Posted in Safety

Motorbikes vs Quad which is the safest?

The name ATV (all terrain vehicle) is very misleading, the ATV cannot be used on paved or sealed roads as they can roll over easily because the wheels grip.  The ATV is not good on hills as they can roll over due to the unstable nature of the machine, so why were they called All Terrain Vehicle?  This probably had more to do with marketing than reality.  The Quad bike is better description than ATV, quad meaning four (4) wheels.

People look at quads and think they fun, toys for the kids, safe but this is not the truth at all, quads are very dangerous and a number of children are killed each year riding quads.  In the rural workplace quad contribute to deaths each year, so why do people defend them.  I hear people say "its not the machine its the operator" if you take that view then why are children allowed to operate them?  Why let kids ride them if the machine is safe?  Lets compare motorbikes to quads, two (2) wheel motorbikes have been around for about 100 years, they have been used extensively in the rural industry but they do not have same death rate of the quad bike so surely this would suggest that its not the operator but the machine is the problem.

Lets look at a Cattle station in QLD, rounding up cattle on motorbikes from 1960-1990 on motorbike How many accident? Not many.  Now look at cattle stations rounding up cattle on quad bike, accidents and sadly deaths.  The evidence is there motorbikes are safer than quads and the ATV is the problem.  James Gorrie has been riding motorbikes for 30 years.  A quad bike course can make you safer, more information.