Quads, and minimum age issue, serious discussion

[StoneY]

The quad bike fatality (very sad) of the young girl last week, and another not too long ago of an 8 year old, and despite coroners reccomendations of a minimum age to ride quads, the govt reacts with what can only be described apathy

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/accidents/...ectid=10615415

Now I aint into 'nana'ing' every kid out there, but I am sure MOST here would agree a quad bike is far more dangerous to the very young bodies of our children than say a pee wee

We all know if you come off a two wheeled bike you can be hurt and killed, but Quad Bikes fatality rate is something like 300% that of a two wheeler

Peoples serious opinions please, should quads have a minimum age/body size factor applied?

[T.W.R]

The US CPSC mandate recommends the use of quads greater than 90cc by riders 12yrs of age & under is prohibited.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-terrain_vehicle#Safety

lol interesting reading : 2005 there were an estimated 136700 injuries associated with ATVs

[yungatart]

Given that 16 kids have died as a result of crashing a quad, I would say yes, definitely!
I'm not sure what that age should be though.

I can't imagine what it must be like to lose your child, that is 16 families ripped apart....it is far too many.

[StoneY]

The US CPSC mandate recommends the use of quads greater than 90cc by riders 12yrs of age & under is prohibited.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-terrain_vehicle#Safety

lol interesting reading : 2005 there were an estimated 136700 injuries associated with ATVs

Its THIS that disturbed me deeply, I had no idea it was so bad...this is higher than the road toll if you consider they refer only to off road accidents by children for the quoted period

Research published in the New Zealand Medical Journal in September found 16 children were killed and 216 hospitalised in quadbike, or ATV, crashes between 2000 and 2006.

[FROSTY:Me]

Stoney as you may know Im involved a fair bit with small quads and 2 wheelers.
Theres a few things i've observed.
First of all the lil benchmark quad-the LT50 is no longer available new.It was a neat simple quad and most importantof a size a child can easilly handle.
The replacements available now be it the LTZ 50,the kawasaki equivilant or one of the chinese variants are bigger and heavier.Little kids struggle to physically handle them in the rough stuff. I see this all the time. Little Johnny can handle the quad in the park but when the steering is wrenched by the ruts and humps they arent strong enough to deal with it.
The issue is that parents are either overconfidentof their kids ability oir just dont realise how much effort it takes to work the controls.
sorry but what im saying in a roundabout way is its not capacity its physical size thats the issue.
Dont get me wrong a 6 year old on a 200 is just stupid but the LTZ 90 for example is only as fast as the LT50

[Deano]

I was keen to buy my son a petrol powered quad - he has an electric one at the moment (he is only 2). It originally ran on 6V but goes much better on 14.4V from my battery drill.

I am now unsure about upgrading it due to the numbers of accidents.

However, I would like to know more detail about the nature of the crashes.

The most recent one occurred on a slope and it rolled ?

So, what is the risk involved with a child riding an appropriately governed quad on the flat ? No more or less than a two wheeler perhaps ?

[Drunken Monkey]

I expect it had as much to do with the terrain as the type of vehicle as well. Perhaps it should be more a case of not using the quad in a complex, off road environment to a certain age. I can't see much issue with young kids using them on flat surfaces with adult supervision.

[The Pastor]

I'd blame the parents on this one.

[Katman]

The problem with this particular incident is that it was a full sized adults quad bike. There is no way that a 6 year old should be allowed to operate one that size.

[PrincessBandit]

I believe I read that farmers are against any age restrictions on them.

[Spearfish]

I thought farmers were against the age restriction to same with all farm machinery.

[StoneY]

Stoney as you may know Im involved a fair bit with small quads and 2 wheelers.
Theres a few things i've observed.

Exactly the kind of input we need on this topic, and the rest of your post was brilliant mate, gave me an understanding I lacked before,
Of COURSE its about physical strength, rode enough Big Reds on my mates farm to know that, thanks Frosty

I expect it had as much to do with the terrain as the type of vehicle as well. Perhaps it should be more a case of not using the quad in a complex, off road environment to a certain age. I can't see much issue with young kids using them on flat surfaces with adult supervision.

Sensible post too, and good points, there is a supervision and terrain/manageability factor to go alongside Frosty's strength/power/weight calculations

The problem with this particular incident is that it was a full sized adults quad bike. There is no way that a 6 year old should be allowed to operate one that size.

Yeah, wonder what OSH and the next coroner report will come up with over this current one

It was a commercial location, yes? Some kind of 'rent a ride' park?
Or was it the dads own machine???
Thats not quite clear to me, and relevance is related to operator responsibility

If a prior corroners report had suggested age limits, wouldnt a commercial operator need to have some kind of policy in place to age/weight requirements?

Do quads come with safety warnings regarding minimum physical size requirements to operate them?

More we discuss, more questions raised....sigh
16 families that lost kids in 6 years.....not to mention the number of serious hospitalizations......how can this go unanswered by any sensible governing body?

[neels]

I would hate to see my neighbors kids (and mine from time to time) banned from riding their little quad, it's a kid size machine that has trouble moving an adult, and they ride it mostly on a nice little flat track on the empty section next door.

Really it's up to parents to decide whether an activity is appropriate for their kids, and as long as they are educated and supervised almost anything is safe.

Otherwise you're just legislating away fun for sensible people to save the stupid ones from themselves.

[Bald Eagle]

I would hate to see my neighbors kids (and mine from time to time) banned from riding their little quad, it's a kid size machine that has trouble moving an adult, and they ride it mostly on a nice little flat track on the empty section next door.

Really it's up to parents to decide whether an activity is appropriate for their kids, and as long as they are educated and supervised almost anything is safe.

Otherwise you're just legislating away fun for sensible people to save the stupid ones from themselves.

I don't want to save the stupid ones from themselves ( Darwin Awards time ) , but I don't want to fail to protect their progeny, who might grow up to be not stupid.

[scott411]

the nz press ( esp the Herald) has done a shit house job of reporting this accident, there was no big farm quad involved as there pictures suggests, it was a kids quad, and she was not riding unsupervised,

and as per there usual m o of getting everyone to comment on the fact has brought out the usual knee jerk reactions,