Concern grows over safety of quad bikes on islands
Concern is growing over a significant number of accidents, some of them fatal, involving all-terrain vehicles (ATV), or quad bikes, a popular mode of transport among tourists on the islands, amid lax enforcement of rules relating to their rental.
Renting an ATV requires a car license, however many business owners agree to rent them to tourists with a simple motorcycle license. Moreover, the law obliges industry professionals to renew their road licenses every year, but many fail to do so.
On Mykonos, in the first 10 days of August, traffic police officers issued 56 fines to companies that had not renewed their licenses for renting ATVs for more than eight years. Lax maintenance was also a problem – in some cases, ATV tires had not been changed since 2003.
In the summer of 2019, 48 tourists were injured in accidents on the Aegean islands involving ATVs, three fatally. This year, one person has died and at least 10 have been injured.
