NEW rules designed to improve quad bike safety are a good thing according to many in the industry, despite a 26,000 signature petition being put forward to place the measures on hold for another three years.
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An average of 15 Australians have died every year this century in quad bike accidents, but legislation set to come into effect on October 11 aims to reduce that number by, among other things, having all new models built with a rollbar.
Those changes have been met with mixed opinions. Some people have come out in strong opposition to the rules which could see a number of manufacturers withdraw from the Australian market.
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At this stage, Honda, Yamaha , Suzuki, Kawasaki, Canam and Polaris models will no longer be available come October.
However, Nundle farmer Paul McCulloch said he believes the companies may be bluffing, and he has no issue with rollbars being enforced.
"It looks to me as though they've all banded together to try and force them to stop these changes, because I really don't believe they'll just abandon the Australian market," he said.
"It's too big of a market for them all just to say 'we're not going to send anymore there'."
He said smaller models of the vehicle are usually more mobile, and also less dangerous in accidents because they are not as heavy if someone gets trapped underneath.
They often cannot reach the same speeds, but that is not a problem according to Mr McCulloch, who said "they're not a racing machine".
Professor Tony Lower, who lives in Moree and is an honorary associate at AgHealth Australia, also believes it's time for the changes to be made.
"They've had a two year transition time, there's been plenty of time to get things organised and as I understand it there's already four or five companies meeting the requirements required by the legislation," he said.
He thinks the reason manufacturers have been so uncooperative is because if they abide by the new rules, then other countries such as the USA - which averages more than 300 deaths per year - may follow suit.
The one thing he wanted to make abundantly clear is the concept there would be shortage of quad bikes after October 11 is blatantly wrong.
He slammed it as "misinformation" and said there would still be a huge market in Australia.
The MP who introduced the legislation, Michael Sukkar, told ACM he would continue to work with farmers, manufacturers and retailers on any supply issues, but the current timeline would not change.
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