new motorcycle helmet laws queensland
From 1 February 2017, the requirement for the operator and passengers of a quad bike or utility off-road vehicle to wear a motorcycle helmet will be legislated in the Transport Operations (Road Use Management—Road Rules) Regulation 2009 (roads rules). These mandatory helmet requirements are currently outlined in the Guideline for Conditionally Registered Vehicles in Queensland Form 17. However, these requirements will be transitioned to the road rules from 1 February 2017, and apply to drivers and passengers of conditionally registered quad bikes and utility off-road vehicles being used on Queensland roads and road-related areas. From 1 February 2017, a $365 fine will apply for failing to comply with the mandatory helmet requirements as well as the incursion of 3 demerit points. This offence will also be subject to existing motorcycle helmet double demerit point penalties, so if two or more motorcycle helmet offences are committed within a 12 month period, the second and subsequent offences will incur double demerit points.
The current exemption from wearing a helmet applicable for the operators and passengers of conditionally registered utility off-road vehicles which operate under the LO3 condition code, and are fitted with seatbelts and a roll over protection system will remain. There will still be no helmet exemptions for quad bike operations. In addition, passenger age-related restrictions will also be introduced in the roads rules from 1 February 2017 which will prohibit children under the age of eight from being carried as passengers on quad bikes and utility off-road vehicles, as well as any child if their feet cannot reach the footrests or cannot sit with their back against the seat and feet flat on the floor. These changes are being introduced to ensure operating a quad bike or utility off-road vehicle is as safe as possible, and are part of a broader commitment made to implement coronial recommendations about quad bike and utility off-road vehicle safety. These changes will also make offences associated with quad bikes and utility off-road vehicles more consistent with similar road rule laws.
If you require any further information regarding the changes, please email your enquiry to Driver_Licensing_and_Road_Rules@tmr.qld.gov.au or alternatively, contact Nick Mackay, A/Principal Policy in the Transport Regulation Branch on (07) 3066 2129.
motorcycle dealers in baguioFrom 1 February 2017, children under the age of 8 are prohibited from being carried as passengers on quad bikes and utility off-road vehicles being used on a road, as well as any child of any age if they are unable to sit with their feet flat on the floor and hands on handholds.
motorcycle dealers in baguio Additionally, as of 1 February 2017 the requirement for the operator of a quad bike or utility off-road vehicle and their passengers to wear a motorcycle helmet will be legislated in the Transport Operations (Road Use Management—Road Rules) Regulation 2009.
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From 1 February there will still be no exemptions from wearing an approved motorcycle helmet for quad bike riders and passengers. Exemptions from wearing an approved motorcycle helmet still apply for the driver and passengers of utility off-road vehicles being operated under conditional registration code LO3, provided the vehicle has factory fitted seatbelts and a roll over protection system. Regular, full faced motorcycle helmets can be impractical for farm tasks at low speeds, so a major quad bike distributor has developed a helmet specifically for quad bike use that will be available in the coming months. The Shark brand helmet is made for Australian conditions and is lightweight, cooler and does not impact vision or hearing. Workplace Health and Safety Queensland and the quad bike industry are working together to ensure quad bike riders understand a helmet is the most effective defence against often-fatal head injuries, and will continue to communicate this and other safety messages to reduce injuries and deaths associated with quad bike use.
For more information on quad bike requirements, visit qld.gov.au/transport or for quad bike safety, visit worksafe.qld.gov.au/ridereadyQueensland laws that mandate jail time for bikies who gather in public will likely never be able secure a conviction, lawyers for outlaw motorcycle clubs have told a government taskforce. The United Motorcycle Council of Queensland (UMCQ) has told a review led by former judge Alan Wilson that this was the most “compelling” reason for dumping the former Newman government’s anti-association measures targeting bikies. The UMCQ, in a submission prepared by Brisbane law firm Irish Bentley and obtained by Guardian Australia, claims the crackdown has led to a “significant increase in violence, intimidation and unlawful conduct” towards bikies and their families by police. This included the teenage stepdaughter of an alleged Rebels bikie allegedly having an assault rifle pointed in her face during a raid in April in which police mistook their Brisbane home as the residence of another alleged club member.
The UMCQ admitted that the “brotherhood” of bikies – which they called a “deliberately sexist term” – led members to “turn a blind eye” to crimes of their clubmates, which included serious drug trafficking. But it rejected the “political rhetoric” of the Newman era which had it that “clubs themselves (through their organisational structure) were responsible for the organisation (and presumably the collection of profits) of criminal activity carried out by their members”. This is at odds with the recent Queensland commission of inquiry into organised crime, which found that some motorcycle clubs were criminal organisations involved in drug production and distribution. However, the UMQC endorsed the commission’s other findings that the anti-bikie legislation and enforcement had no impact on crime rates or community safety and diverted resources from investigating other forms of organised crime, including online paedophilia and fraud. The Wilson taskforce is due to report back next March to a state government that intends to repeal and replace the Newman government anti-bikie laws.
About 100 people have been charged since the introduction in October 2013 of anti-association offences, which mandate at least six months’ jail for bikies who go to clubhouses, recruit or meet in public in groups of more than two. But no one has yet been convicted, with some of the cases dropped and the remainder on hold until after the Wilson taskforce reports. The UMCQ claimed in its submissions that the high court ruling on a challenge to the laws in 2014 by Hells Angel tattooist Stefan Kuczborski had provided “clear guidelines” that made prosecutions of such cases more onerous. It argued that prosecutors pursing anti-association offences would now need to produce admissible evidence that a club’s purpose was serious criminal activity rather than simply relying on the government’s “declaration” of a club as a criminal organisation. This meant a bikie who is “only involved on a social or recreational basis (with a club) cannot, as a matter of law, be held liable by these provisions”.
The UMCQ also claimed that prosecutors might soon be forced to stop using police officers as “expert (witnesses) on what they call ‘criminal motorcycle gangs’” in the cases that remain. This was because a prosecutor in a current case, in which alleged bikies in Bundaberg were charged with gathering in public, has appeared to concede it was “unlikely that such evidence could ever be admissible”. Confirmation of this by the magistrate in the case, Barry Cosgrove, could lead to prosecutors “no longer [continuing] to attempt to lead this sort of evidence in these matters”. The UMCQ argued that the crackdown was the result of an unproven police “obsession” with the belief that gangs were criminal organisations. This resulted in police “pressuring a conservative government” – which it claimed was “unduly influenced” by a Gold Coast bikie brawl witnessed by then education minister John-Paul Langbroek – into making motorcycle club membership a crime.