Tag Archives: road safety

Ducati rider dies after collision

A 37-year-old Ducati rider has died after a collision with a Subaru Outback in Sydney’s Inner West just after 5pm yesterday (20 June 2019).

Police say the motorcycle and station wagon collided at the intersection of Old Canterbury Road and Dixson Avenue, Dulwich Hill.

The male motorcyclist was treated at the scene by NSW Ambulance paramedics before being taken to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, where he later passed away.

Our condolences to his family and friends.

The 44-year-old female driver of the Subaru station wagon was uninjured and taken to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital for mandatory testing.

Officers from Inner West Police Area Command attended and established a crime scene, which will be examined by specialist police from the Crash Investigation Unit.

A report will be prepared for the information of the Coroner. That is expected to take some time, so no charges may be laid until the coroner’s report is finalised.

Investigators are appealing for anyone who may have witnessed the incident and left the scene before speaking with police, or who may have dashcam footage, to urgently contact Marrickville Police Station on (02) 9568 9299 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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.

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

Road repairs diverted to fix wire ropes

If riders needed another reason to reject wire rope barriers, it could be the fact that VicRoads has diverted road repair funds to fixing damaged barriers.

Riders have long been divided on whether WRBs are dangerous or not.

The Australian Motorcycle Council view is that they are not dangerous if placed correctly and not on corners. They also say they are cheaper so more funds can be devoted to safer barriers such as lower rub rails.

However, thousands disagree and have signed a petition to halt the rollout in Victoria.

The petition was launched last year by Liberal MP Richard Riordan (Polwarth) at the request of widow Jan White. Her husband , Phil, was killed when his Harley hit a kangaroo on the Calder Highway in November 2017. He was thrown from his bike and hit the WRBs, knocking down four posts.

CLICK HERE if you want to the sign the anti-WRB petition. (You don’t have to live in Victoria to sign the petition. Anyone who rides in Victoria can sign.)

Funds diverted

Bad Roads Rally roadworks potholes Victoria road hazards bump diverted
Rural Victorian road

Now Richard has exposed that VicRoads diverted taxpayer funds from country road repairs to fix damaged wire rope barriers.

Motorcycle Riders Association of Victoria spokesman Damien Codognotto says that as well as safety concerns, wire rope barriers come at a high maintenance cost.

“Wire rope barriers have a shorter working life and are much more easily damaged than w-beam steel or concrete barriers,” he says.

“VicRoads has publicly admitted that more than 3000 repairs had to be done on wire rope barrier in a year.

“Each repair requires a truck, special tools spare parts and a trained crew of at least two. It has to be the most expensive barrier type ever used in Victoria.

“VicRoads and TAC believed their own hype and spent $ billions on wire rope barrier. They did not budget for the repair costs.”

He says the result is that money was “quietly diverted” from fixing rural roads and keeping them in safe condition to cover their “financial/safety blunder”.

Meanwhile, the State Government has only budgeted $425 million allocated to fixing rural roads this financial year and there is now talk of reducing the country speed limit to 80km/h.

Safety concerns

Damien says safety concerns about wire rope barriers were vindicated by a crash last week on the Monash Freeway where a small SUV flatted the barriers and hit a concrete bridge.

“The wire rope barrier was placed specifically placed to stop cars hitting the bridge,” he says.

“It failed. Four people went to hospital. One critical. The car was destroyed. The freeway was closed during the morning traffic peak period.

“How much did all that cost?

“Time and again the media records wire rope barrier not performing as promoted by VicRoads and TAC. People are getting hurt and killed.”

He says barrier crashes such as on the Monash Freeway, are generally not recorded in VicPol accident reports.

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

BMW riders still wait on SOS call

Australian riders will have to wait for possibly life-saving motorcycle SOS functions as Telstra does not yet have the right hardware.

Last year, BMW offered the SOS button either as as an ex-factory or aftermarket option on their K1600 models.

