Quad bike safety will come under the spotlight at a national conference being held in Cairns in March, with organisers hoping to affect a change in culture.
The National ATV Safety Conference is being held on March 30 and 31.
It is the brainchild of passionate quad bike rider, trainer and assessor Colin Lawson and wife Jane, from Extreme Quad Bike Adventures and Quad Safe Australia.
Mr Lawson, a former quad bike dealer with two major brands, and recreational rider and racer in Australia, said the conference would bring together all stakeholders including end users, governments, manufacturers, industry groups, trainers and regulators.
With the backing of conference sponsors – Quad Safe Australia, Eacham Community Help Organisation, Gulf Savannah Development and Farmsafe Queensland – Mr Lawson said one of the most important goals of the conference was to change the safety culture among quad bike users.
“I believe we need to inform operators of how incidents are happening and educate on safety awareness,” Mr Lawson said.
Experts will discuss current safety products, helmet regulation, legislative and training requirements, coronial finding outcomes, on farm safety systems and quad bike duty of care, inductions and training.
Mr Lawson, who is on the Queensland Quad Bike Industry Reference group, said complacency was the killer.
“People have been riding quad bikes for so long,” Mr Lawson said. “They are easy to ride and stable.
“But statistics last year show that almost 50 per cent of fatalities happened in Queensland.”
As a member of the reference group, Mr Lawson had a hand in developing the ATV Six Steps to Stay Safe, including wear a helmet, ensure children do not ride adult quad bikes, eliminate doubling on single quad bikes, be rider active, do not drive under the influence of drugs or alcohol, don’t carry passengers on single quads and read the bike operator’s manual.
Mr Lawson is hoping the conference will also see a change to the nationally recognised training modules.
“When I became a Cert IV trainer and assessor I saw an opportunity to make the nationally recognised training modules more user-friendly,” Mr Lawson said.
“It’s far too academic.
“My goal through the conference is that we can improve the nationally recognised training so farmers will take it up more.”
For more information see National ATV Safety Conference
