Should children be banned from riding quad bikes?

[oldguy]

Should children be banned from riding quad bikes?

I think with the spate of injures of children riding quads has brought this about.
what are your feelings on this?


NZ News Poll
http://nz.news.yahoo.com/polls/popup/-/poll_id/48328/

[Mort]

I wouldn't let my kids ride one.... they're much safer on an ordinary motorbike. I know quads are fun but they are much harder to ride which makes accidents more likely with kids and the consequences of any accident are more serious.

Should they be banned - No. People should be educated as to the dangers. If they ban quads, bikes will be next.

[Mom]

Should children be banned from crossing the road? Should children be banned from...? just about anything that could cause them harm.

Some parents/caregivers need a kick up the bum for what they allow their kids to do. Some even need a bullet.

Most however educate their babies, teach them the how to, and why you need to, and the this can happens, and hope like hell they will be ok.

My answer to this is NO!

[James Deuce]

Yes. They should be banned from eating cheese and Marmite sandwiches too, just because.

[FJRider]

They banned smacking kids too ... that was successful ... Stopped more kids getting hurt ... right ???:innocent:

[Taz]

Yes. They should be banned from eating cheese and Marmite sandwiches too, just because.

Mmmmm tiger sandwiches.

[AllanB]

Yes. They should be banned from eating cheese and Marmite sandwiches too, just because.

Not "just because" - because that leaves more for Adults.



Quad bikes. It appears in many cases there was a lack of parental supervision involved. No helmets and in one case a 2 year old riding! (unsure how that works, maybe the 2 year old was on someones knee?).

Under 8 or so possibly, I feel the suggested 16 is unnecessarily high.

The trend now appears to be:
A. find some media worthy statistic.
Then
B. Conclude it is best for society if you ban it.

[James Deuce]

Developmentally 10 and up is cool. Under that and it is purely dependant on the parents understanding the capabilities of their kids.

It's not up to some twat with access to legislation to set the rules for eveyone.

[t595]

smoking kills a shit load more people than quads eva will,have they been banned? people know the risk let them decide for themselves

[cave weta]

Should a quad bike, as part of a farm lifestyle be ridden or not by children during the implementation of agricultural tasks?

Ask Sue!

[Pedrostt500]

Kids should be sent off to work in Coal Mines untill they are at least 25yrs old.

[AllanB]

smoking kills a shit load more people than quads eva will,have they been banned? people know the risk let them decide for themselves

Yeah but there is probably a million smokers and only 10,000 quad bike riders.

Replace the words 'smokers' and 'riders' with voters .........

[bogan]

bit of a leading poll too, why the "no, more education is needed" wheres the just plain no. They can now say that 60% of people think there needs to be more education for young quad bike riders.

on a side note, i reckon a little crf50 is a far better bike for kids to learn on

[muzz]

Ban books cause you might get a paper cut.:crazy:

[allycatz]

It would be yet another encroachment into activities on private property...fencing home swimming pools has not stopped drownings..like Mom says, its about supervision and common sense

[FJRider]

smoking kills a shit load more people than quads eva will,have they been banned? people know the risk let them decide for themselves

They have for those under 16 ... haven't they ???

[cave weta]

It would be yet another encroachment into activities on private property...fencing home swimming pools has not stopped drownings..like Mom says, its about supervision and common sense

My girlfriend is european- she is gobsmacked that our government has such power over us in our own homes with smacking and pool fencing and resource consents. fuck! you cant even put a shade sail up over your deck now without a building permit!

[tomobedlam]

On the farm kids need to learn about risk and the best way to do that is doing risky activities. However, operating a machine that could squash them to death if they get it wrong isn't really a good option. There are plenty of bikes made just for kids. The problem with quads is they have four wheel so they don't fall over and that creates the perception that they are safe for little people, when in fact children don't have the weight, strength or skill to ride these machines (remembering the average age of kids hurt or killed on quads is 9). There is a reason you don't see 400cc machines in kids size. Having said that i don't think banning is the best solution at this point in time.

[cave weta]

On the farm kids need to learn about risk and the best way to do that is doing risky activities. However, operating a machine that could squash them to death if they get it wrong isn't really a good option. There are plenty of bikes made just for kids. The problem with quads is they have four wheel so they don't fall over and that creates the perception that they are safe for little people, when in fact children don't have the weight, strength or skill to ride these machines (remembering the average age of kids hurt or killed on quads is 9). There is a reason you don't see 400cc machines in kids size. Having said that i don't think banning is the best solution at this point in time.


I bought a couple of quads to hire out.- it was very very scary watching first timers on narrow -off camber tracks. I sold them pretty quick. IMHO they belong on dairy farms and beaches.