However, it is not available in Australia because of an eCall hardware update and the lack of a nationwide rollout.

A BMW Motorrad Australia spokeswoman said the company is “currently working on updating the function with new hardware that will be rolled out globally”.  

“Several countries, including Australia, are currently under evaluation for the rollout using the new hardware,” she says.

“We are analysing and evaluating the local conditions, technical requirements and various partnerships who need to be involved for this emergency feature. 

“We don’t yet have a confirmed date when SOS emergency button will be effective as it’s not only relying on BMW technology but the business chain of services required from third party organisations.”

SOS button

BMW's SOS button
BMW’s SOS button

SOS buttons or eCall systems have been available in cars for some time and have now been mandated throughout Europe.

It is expected it may be mandated on motorcycles in the future.

The button alerts the emergency services and provides GPS co-ordinates of the rider’s position.

It is also connected to various sensors on the bike to detect whether the rider has crashed.

In that case, the button will activate automatically without having to push it.

That’s a great safety feature for solo riders who may spear off the road into the bush and not be found for some time.

However, if you have a small shunt and the sensors recognise you have crashed, the system waits 25 seconds so the rider can cancel before the SOS call is made.

Emergency first-aid apps
Emergency+ first-aid app

The button can also be used to alert emergency services of other serious situations such as another vehicle crash, bushfire or other emergency.

It includes a small speaker and microphone near the button to talk to the call centre and explain the type of emergency and what assistance is needed.

Civil libertarians may be horrified by fears that a BMW call centre is able to track their every movement.

However, some riders might believe the safety features outweigh those concerns.

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

Why the resistance to driver training?

Despite motorcycle riders calling for more driver training and awareness of riders, authorities continue to resist for a variety of reasons.

Riders believe better trained drivers would be more aware of them and rules such as lane filtering, making their ride safer.

However, politicians and authorities usually reject driver training as being expensive, promoting hooning and unfair for people in remote areas who would have difficulty accessing further training.

Longtime rider advocate John Nelson points out other erroneous arguments in the article “The effectiveness of driver training as a road safety measure” by former VicRoads officer Ron Christie which appeared in the RACV magazine Royal Auto.

Basically it says that there is no empirical evidence that advanced training reduces crashes or makes drivers better or changes their behaviour. You can read the full report here.

Since there is no research into how motorcycle awareness and education about lane filtering affects drivers, there is also no evidence that shows it doesn’t affect behaviour and skills.

John says motorcycle awareness should be trialled it to see if it does have benefits.

Driver training agendaMotorcycle car blind spot safety crash driver training

“I am sure (Ron) was paid a handsome sum for this article to support the VicRoads agenda and silence and oppose advocacy of driver education,” he says.

“He had his finger in the pie with the statement that Vicroads will not do anything that could be construed as encouraging motorcycles.  He hates bikes and change.  

“There is a big difference between driver training and driver education.  We are all taught the three Rs in schools.  Why not driver education?  

“Attitudes, discipline, behaviour and knowledge are not taught to those who want to drive.  All they are taught is to pass the license test.”

John points out that teachers are required to have a university degree before teaching kids, but parents and driver instructors aren’t.

“The government seems hell bent on enforcement and revenue over education,” he says.  

“If a lot more road users behaved and complied with speed limits and other popular traffic offences there would be a short fall in the Victorian Budget.  

“Victoria has factored in $400 million into the ‘19-‘20 budget.  If there is a major drop in traffic related revenue the government would look at other means of raising that short fall.  It is a vicious circle.”

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

MotoBrite sign for roadside breakdowns

Welsh invention MotoBrite increases the visibility of motorcycles broken down at the side of the road at night or in fog with its high-density LED hazard warning sign.

The hazard sign is hidden underneath the number plate and can quickly be deployed in an emergency situation.

It would be much more noticeable than motorcycle hazard lights, especially in foggy conditions. That’s probably why Welsh road safety innovation company, Road Safety Designs, thought of it first!

