Dana Kirkland grew up riding quad bikes on a farm in South Australia’s southeast but, after a life-changing accident in 2021, she’s now warning families to avoid using them all together.
Kirkland shared details of her “traumatic” accident after the Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Adelaide revealed eight children had been seriously injured in quad bike accidents in the past four months.
Kirkland broke nine ribs, injured her lung and had a displaced clavicle fracture in the accident on her father’s McLaren Vale property in October 2021.
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“This day I got on the bike, did nothing different than I’ve done before, and it was so unpredictable, it catapulted me off,” she said.
“It has long-standing injuries for me to this day, and it will for a lifetime.
“I’m very, very lucky to have survived it.”
Kirkland, a single mother, said she spent 11 days in hospital and took four months off work.
She said since the crash, she has stopped her children from riding quad bikes.
“I highly recommend you don’t allow your kids to ride quad bikes because, one: they’re unpredictable; two: they’re heavy; and they’re just very, very dangerous,” she said.
Children at high risk of serious quad bike injuries
Three men have died in quad bike crashes in South Australia over the past fortnight.
Health Minister Chris Picton said the eight serious;y injured children, aged between two and 15 years old, over the summer holidays was “alarming” and more reasons for parents to stop their children quad bikes.
He said there were zero injuries over the same period last year.
“Many people might regard these bikes as safe, (it) looks a lot safer than a motorbike — the actual truth is these can be very unstable devices,” Picton said.
Nationally, there are 15 deaths every year as a result of a quad bike accidents, SafeWork SA reports.
The Australian government introduced further safety standards for quad bikes following a review in 2019.
It required manufacturers to install a number of features such an operator protection device and label outlining the risk of rollover.
But Kirkland said quad bikes were still “highly unpredictable” and people could also be complacent when riding them.
WCH trauma nurse consultant Jackie Winters said she “dreads” hearing of children being injured in quad bike accidents.
She said some of the children end up with serious brain, abdominal and spinal injuries.
“Children are not able to move these vehicles if they roll on top of them … a lot of the time, these children stop breathing because the vehicle is so heavy on them that they can’t get that vehicle off of them,” Winter said.
“These injuries are sometimes not temporary. These injuries can last with the families and children for life.”
Kidsafe SA chief executive officer Holly Fitzgerald recommended children younger than 16 should not be on a quad bike “under any circumstances, as a rider or as a passenger”.
She said that also applied to child-sized quad bikes.
“Quad bikes are up to 400kg in weight, and that is just a large piece of equipment and large machine that children do not have the physical strength or cognitive ability to operate safety,” Fitzgerald said.
“It’s just too risky and could result in a catastrophic outcome.”