The ACCC has accepted a court-enforceable undertaking from quad bike supplier Crossfire Motorcycles Pty Limited (Crossfire), after it admitted to supplying quad bikes that do not comply with the quad bike safety standard.

The non-compliance includes incorrect age recommendation warning labels, missing or non-compliant engine stop switches, missing reflex reflectors, and missing information in the owner’s manuals.

“Crossfire’s non-compliance presented a risk to quad bike operators including children,” ACCC Deputy Chair Mick Keogh said.

“Age warning labels in particular help parents make informed decisions when purchasing quad bikes.”

The undertaking follows an ACCC investigation into Crossfire’s compliance with the quad bike safety standard for bikes sold between October 2020 and July 2021, after the first stage of the safety standard came into effect.

Surveillance activities coordinated by the ACCC and undertaken by state consumer protection agencies first identified issues with compliance with labelling requirements for some Crossfire quad bikes.

The ACCC’s investigation then uncovered issues with compliance which led to Crossfire initiating voluntary recalls for 890 quad bikes affecting seven of its nine models.

“Quad bike suppliers have now had two years to prepare for the new requirements of the safety standard and replace their old stock with fully compliant vehicles,” Mr Keogh said.

“This should serve as a warning to all suppliers that they risk enforcement action if they supply quad bikes that do not meet the safety standard.”

Crossfire has undertaken, amongst other things, to implement a consumer law compliance program, obtain independent test reports of its quad bikes, and report to the ACCC regularly about its safety compliance and the progress on its recalls. Failure to meet these requirements may result in further enforcement action by the ACCC.

Crossfire’s undertaking can be found on the public register at: Crossfire Motorcycles Pty Limited

Background

Crossfire is a small, privately owned company that imports quad bikes manufactured overseas and brands them as ‘Crossfire’ in Australia.

In October 2019, the Federal Government accepted the ACCC’s recommendation to introduce a new mandatory safety standard for quad bikes.

Stage 1 came into effect on 11 October 2020 and requires that all quad bikes:

• meet the specified requirements of either the US quad bike Standard, ANSI/SVIA 1-2017 or the European quad bike Standard, EN 15997:2011.
• have a compliant spark arrester fitted.
• are tested for static stability using a tilt table test and display the angle at which they tip on to two wheels on a hang tag.
• have a durable label affixed, visible and legible when the quad bike is in operation, alerting the operator to the risk of rollover and must include rollover safety information in the owner’s manual.

Stage 2 came into effect on 11 October 2021 and requires that all new and imported second-hand general use quad bikes:

• have an operator protection device that is fitted to the bike or integrated into its design; and
• meet the minimum stability requirements of lateral stability (a minimum tilt table ratio (TTR) of 0.55) and front and rear longitudinal pitch stability (a minimum TTR of 0.8).

There have been 11 recorded quad bike fatalities so far this year. In 2020, there were 24 quad bike fatalities, which is the highest annual death toll on record.

Source: ACCC