Over the past year, Road Safety Designs has established distribution networks in countries such as Australia, Dubai and Mexico.

It will now use these relationships to take its latest product to the international market.

However, company spokeswoman Claire Saralis says they currently only have the one big size to fit British motorcycle number plates.

“But if demand for different sizes was there, this is certainly something we would consider,” she says.

Obviously an Australian adaptation would have to be much smaller. We can’t see any reason why it would contravene any rules.

Visible MotoBrite signMotobrite hazard sign

MotoBrite is visible up to 300m away in daylight and at night.

Road Safety Designs boss and MotoBrite designer Steve Wornham started the company after he narrowly avoided hitting a stranded motorist changing a tyre on a poorly lit road.

“We have now made it our mission to prevent this, or worse from happening again,” he says. 

“There were a number of factors to consider during the design process, the main one being limitation of storage on a motorcycle.

“Designing something that would be a permanent fixture on the motorcycle seemed to be the best solution, and being battery powered meant that the MotoBrite would not depend on the motorcycle as its power source.”

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

Sydney tests recycled concrete road

Riders concerned about road surfaces and maintenance may be interested in a test Sydney City Council is running with concrete made with recycled material.

Council has installed a short 30m test section consisting of 15m of traditional concrete and 15m of recycled “geopolymer” on Wyndham Street, Alexandria, a heavy use road to the airport.

The geopolymer material is made using industrial waste from coal-fired power stations and steel factories mixed with concrete.

Council seems more concerned about scoring greenie points with their recycling, but riders will be more interested in its traction and wear capabilities.

Concrete concerns

We asked council whether it had been tested for suitability for two-wheeled vehicles, given riders are the most concerned about road surfaces of any road user.

A City of Sydney spokesperson assured us the surface of geopolymer “is just like traditional concrete”.

While concrete usually has good traction in the dry, it can be slippery in the wet.

However, the spokesperson says the road pavement of the Wyndham St trial has been “broom finished”.

Concrete road surface
Workers pour the geopolymer concrete (Image: City of Sydney)

“This finish allows for small ridges in the pavement that increases traction, meaning bike riders’ braking and steering controls are not compromised,” she says.

Depending on how it is laid and the materials used, concrete is often considered longer lasting with better traction (at least in the dry), but also noisier and more expensive.

The latter is the main reason it is not used more extensively.

Use of recycled materials makes concrete a more attractive proposition.

However, concrete is also laid in slabs which can shift and create ridges between them that can destabilise a motorcycle.

In this case, the road is already made of slabs.

Uni monitors

Nine sensors have been positioned under the surface to monitor and compare how the geopolymer material performs.

UNSW Sydney researchers will monitor the road performance for up to five years.

Professor Stephen Foster, Head of School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, describes the trial as “a huge step forward” but he is talking about the recycling component.

“This trial will help drive step change in the industry. Many concrete companies are already doing a lot to change, but this trial really gives it another push,” Professor Foster says.

“Research into geopolymer has been undertaken since the ‘90s, but it’s only now that it’s starting to be commercialised. 

“While we’ll monitor the road performance for up to five years, a lot of the data collected in the first three to 12 months of this world-first trial will be used to confirm our models and strengthen our predictions.”

Geopolymer is made from fly ash and blast furnace slag and generates 300kg of CO2 per tonne of cement, compared with the 900kg from traditional cement production.

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

Education most important road safety strategy

A clear majority of road users believe education is the most important road safety strategy, according to a preliminary review of a major survey on attitudes to road safety strategies.

Survey author Dr João Canoquena of the University of Notre Dame Australia says it is too early to reach conclusions from the survey.

“Road maintenance was mostly associated with motorcycle rider safety,” he says.

“Nearly half (47%) of the mentions of this road safety strategy were associated with motorcycle rider safety.

“Likewise, advertising of safety driving was more associated with motorcycle rider than any other road user group. In fact, 57% of the mentions of this strategy were linked with motorcycle rider safety.”

