PARENTS ARE BEING urged not to gift quad bikes or scramblers as presents for children this Christmas. 

Provisional statistics released by the Road Safety Authority (RSA) show that 38% 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 2017 and 2021, 88 people were injured in collisions involving a quadbike or scrambler on a public road. In the same period there were four fatalities involving quad bikes or scramblers on public roads.

The RSA, An Garda Síochána and Keith Synnot, consultant at the National Spinal Injuries Unit in the Mater Hospital are today urging parents not to gift quad bikes or scramblers this Christmas. 

“Quad bikes and scramblers are not toys, they are heavy, dangerous pieces of machinery that can cause life changing injuries or death,” Synnot said. 

“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 use your hands to feed yourself and loss of bowel or bladder control. Sometimes, even the inability to breath without the aid of a machine,” he said. 

He added: “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.”

Assistant Commissioner Paula Hilman of National Roads Policing and Community Engagement said that “members of An Garda Síochána do not want to be delivering devastating news this Christmas”. 

“Our message is clear: Children and young teenagers should not be driving these vehicles in public,” Assistant Commissioner Hilman said. 

“Illegal and anti-social use of scramblers and quads causes fear and intimidation in our communities. Local gardaí will continue to work with communities and local partners to engage and address this illegal activity,” she said. 

“I would also remind anyone considering buying a quad or scrambler that it is an offence to supply a mechanically propelled vehicle to a person under 16 years of age, this includes a gift or a loan.”