From 2001 to 2012, over 160 Australians have died in quad bike (ATV) incidents. Annually in the USA there will be at least 700 fatalities from quad bike related incidents. The options which have been considered to protect riders in the event of a quad bike rollover are: 1) Personal protective equipment; 2) Active riding; 3) Crush Protection Devices (CPD); 4) Roll Over Protective Structure (ROPS) without restraint; and 5) ROPS with restraint. The Institute for Safety Compensation and Recovery Research identified: “…serious issues with the simulation methods used and the nature of incidents tested to predict the effect of crush protection devices on Quad bike roll over injuries and fatalities”.
PC-Crash is a commercially available collision simulation tool, which can output simulated forces of a simulated riders body parts. A PC-Crash model of a motorcycle and rider was adapted to create an exemplar Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) quad bike and quad bike with CPD. 18 riderless quad bike rollover tests (7 OEM quad bikes and 11 quad bikes with CPD) were used to validate the PC-Crash models of OEM quad bike and quad bike with CPD. In a serious or fatal quad bike rollover, injuries could result from impact or crush to either the torso, neck, head or combination. Entrapment, specifically of the torso, can result in traumatic or mechanical asphyxia. 1,600 simulations (4 x 400) were used to comparatively evaluate impact and crush injuries of quad bike riders. The rollover simulations identified that the rider of: OEM quad bike and unrestrained rider, quad bike with CPD and unrestrained rider, quad bike with ROPS and unrestrained rider and quad bike with ROPS and restrained rider could be traumatically or mechanically asphyxiated 46, 28, 0 and 8 times respectively. Where there is an identifiable risk of serious or fatal injury from quad bike rollover, consideration should be given to fitting either: CPD, ROPS or ROPS with rider restraint; to mitigate the potential for serious and/or fatal injury due to torso impact, crush or entrapment during a quad bike rollover.