Quad Bike Safety Review Under Way in Australia
ACCC's Issues Paper notes that quad bikes, which are four-wheeled all-terrain vehicles, are heavily used in Australia's forestry and agricultural industries. From Jan. 1, 2011, to Oct. 16, 2017, there were 114 deaths nationwide associated with quad bikes, including 10 so far in 2017, it says.
The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) is accepting public comments until Dec. 15 on an Quad Bike Issues Paper it published on Nov. 13, 2017. ACCC also created a task force to conduct an investigation into quad bike safety and consider the merits of implementing a safety standard for quad bikes under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL).
The Issues Paper includes a series of questions that the commission is considering as part of the investigation; responses will be used to inform a cost-benefit analysis and any draft recommendations.
The paper notes that quad bikes, which are four-wheeled all-terrain vehicles, are heavily used in Australia's forestry and agricultural industries, which together accounted for 20.2 percent of all quad bike sales in the country in 2015. From Jan. 1, 2011, to Oct. 16, 2017, there were 114 deaths nationwide associated with quad bikes, including 10 so far in 2017, it says. The total results in an annual average of 16-17 deaths, and 15 percent of the victims were children.
Comments can be submitted by mail or by email to [email protected]. ACCC asks commenters to include their name, organization, and contact details when making a submission; submissions are due by 5 p.m. local time on Dec. 15.
All submissions will be treated as public documents and published on the ACCC website, productsafety.gov.au, unless otherwise requested.