FCAI: Victorian ATV subsidy on wrong tangent

Victorian taxpayers' money could be better spent on the strong promotion of known safety practices such as helmets and rider training rather than "rushing" to subsidise a "so-called safety device" which is not supported by scientific evidence, according to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI).

The peak industry body was responding to the Victorian government's July 22 announcement that farmers will be offered subsidies to either replace an existing ATV with a "more appropriate" farm vehicle ($1200) or money towards the fitment of crush protection devices to existing vehicles ($600 per vehicle) up to a maximum of $1200.

New South Wales also announced a similar rebate scheme in June.

The chief executive of the FCAI, Tony Weber, says while there’s clearly a strong desire among the governments to be seen to do something to support ATV safety, a rebate scheme has been "rushed in to subsidise a so-called safety device" which is not supported by scientific evidence.

"We believe the Victorian and NSW governments, in their rush to be seen to be doing something, are ignoring the best evidence available and using farmers to test an unproven and potentially dangerous product," Weber says.

"Very little research has been carried out by the promoters of crush protection devices to prove their effectiveness, and the work that has been carried out has been independently identified as falling short of being able to be relied upon, as was revealed during a recent coronial inquest in Queensland.

"A wide body of research from a very experienced US engineering firm, Dynamic Research Inc. (DRI) has done extensive testing to show that so-called CPDs for ATVs can cause as many new injuries as they may prevent."

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Weber says the DRI study shows these devices do not meet the required standard of a ‘safety device’ as outlined in the International Standard ISO 13232-5, as the number of injuries caused by these devices was too high.

"Various experts and engineers debated the pros and cons of fitting CPDs during the Queensland coronial inquest into quad bike fatalities, and at the conclusion, the deputy state coroner did not recommend fitting CPDs, but instead said that more work was required," Weber says.

"The industry’s strong conviction is that, much like the mandatory wearing of helmets for all motorcycle riders, we need a really big promotional push by government and safety authorities to also wear helmets.

"If we can convince quad bike riders to wear helmets, then the scientific evidence indicates we could get as much as a 60 per cent reduction in head injury."