Two recent fatal crashes in Australia prove that wire rope barriers (WRBs) are not only a danger to motorcyclists, but also other motorists, says a long-time campaigner against the structures.
Damien Codognotto says a fatal motorcycle crash in Perth during last weekend’s Christmas Toy Run and an SUV double fatal southwest of Brisbane last month could have been affected by WRBs.
He says the female rider died after hitting a WRB that appeared to fence off a run-off area.
“In my opinion, road authorities know how deadly WRB is and they know run-off areas save lives,” Damien says.
In the 4WD crash, the car was slung across the road on a causeway and into another wire rope barrier which failed to stop the car from plunging into Wyaralong Dam, drowning two children.
“If the Wyaralong Dam causeway had had properly anchored smooth concrete barriers instead of wire rope barriers, the children may have survived,” Damien says.
The auditor’s report found there was no evidence to support the claimed safety benefits for motorcyclists and scooter riders.
Damien says that if road authorities ad relevant ministers are not aware of the safety shortcomings of WRBs, “they should not be in their taxpayer-funded jobs”.
“Again, in my opinion, the CEO of the road authority and the Minister responsible for the road authority are guilty of manslaughter when someone dies on a WRB,” he says.
De also points out that police rarely identify barrier types in crash reports “so there is no way of knowing the real wire rope barrier toll”.
Emergency call systems are coming to motorcycles and helmets with a French company the latest to release a helmet that calls for help if you crash.
The Kosmos Smart Helmet has sensors which detect a crash and then uses your paired phone and a proprietary app to contact emergency services.
However, just in case you’ve only had a small fall or dropped your helmet, the system first contacts the rider to check.
If the rider doesn’t respond to cancel within a certain time, the emergency call is placed and provides details on the riders location as well as relevant health information.
It’s not the first helmet with this technology.
Help helmets
Several other helmets that call for help after a crash are also being developed.
These emergency call systems have been available in cars for some time and are now mandated throughout Europe with motorcycles and possibly helmets expected to be included in the future.
It points out that motorcyclist deaths have remained stable in major cities over the past decade, but increased in regional and remote Australia by up to almost 50% in recent years.
BMW Motorrad was the first motorcycle company to offer an SOS button in Europe.
The Bosch system uses an “intelligent crash algorithm installed in the vehicle’s inertial sensor unit” to identify a crash via the various sensors such as an accelerometer and lean sensor.
It pairs with their Help Connect phone app to send your location to a Bosch Service Centre.
In a tragic end to 2019, a 22-year-old male rider has died in a late-night crash in Sydney’s Royal National Park while on a group ride.
NSW Police say the accident occurred at 10pm on Monday (30 December 2019) on Lady Wakehurst Drive at Lilyvale, in the Royal National Park.
“Police have been told a group of motorcyclists were travelling north when the bike left the road and struck a road sign,” they say.
The rider died at the scene.
Officers from Wollongong Police District established a crime scene and commenced an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the crash.
Inquiries continue, and a report will be prepared for the information of the Coroner.
Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000 or https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au. Information is treated in strict confidence. The public is reminded not to report crime via NSW Police social media pages.
Our sincere condolences to the rider’s family and friends.
Night riders
Night riding can be fun, but it is also more dangerous for a host of reasons.
Stories about helmet safety and legalities, Arlen Ness and Charley Boorman, road rules, crashes, lane filtering and a big-bore kit attracted the most interest from our readers in 2019.
With more than 300,000 readers a month, we have a pretty fair idea of what subjects are of interest to our readers.
So we have compiled a list of the most read stories from our website in 2019.
Top stories of 2019
1 Sticker fine
Our readers love stories about riders winning over an injustice.
Ian Joice told us the external certification sticker had the word “VOID” across it from age and sun damage while the internal label was faded due to wear.
We reckon it proves that riders can legally remove the external sticker so long as the internal label is still there, no matter what condition it’s in.
2 Lane filtering
ACT police finally nabbed this driver for road rage
Sadly, iconic American motorcycle customiser and cool dude Arlen Ness died, aged 79, in March.
There must be a lot of riders out there who admire his work, ride bikes with paintwork designed or inspired by him, own some of his accessories, or wear some of his riding gear.
In November we also lost Luigi Termignoni, aged 75, the founder of eponymous motorcycle exhaust company. Our glowing obituary was also one of our most popular stories, although not in the top 10.
4 Helmet safety
Anything to do with helmet safety usually rates high.
Cop injured under new speed rule crash police emergency 40km/h
Most riders seem to believe they are in danger of being rear-ended under the rule in some states that requires motorists to slow to 40km/h when passing emergency vehicles (25km/h in South Australia).