[SixPackBack]

Banned?....FUCK NO.........Let Darwin weave his magic, kill off the weak and create a super race of riders!

[Gareth51]

I bought a couple of quads to hire out.- it was very very scary watching first timers on narrow -off camber tracks. I sold them pretty quick. IMHO they belong on dairy farms and beaches.

Had more frights on Quad bikes than I've ever had on two wheels and there bloody heavy to pick up once you've rolled it

[oldguy]

know of a few kids that wont go near a 2 wheeler, but have no hesitation to get on a quad bike, even if they have never ridden one.
It comes down to those that get them for there kids, trying to educating them the do's and don'ts , but then again there are those who buy them for there kids, and don't have a clue themselves.

[Henk]

From what I've seen the problem isn't kids on quads, it's kids on adult quads. I'm not aware of any fatalaties involving LT50s. I guess the problem is small people on full size 4wd farm quads complete with any number of agricultural attachments. If 450 enduro bikes didn't fall over of their own accord I'm sure we would see more under 12s getting killed on those as well. Every time a youngster gets killed on one of these things somebody has made a bad decision and it isn't junior, it's mum or dad.

[cheese]

From what I've seen the problem isn't kids on quads, it's kids on adult quads. I'm not aware of any fatalaties involving LT50s. I guess the problem is small people on full size 4wd farm quads complete with any number of agricultural attachments. If 450 enduro bikes didn't fall over of their own accord I'm sure we would see more under 12s getting killed on those as well. Every time a youngster gets killed on one of these things somebody has made a bad decision and it isn't junior, it's mum or dad.

Very true.

I want to get my boy a LT50 to start off on (just to get the basics) but once he can balance and stuff, he will be on a 2 wheeler straight away.

Only if he wants to ride though.

[motor_mayhem]

SixPackBack Banned?....FUCK NO.........Let Darwin weave his magic, kill off the weak and create a super race of riders!

Comedy Gold right there.


If we take away decisions for everything for kids, they will become adults with no risk assessment skills and be too old to learn any. Changing the law won't change anything and if you look at what is already in place, it is ample, people just need to adhere to it.

[L Rider]

Very true.

I want to get my boy a LT50 to start off on (just to get the basics) but once he can balance and stuff, he will be on a 2 wheeler straight away.

Only if he wants to ride though.

LT50's are great for the little ones. Alot of the problems are with dickhead parents or so called adults who are meant to be in charge. Too many people just chuck kids on any bike & leave them to it.
Just gotta spend a day on the pee wee track at the Sandpit - heaps of young kids on there with no idea with no parents in sight - normally they're out riding themselves.

[FROSTY]

Ya know that this thread is even up really totally completely and utterly fucks me off.
Should kids be banned from quads -HELL NO --should dickhead parents with no clues be banned--hell yea.
An LT 50 kids quad is set up to be totally failsafe. The safety features when used correctly are far better than on any two wheeler anywhere.
The thing is becaus four wheels are stable if the parent pulls the pug out --the quad rolls to a stop.If the kid gets tired they let go of the throttle.
They have been safely opperated by kids as young as 4 years old.
Where the problem lies is in lack of decent supervision,training and dress sense.
I can honestly say I have supervised literally hundreds of hours of quads being used. NOT ONCE has a child had serious or even semi serious injury.

[p.dath]

I'd have to vote no, based on the assumption that there isn't a significant number of deaths (don't know how many child deaths occurr on quads, but I'm guessing not many).

There is already sufficient legislation around duty of care to deal with parents that are completely negligent.

Learning is what children do, and appropriate parent care and supervision should be enough.

[duckonin]

My girlfriend is european- she is gobsmacked that our government has such power over us in our own homes with smacking and pool fencing and resource consents. fuck! you cant even put a shade sail up over your deck now without a building permit!

Nor listern to music unless it is wisper quite SSHHHHHH SORRY DIDN'T HEAR THAT..:innocent:

[CRF119]

No way! i lernt to ride a Suzuki 350cc farm quad before i could even reach the foot rest i had to almost get of the bike to change gear. New generation of kids are getting soft and its because of the pussy ass parents. If a kid dosent learn young whats not to say they still dont hurt him/her self when they are older. I ride farm quads and race quads its about knowing the limits and not second guessing your self that gets you into trouble and i think learing from a young age on small quad is the best way to achive this. (Or large quad in my case)

[Leyton]

Bah let parents should be parents and decide, Not our govenment.

NZ has to stop legislating against law biding citizens.. if a parent wants their kid to ride a quad bike.. the kid is not going to think about the laws... or respect them.. so kids going to be kids.

Dumb

[scumdog]

Most of the time it's dumb-arse (ok, unknowing then) parents/cargivers (A wtf word imho) who think "Ooh, THAT looks like so much fun" and are totally unaware of the dangers due to no imagination of how it can go wrong for a kiddy on a heavy, unstable machine.

