LOntime motorcycle safety activist Damien Codognotto OAM, of the Independent Riders' Group, sent me this note about an article in Melbournes The Sunday Herald Sun. It appeared on Page 13, August 29, 2010.
"NO MORE EASY RIDING"
"....In an overhaul of existing motorcycle licencing, the Brumby Government is considering a stricter testing, training and skills assessment to make it tougher to take to the road on two wheels. ..."
Read the whole antibike propaganda page at heraldsun.com.au . Make a written comment. Several other recent antibike stories are listed on the website. Vote Brumby's state wreckers last this November.
The question is loaded. "Do you agree with the stricter (bike) tests?"
Yes, IF, you bring car drivers up to that standard first, otherwise NO. Car drivers cause most pedestrian, bicycle and motorcycle & scooter injuries even if too many drivers do not stop after a collision or near thing.
The statistics used are false, twisted or at best rubbery. Even the Victorian Motorcycle Advisory Council (VMAC)admits research to base motorcycle & scooter statistics on is virtually non-existent in Victoria.
How's this one for a state where compliance with helmet laws is 99.9%? "...3% were not wearing a helmet." They leave out that our road stats are inflated 40% with 'off-road' figures the 3% are likely cockies crossing from one paddock to another or bush bashers.
And they trot out that utterly bogus TAC tripe that road riders are 38 times more likely to be seriously injured than car drivers. Of course TAC won't let you see the hard data or the methodology used to come to this extraordinary conclusion. I suspect it's from O/S, probably North America. I suspect you could use similar nonsense to show car drivers are 38 times more likely to injure someone else rather than themselves.
The fact is that most pedestrian, bicycle and motorcycle & scooter injuries are caused by car driver error so a small improvement in driver skills and behaviour would result in a significant reduction in vulnerable road user casualties, including fatals. To reduce road trauma, improve drivers. Bring driver skills up to rider skill standards before another crackdown on road riders.
The fact is that in 5 years the number of legitimate road riders in Australia is up over 50%. Casualties are down 25%. Riding a motorcycle or scooter in traffic has never been safer in Victoria.
And powered two-wheelers are good for car drivers. Like bicycles, they cause less pollution, reduce traffic jams and take less car parking space. And they pay as much road tax as a 4WD.
But the antibike culture is rife in the trinity, TAC/Police/VicRoads. And police want their anti-association laws so any vilification of riders is fine with a lot of them. "With 34 motorbike fatalities on Victorian roads so far this year, 12 more than in 2009, Victoria Police Supt Neville Taylor said the death rate of motorbike riders was "a real issue' ..." Of course it's a real issue just as who's killing and injuring them is a (bigger) real issue.
But the numbers are too small to be statistically real. Twelve more dead in 2010 is a fact but if 40% were off-road (Victorian Accident Surveillance Unit at Monash) maybe 4 of these deaths should not be included so the propaganda seems more credible. And the increase may be an aberration, some could be due to the increase in kilometres travelled or riders out there or wet roads after the ten-year drought? we won't know because they won't do good research.
Think I'm over-reacting? the Herald Sun would have done its' homework and got this lot right? Well how about this? "... They also allow a person to complete learner and licence tests on an automatic motorcycle, often a motor scooter with an engine capacity up to 250cc ..." Hello! Anyone tell them about LAMs? If they got this very basic, well publicised fact wrong, what else is crook at the Sun Hun. This story is not about road safety, it's about bikie bashing, even if you are a commuter on a scooter.
One thing I know is a fact, under the Bracks/Brumby governments the antibike culture in the trinity has come to the fore. The motorcycle community has copped a decade of kicking. The priority has been enforcement, restriction and tax.
Motorcycle & scooter riders can't afford any more Brumby.
http://www.gopetition.com.au/petitions/abolish-tac-antibike-tax.html
Okay, me again. Whether you agree with Damien or not you need to take his comments seriously; he’s identifying a real and present danger to us all. Yes, the rest of Australia might well follow Victoria (and it could be argued that Queensland is already well ahead). So what are we going to do about all this? Your comments are welcome.
Peter “The Bear” Thoeming
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Comments
This increase alone helps debunk the stats. While I've been riding continuously 42 years, these days I'm easily riding three times the kilometres I travelled in my early twenties.
I suspect that's true for most of us.
Offroad accidents also skew the stats.
But the greatest issue, as noted, is drivers' lack of awareness. It's not _all_ about visibility. I've had a woman look me right in the eye... then turn right across my path... knowing that I'd brake and give way to her.
The penalties for crossing right across a rider's path... bringing the rider down... are laughable. This is the first issue Australian governments need to address.