A number of councils have announced their decision to use quad bikes to clear our roads of ice this winter.
Cambridge County Council is planning to make use of quad bikes, combined with a brine sprayer, to help keep the town’s cycleways and footpaths clear of ice this winter. Also, it was announced last month, a similar decision has been taken to utilise quad bikes in north east Wales. Wrexham will be using quad bikes fitted with gritting units to salt town centre and shopping areas in surrounding villages. Furthermore East Riding council in Yorkshire has just added two quad bikes existing pair, for use in treatment of footpaths with grit.
This news of the quad bike’s role in battling the elements is also a tribute to the remarkable versatility of the quad bike. Most usually associated with fun days in the countryside, riding over hilly, muddy terrain, quad bikes have, in the past two decades, been proving themselves as rugged, highly flexible working vehicles.
Quad bikes have a big role to play, for instance, on farms, helping with transportation of livestock, or bulky equipment, herding, and simply getting the farm worker from A to B.
In Lancashire, for instance, one of the rural hubs of the UK, you will be just as likely to find farmers buying quad bikes as you would racing enthusiasts.
These farmers, who have come to respect the quad bike as a versatile all-terrain vehicle (ATV) would not be in the least surprised at the role these vehicles are likely to play on the nation’s streets this winter.