More publicity of the dangers and some education on what not to do would be a bigger help than banning kids on them.

[Leyton]

More publicity of the dangers and some education on what not to do would be a bigger help than banning kids on them.

I completely agree there Scumdog

[cheesemethod]

Most of the time it's dumb-arse (ok, unknowing then) parents/cargivers (A wtf word imho) who think "Ooh, THAT looks like so much fun" and are totally unaware of the dangers due to no imagination of how it can go wrong for a kiddy on a heavy, unstable machine.

More publicity of the dangers and some education on what not to do would be a bigger help than banning kids on them.

Yeah but you know what that means this day in age. There will be a whole bunch of expensive television ads featuring kids getting killed under quad bikes. Those in charge of ACC and LTNZ seem to think that scaring the shit out of people is better than prevention through education.

[paulmac]

Yeah but you know what that means this day in age. There will be a whole bunch of expensive television ads featuring kids getting killed under quad bikes. Those in charge of ACC and LTNZ seem to think that scaring the shit out of people is better than prevention through education.

And our rego will go up to pay for it !!!

[Ktmboy]

LT50's are great for the little ones. Alot of the problems are with dickhead parents or so called adults who are meant to be in charge. Too many people just chuck kids on any bike & leave them to it.
Just gotta spend a day on the pee wee track at the Sandpit - heaps of young kids on there with no idea with no parents in sight - normally they're out riding themselves.

The Peewee track is just that. A safe track for 50cc and under where it is safe to ride. Plus our staff are 20 mtrs away and we strictly police this!!.

[Ktmboy]

I'd have to vote no, based on the assumption that there isn't a significant number of deaths (don't know how many child deaths occurr on quads, but I'm guessing not many).

There is already sufficient legislation around duty of care to deal with parents that are completely negligent.

Learning is what children do, and appropriate parent care and supervision should be enough.

I would have thought that 16 (yes 16 youth deaths) in 4 years is enough. Quads are unforgiving. If you fall off a bike then you fall off. On a quad you roll. Thats the difference. 250kg of roll over on top of a 6 yr old. Fark you might as well just drop a brick on top of the young uns.

It does happen.Come ride a quad with me and i'll show you what can happen.

[laserracer]

Ok thats fine but, if you ban kids from quads then you really have to ban them from bikes too ,Then ya gonna get the idiots saying 2 strokes pollute, lets ban them,and ban riding on farm land and forrests,where will it stop, just make the parents responsible or maybe if you buy a kids quad you have to attend a saftey course.Or fit them all with roll cages and seatbelts

[CookMySock]

Should children be banned from crossing the road? Should children be banned from...? just about anything that could cause them harm.Uh, children ARE banned from crossing the road. No parent in their right mind will give a 5-6 yearold "road crossing instructions" and leave them to it - thats daft. 5-6 yearolds on quads should be fine after some instruction. Come and have a ride at the pocketbike track, and watch said 5-6 yearolds give you the learn.

I don't think kids should be banned from quads. I think parents should be allowed to do as they choose with their kids. We have always shoved our kids off the deep end, and now they proceed with no fear, but with a healthy dose of reality. Many times we have to sternly pull them in check, and sometimes there are tears, but thats the way of it - the only alternative is the cotton wool approach, and that doesn't fit well with me.

As long as there aren't tears from a bad injury or worse.


I would have thought that 16 (yes 16 youth deaths) in 4 years is enough.Thats four people a year. I would guess that more people were killed falling down stairs than that.

Steve

[rat biker 08]

My son is 5 years old and he has one he,s come off and knows thay are can hurt him :doctor: but im not going to stop him rideing :Police: as i think it makes him safer on it.

[B0000M]

a fact of life is people will die doing things. - kids on quads, falling down stairs, crossing roads, driving, running, cycling, playing rugby, boxing, sleeping, eating, gymnastics, swimming, surfing, u name it.

at the end of the day, some things in life carry some danger with them. and people will die. the aim is to try not to be one of them. we cant go around continuously making laws to try and stop freak accidents.

[Leyton]

The Peewee track is just that. A safe track for 50cc and under where it is safe to ride. Plus our staff are 20 mtrs away and we strictly police this!!.

I had a Peewee when I was 6 years old :) Used to setup jumps on the front lawn LOL!...

and if you fall off you fall off, independent of supervision :) I remember age 7 laying out a circut around the front lawn (1 arce section) and racing my old man around on it.. lol, those were the days.

