Victoria’s quad bike safety crackdown cuts ‘rollover’ events

New research reveals Victoria issued 1200 quad bike safety notices compared to just 60 in NSW, with dramatically different fatality rates between the states too.

A new study on ATV deaths reveals standards backed up by enforcement is cutting the number of quad bike fatalities in Victoria.

The study, published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health on Friday, examined ATV workplace fatalities since the 2019 introduction of the national safety standard for new vehicles.

While there has been a small reduction in ATV fatalities at work nationally, and in rollover-related fatalities specifically, there were some variations across states.

NSW/ACT had the highest number of rollover deaths in workplaces in the seven years to June, 2024, with 56 people killed, followed by Queensland with 44 and Victoria at 36.

The early evidence suggests Victoria’s approach - to back up laws for compulsory crash protection teamed with enforcement by the state’s workforce authorities - is having an impact in driving down fatalities.

The study found 1200 improvement and prohibition notices had been given out in Victoria on ATV issues, a state with 21,000 agricultural businesses between 2015 and 2022.

Victorian authorities combined that with highlighting the importance of other issues within farmers’ control such as helmet use and maintaining equipment in good working order.

This contrasted with NSW, which had handed out 60 notices and no prosecutions despite 27,000 businesses in agriculture in that state.

New research has revealed ATV workplace deaths have dropped in Victoria and Queensland but risen in NSW.

Lead researcher Associate Professor Tony Lower said the study, which used coronial data, showed ATV workplace deaths had dropped in Victoria and Queensland but risen in NSW.

But Victoria stood out with what reseachers termed a “significant reduction in rollover events”

He attributed the trend for fewer deaths in Victoria to the approach taken in that state.

“Significant reductions in Victoria (rollovers), may be suggestive of the impact of increased regulatory and enforcement approaches, made in conjunction with the standards introduction, and warrant further investigation.” Associate Professor Lower said.

“I have to stress that this is early data and requires further verification to assess the full impact of the safety standard.

“But it points to a small reduction overall and the importance of enforcement approaches in the intervention mix.”

All new ATVs must be sold with operation protection devices (crash protection) as part of an Australian Competition and Consumer Commission review, and the development of the Consumer Goods (Quad Bikes) Safety Standard in 2019.

This meant all ATVs sold from 2021 on had to meet stability requirements as well as have an OPD fitted.

While incentives were given in some states to fit OPDs to ATVS sold before then, it was enforcement by work safe authorities in Victoria that appears to be making a difference to fatality rates.

“Despite having fewer farming businesses than NSW, the issuing of improvement/prohibition notices was over 20 times higher in Victoria,” Associate Professor Lower said.

“This potentially highlights the importance of pro-active enforcement as critical to the effective reduction of these incidents and is in keeping with the 4E’s of injury

prevention - education, engineering control, plus enforcement and economic incentives.

“Although farmers are generally anathema to increased regulation/enforcement, if such an approach can be done practically and in a contextually relevant way, compliance will likely increase, reducing the injury burden.”

The study also found there were cases on file where the OPDs fitted as part of the standard

have been removed post purchase and fatal incidents had occurred.