New quad bike safety alliance puts the pressure on the Government

An alliance for quadbike safety devices has formed to put the pressure on the Government to make OPDs mandatory.

Ugly truth: A quadbike rollover demonstrated at Parliament House yesterday in the campaign for mandatory safety devices.

AN UNLIKELY alliance has formed to keep pressure on the Federal Government to mandate the installation of rollover safety devices on quad bikes.

At a quadbike safety demonstration on the lawns of Parliament House in Canberra yesterday, National Farmers’ Federation president Fiona Simson was flanked by representatives of the Greens, Labor, the Australian Workers’ Union and rural doctors to show how safety devices work to prevent serious injury and death in quad bike accidents.

The alliance wants the Government to immediately mandate operator protection devices on all new quad bikes within the next two years.

But Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack was a noticeable absentee who, amid sustained pressure to improve quad bike safety, did not attend the demonstration.

However, Nationals cabinet colleague Darren Chester did show his face, with the Victorian MP heard discussing the benefits of rollover protection with Mrs Simson following the demonstration.

Mr McCormack has so far refused to implement the recommendations of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and mandate the installation of OPDs on new quad bikes.

In May The Weekly Times reported that Mr McCormack had put pressure on the ACCC before the May federal election to abandon its OPD recommendation — an allegation he has rejected. This week his office confirmed to The Weekly Times there was no change and the Government was still to make a decision on the matter.

Eight people have lost their lives in quad bike accidents in Australia this year.

Mrs Simson called on the Government to stand up to quad bike manufacturers and implement the new safety standard before further lives were lost.