We need to harden up :)

[That Guy]

I just set my 4 year old off on a four wheeler for the first time today. It was a little one (LT50). He had a ball. His confidence grew and grew and within an hour he was away charging around laughing and giggling with glee. He learned how to master his initial fear (LT50s have enough pep to scare you if you are 4 and riding for the first time in your life) control situations getting out of control (use the brake) and how to push (no reverse). He was outside in the sun getting puffed and excited.

...oh, and he's still alive and sleeping very soundly right now.

[carver]

i better get one while i can then!

[bogan]

i better get one while i can then!

a kid or a quad? you probly couldnt ride either over that bridge :whistle:

[Sidewinder]

ban kids off quads?? yea because a two wheeler is safer than a quad for a 5yo isnt it???

[carver]

a kid or a quad? you probly couldnt ride either over that bridge :whistle:

im too fat for the quad, maybe a lt50 would work on the arch


ban kids off quads?? yea because a two wheeler is safer than a quad for a 5yo isnt it???

track day this weekend, mt welly, coming>?

[Sidewinder]

im too fat for the quad, maybe a lt50 would work on the arch



track day this weekend, mt welly, coming>?

buckets or pockets??

[carver]

buckets or pockets??

im taking the police bike

[Swoop]

IMHO they belong on dairy farms and beaches.
Interestingly, I had a long lunch with a dairy farmer yesterday and quad's came up. He has rolled his. His son rolled his. His daughter rolled hers.
Full sized bikes too, not "kiddie sized".

They are a tool that farms require. No amount of legislation will stop someone operating one, but education on how to ride one safely would be a much better investment in the gubbinment's time.

[CRF119]

We had a small kid on a PW50 quad come over to ride he had a nice bail down a bank but now knows you must go stright down that hill and not side ways and also drag the rear brake a bit other wise you get out of control and fall down the next bank and smack into a large tree stump. He got back up and continued to ride. Its better he lernt that now and not when he was a bit older and on a larger quad. :jerry:

[Latte]

Thats four people a year. I would guess that more people were killed falling down stairs than that.

Steve


Ban Stairs!

Better still, smother them at birth , only way to stop them pesky kids getting injured.



..... In all seriousness, I'm planning my to get my Daughter a bike of some description at 3 , if she doesn't like it I'll be going mini racing :second:

[sunhuntin]

there needs to be better education about the dangers they can pose. people see 4 wheels and think its as safe as a car.
i watched funniest home videos yesterday and there was some american dude on one, going down a slight bank into a deepish creek and up the other side. he only just made it down ok, but going up the other side, the front lifted and rolled back on top of him, pinning him completely under the water. had his mates not pulled it off him, he would have drowned. least he was wearing a helmet though.
and the worst bit was they were all laughing as if it was no big deal. shit like that should not be viewed as a joke. if i recall, that video was one of the contenders for the prize money as well.

[motor_mayhem]

Does anyone realise that you can actually get roll bars for full size quads. Maybe thats the solution?

[Badjelly]

Interestingly, I had a long lunch with a dairy farmer yesterday and quad's came up. He has rolled his. His son rolled his. His daughter rolled hers. Full sized bikes too, not "kiddie sized".


there needs to be better education about the dangers they can pose. people see 4 wheels and think its as safe as a car.

I agree that people tend to underestimate the dangers of these things. Two-wheelers look unstable and prone to tipping over, four-wheelers don't. But four-wheelers do tip over and when they do and they land on top of you, they're bloody heavy. (I ride a quad regularly; I haven't tipped it over, yet. Ditto the tractor, which doesn't have a roll cage.)

That said, hasn't there already been a fair bit of education about this? Surely farmers should already know the dangers of these things.

Should children be banned from riding quads? Yes, by their parents.

[CRF119]

Does anyone realise that you can actually get roll bars for full size quads. Maybe thats the solution?

Haha roll bars only make a bad situation worse. :doh:

[clint640]

[QUOTE=Henk;1129401174]From what I've seen the problem isn't kids on quads, it's kids on adult quads. I'm not aware of any fatalaties involving LT50s. [QUOTE]

Exactly. I doubt outlawing LT50's is on the agenda anyway. Maybe what is needed is a weight/age limit or 2 - kids under 6 can't ride a bike over Xkgs, kids under 12 no more than Ykgs.

Personally I reckon kids shouldn't get on anything with a motor until they can ride a pushbike.

Cheers
Clint

[That Guy]

Personally I reckon kids shouldn't get on anything with a motor until they can ride a pushbike.

Cheers
Clint

I agree with this one...until they can balance, use a brake to stop crashing into things, understand a bit about how speed can build up, understand that crashing hurts etc.

[browny]

banning is probably over the top.the facts are they are dangerous and if youre talking farm quads,theyre not designed for kids.they kill experienced adults.so make up your own mind.as mentioned, supervision is obviously the best way.you have to learn somewhere.