The Road Safety Authority has pleaded with parents not to buy scramblers or quad bikes as Christmas presents.
Figures have shown that a significant amount of those who are injured in accidents involving the vehicles are under the age of 18. And in a renewed public safety message the RSA, An Garda Siochana and Keith Synnott - a Consultant at the National Spinal Injuries Unit in the Mater Hospital - said that both quad bikes and scramblers pose a risk to children, urging parents to avoid purchasing them for Christmas.
According to statistics published by the RSA, 38 per cent of those injured in incidents involving quad bikes or scramblers, in the period 2017 to 2021, were aged 18 or under. Casualty figures show that between the years 2017 and 2021, 88 people were injured in collisions with a quad bike or scrambler on a public road. In the same period, there were four fatalities.
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Mr Synnott said: “Quad bikes and scramblers are not toys, they are heavy, dangerous pieces of machinery that can cause life-changing injuries or death. Following a collision on these machines, riders risk serious spinal injury.
“This could result in paralysis, which can mean being unable to walk or perhaps using your hands to feed yourself and loss of bowel or bladder control. Sometimes, even the inability to breathe without the aid of a machine.
“Impacts often happen on areas of uneven ground or as a result of unstable vehicles, especially in the hands of children, leading to people falling and landing awkwardly or the vehicle landing on the rider. The dangers these machines pose means that they are not suitable gifts for children.”
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