Conditional Registration for road use or otherwise, the first sentence in this legislation would appear wrong, the handbook on quads states that unless it is a purpose manufactured machine, it does not allow the rider to carry a passenger. Nothing will change unless some sort of compliance occurs on private and public land where this machinery is operated.otherwise it just becomes the proverbial ambulance at the bottom of the cliff … literally !

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