Meanwhile, the transport department that failed to disqualify his and other drivers’ licences for similar offences has been overhauled and the boss sacked.
Rider trainer Tony Gallagher says he watched as his 2001 Kawasaki ZRX1200R sank into thin bitumen and fall over in a Crows Nest main street parking bay.
It wasn’t a hot day, either, just faulty bitumen. It’s since been fixed, but Tony is still out of pocket for damage.
But this time they would be riding Harley-Davidson LiveWire electric motorcycles!
Two weeks ago the pair completed the journey. From your interest in our articles about the trip, you will be keen to find out when the TV series airs. Stay tuned and we will to keep you updated!
9 T-boner
Lane filtering has made commuting safer and more enjoyable. Any articles we publish about the lane filtering rules is always well received.
S&S Cycles big bore kit for Royal Enfield 650 camshaft-kit-royal-enfield-650
There has been a lot of interest in the Royal Enfield 650cc parallel twins.
So when American engine giant S&S announced a big-bore kit, the article shot into our top 10, although that could be because there are millions of Indians who love the brand!
5 perennial favourite stories
As well as the news articles that emerged this year, there are older articles that continually rate among our readers.
A Californian rider has been awarded a $US21.5m (about $A31.5m) payout for injuries suffered when a Kia Optima illegally left the carpool lane and jettisoned his bike across three lanes into a truck.
The fiery crash in February 2018 left rider Matthew Rada with “catastrophic” injuries that ended his career as a graphic artist.
GoPro video from another rider was used as evidence in the LA Court.
The verdict against the driver and his employer may yet be appealed.
However, it dwarfs a payout earlier this year to a North Carolina Harley rider.
He was awarded $US4m (almost $A6m) after a crash with a driver who failed to yield right-of-way.
The 29-year-old rider was travelling about 15mph (about 24km/h) when he was struck by a vehicle that accelerated away from a stop sign without seeing the motorcycle.
America is renowned for its excessive compensation payouts, mainly due to high medical costs.
According to a study by US Jury Verdict Research, theaverage motorcycle accident verdict is about $A560,000 and the median verdict award just over $US70,000.
Crash payout
In Australia, payouts for motor vehicle crashes are a lot less and rarely over $1m.
Compensation can be determined by a number of factors.
They include physical and mental injuries, the rider’s age, hospital expenses, on-going medical costs, pain and suffering, motorcycle damage and loss of earnings.
A radio jock has called for a motorcycle ban on Melbourne’s Monash Freeway after a fatality that police have already blamed on the rider, even before any crash investigation.
The accident happened about 8am today (February 6, 2019) near the Blackburn Road on-ramp.
Media reports already claim the rider was “lane splitting at speed”, hit a couple of cars and ended up under the wheels of a truck. The as-yet unnamed rider tragically died at the scene.
The Motorcycle Riders Association of Victoria immediately called on police to stop giving opinions on road crashes to the media before a proper crash investigation and on Mitchell to “stop vilifying riders”.
“Police at bike crash sites often give opinions on causes to the media,” says MRA Victoria spokesman Damien Codognotto.
“They do this before any real science can be done. Preempting the coroner/court is not tolerated in other crashes or crimes.”
He says the radio shock jock needs to recognise that motorcycle and scooter riders are “legitimate, environmentally-friendly road users who more than pay their way”.
“As electric bikes become the norm numbers of two-wheelers will continue to grow,” he says.
“It behoves community voices like Mitchel to promote harmony on our roads, not hate”.
Shepherds Australia Foundation cofounder Dean Marks says there is too much comment in the media before the “appropriate facts” are investigated.
“What should be reported is the collision, outcome and that the matter is under investigation.
“Until complete, it would be unfair and unreasonable to make further comment.
“We are constantly seeing the cart before the horse which forces people into sides before any investigation has been undertaken.”
Riders have been calling for proper analysis of motorcycle crashes for years, rather than relying on incomplete and hastily concluded crash investigations by police.
Last year, the Victorian La Trobe University unveiled a plan to create a national road trauma research hub at its Bendigo campus, in a bid to reduce Australia’s regional road toll.
This was welcomed by rider representatives.
However, efforts to check on the progress of the plan have failed. Riders groups claim it may have just been a media stunt to attract funding.
Meanwhile, the Victorian Motorcycle Expert Advisory Panel has not sat since before the state election.
Victorian motorcycle campaigner and former No 1 member of the Motorcycle Riders Association of Australia Rodney Brown says the current motorcycle death rate makes it vital the committee meets soon.
He has contacted new Roads Minister Jaala Pulford urging the government to “start talking to the motorcycle community to gather overall feedback and act upon it”.
