Government urges quad bike safety ahead of Easter holidays

With the Easter school holidays approaching, the State Government is urging those who ride quad bikes or who are just around these vehicles to think about safety during the break. 

The Ride ready quad bike safety campaign kicks off again as school kids start their term one holidays and we look forward to the Easter break. 

Industrial Relations Minister Grace Grace says it’s all about using these fun and useful vehicles safely. 

“Over the last 15 years there have been 230 fatalities in Australia involving quad bikes, with around 8,000 hospitalisations,” Ms Grace said.  

“It pains me to say Queensland accounts for a quarter of these fatalities and injuries – the highest percentage in the country. 

“More than 70 Queenslanders have been killed using quad bikes in the last 15 years. That’s way too many and we are working hard to get the numbers down.” 

The latest print, online and social media campaign targets two main areas of quad bike safety – wearing helmets and riding appropriately sized quads. 

“Kids must never be allowed to ride adult sized quad bikes and we should all wear helmets when we’re on these machines. 

“Simply sticking to these two safety tips alone saves lives.” 

First run last year, the Ride ready advertising campaign has already delivered promising results. 

“Market research shows people’s attitudes are changing and they’re more positive when it comes to wearing helmets, not doubling and not allowing children to ride adult quad bikes. 

“But we can always do more, so we’ll keep running this campaign to remind everyone about quad bike safety – particularly over the school holidays when the use of them spikes,” Ms Grace said. 

Since the start of the Ride ready campaign, the ads have been viewed half a million times, and a case study film about a young boy’s near death experience when riding a quad for the first time has been watched by thousands.

“Dominic Cocco’s story is one with a happy ending, but it could’ve been very different. It shows just how things can go horribly wrong for a novice rider on a quad, with no previous experience and no helmet.

“Dom almost lost his life that day and the family went through hell. They all learnt valuable lessons, and by telling their story, the Coccos are helping spread the word about quad safety,” Ms Grace said.

You can watch the ads and Domenic’s film at worksafe.qld.gov.au/rideready

Media contact: Martin Philip 0427 919 548