Lets face it, when you hear about Quad bikes it is usually about an accident or fatality. The reality is Quad bikes (or ATV’s) are an indispensable farming tool and an awesome recreational machine. The latest information proposes that there are over 380 000 ATV’s in use throughout Australia and approximately another 23 000 sold new every year, so the problem of accidents is not going to go away any time soon.  The Queensland government has just released a plan to tackle the issue. Looking at the plan as a whole; They are heading in the right direction. The focus must be on public awareness not scare mongering. In my opinion,  safety awareness, training and helmet use for work will drastically reduce the number of fatalities. The main problems with these solutions are that Quad Bikes are so easy to operate, farmers don’t want to be trained in something they already know how to do. Not to mention that there is no ATV specific work helmet in the Australian market. Perhaps with the new legislation an ATV Australian Standard work helmet will evolve? As far as the Training issue, We need to overhaul the cumbersome and in-efficient current module and make it more effective and palatable for farmers. Subsidized training is the only way we will see any kind of real uptake. If the Queensland Government wants to make an effective difference it needs to consult with all stakeholders and not just make ‘policy on the run’. All stakeholders, meaning user groups, end users, manufacturers, trainers, recreational clubs and industry groups. I have already seen an example of poor ill-informed ‘policy on the run’ by Neil Cambourn, Assistant Deputy Director of Queensland National Parks in their ‘Operational Policy’ report released in Nov 2015. The report has the audacity to state that “. Recreational use is not considered to be genuine need. Permits will not be granted for the recreational use of quad bikes as part of an organised event permit.” In our National parks? Please Mr. Cambourn, repeal that ridiculous policy and work with user groups to find a workable solution. National Parks belong to us all, even ATV operators. Perhaps the new plan will bring poor policy like this to light?

ATV’s are not an unsafe machine to operate… if operated appropriately.  Firstly, some very basic common sense should be applied.  It’s pretty rare these days to find any piece of machinery that does not come with operating instructions from the manufacturer. Read them, and they will tell you all of the basics to stay safe and a lot more.  But disregarding all of that, there is one incredibly obvious requirement that still gets ignored, and it remains an unacceptably huge factor in the worst outcomes of many ATV incidents and accidents.
Always wear a helmet.

I’m sure nearly everyone could have guessed that, but why won’t too many Aussie’s on the land wear one?

During Quad Safe’s research into a best fit solution for the Aussie farmer, a friend very involved in the Motorcycle industry commented… “I know from my own experience trying to get family members mind set to change and wear a helmet was a challenge.  This mind set needs to change, unfortunately until then people will continue to be injured or fatally injured.”

Quad Safe looked into all the opinions and arguments as to why anyone would not wear a helmet.  Some top reoccurring suggestions were;

• It’s too hot in Northern Australia and a helmet will cook your head.  The airflow is essential up here. Heat stress is an issue and before heat is a medical problem, the ATV rider is just less comfortable wearing a helmet on a hot day so they do not concentrate properly.
• We round up some pretty serious beasts up here and motorcycle helmets limit your vision too much.  It can be more dangerous to wear one when you need to see in all directions at once.
• A riders hearing is a key lifesaver in the bush too.  We don’t always turn our heads to watch stock while riding forward, and we can hear where they are when not wearing a helmet.
• Helmets just look wrong, they get in the way, you can’t eat, drink, shout, talk or even spit properly when wearing one… hell they are even an awkward thing to put down somewhere.

On the other side of the fence, all other safety positives of wearing a helmet are undeniable and obvious.  Could there be a new helmet solution that better addresses the factors above?  Would it be enough to tip the scales just a few more percent so that a helmet might finally become every farmer’s favoured choice?

Our framework of requirements were becoming more clear:

• The helmet needs to be white to reflect heat and keep cool.  Ideally it would even be cooler and provide some shade (UV protection).
• It needs good ventilation.
• Vision needs to be maximised and the ears need to be exposed.
• It needs to be comfortable and easy to wear all day.
• And obviously it needs to be an excellent design for protecting the head and ideally an Australian Standard 1698 approved helmet.

It appeared that for Australian conditions, the ‘shortest’ AS1698 helmet would provide the most airflow, and ‘white’ would be the coolest colour while also offering a high visibility safety aspect.

Quad Safe believes we have a very good answer to all of the above and we have found a manufacturer who was willing to make a prototype sample based around an existing AS1698 helmet, but built to our specifications.  A short peak was chosen and mounted at a lower level to shade the face more similarly to how a farmer might wear an Akubra.

It works, it’s cool, it’s AS1698 and it’s a dam site safer than not wearing a helmet.