Around 12 to 14 people are killed and 1400 injured annually in Australia resulting from Quad bike (All- Terrain Vehicle - ATV) and Side by Side Vehicle (SSV) incidents. The Australian Terrain Vehicle Assessment Program (ATVAP) consumer safety star rating system has been developed on the basis of a series of tests assessing a vehicle’s static stability, dynamic handling and rollover crashworthiness and is being proposed as a method to reduce these serious and fatal injuries mainly resulting from Quad bike rollovers.

The ATVAP objective is to introduce a robust, test based rating system, in order to provide consumer based incentives for informed, safer and appropriate vehicle purchase, highlighting ‘Fit For Purpose’ criteria, with corresponding incentives and competition amongst the Quad-bike and SSV industry for improved designs and models. This paper presents an overview of the testing basis on which the proposed rating system was developed.