Volunteers needed

SA considers increasing rider ages education
We need you!

João says motorcycle riders dominated the survey after Motorbike Writer called for riders to ensure their voices were heard when transport authorities draft safety strategies.

Now João needs your help again.

He is seeking three volunteers to help him go through the results to rate the road safety options.

“We have collected over 800 safety strategy responses, divided into five categories (motorcycle rider safety, scooter rider safety, cyclist safety, pedestrian safety and car occupant safety),” Joao says.

“For a journal publication, I need to have the safety responses rated by at least two more people.”

João explains that rating involves placing the 800+ responses into categories such as education, training, enforcement etc. 

Volunteers will need some patience, commitment and Excel software to fill in the ratings.

You can volunteer by contacting João by clicking here and sending him an email.

Education wins in initial results

While the results are yet to be properly rated, an early reading of the results show that a clear majority of road users believe education is the most important road safety strategy.

Road safety strategies

Cyclist

Motorcyclist

Pedestrian

Scooter rider

Passenger

Total

Advertising of safety driving

0

8

1

3

2

14

Alcohol and drug testing

0

3

2

2

10

17

Distracted driving law enforcement

1

3

16

10

17

47

Driver and rider training

0

23

14

31

26

94

Graduated licensing schemes

0

7

1

7

2

17

In-vehicle technology

0

9

2

8

11

30

Lane filtering

0

10

1

6

0

17

Law enforcement

0

1

5

4

5

15

Mandatory helmet laws

4

10

0

12

3

29

Motorcycle-friendly road design

0

17

0

10

0

27

Pedestrian crossing rules

0

0

21

1

0

22

Pedestrian distraction awareness

0

0

26

0

0

26

Protective and reflective clothing

0

15

0

22

0

37

Regulation of vehicle equipment

0

5

0

0

36

41

Road maintenance

0

11

0

4

8

23

Safety road design

0

4

7

1

15

27

Speed limit management

0

7

33

12

7

59

Traffic separation

59

1

0

1

0

61

Total

64

134

129

134

142

603

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

Speed enforcement causes herd mentality

Years of rigid speed enforcement have created a herd mentality that could be just as dangerous as having high-speed lunatics in our midst.

Over the past 20 years, traffic in our nation has been beaten into submission by the heavy handed use of speed cameras and police patrols.

The road safety rhetoric has changed from the dangers of hooning to the dangers of even being 1km/h over the limit.

The latest Queensland Transport road safety campaign is about driving “smarter” not faster.

It says that “half of all speeding crashes happen at just 1 to 10km/h over the limit”.

Of course most accidents happen at that speed, because most people now drive within 10km/h of the speed limit!

Herd mentalityHow to ride safely in heavy traffic lane filtering herd

With everyone driving within 10km/h of each other, it takes vehicles ages to pass slower traffic.

We also have a breed of arrogant motorists who think it is ok to hog the right lane because they are doing the maximum legal speed.

Consequently, our highways and major multi-lane roads have a constant herd of motorists travelling in all lanes at roughly the same, legal speed.

But has it created an even and orderly flow of traffic that delivers motorists safely to their destination?

No.

The road toll is still too high, traffic snarls are getting worse while road rage and motorist frustration levels are through the roof (if you have one!).

Riders at most danger

How to ride safely in heavy traffic lane filtering peeved commuters lip automatic brakes
Brisbane traffic

While motorcyclists can now avoid some of the snarls and frustration by legally lane filtering, they are also the most vulnerable vehicles in this deadly mix.

Hemmed in by motorists who won’t move over, motorcyclists are in danger of becoming invisible in the traffic.

Clearly the continuing road safety strategy of greater adherence to strict speed limits and frequently changing speed zones is not working.

These strategies only serve to force us to gaze at our speedos instead of the road which means drivers can easily miss a motorcyclist darting through the traffic.

Lane discipline

One effective safety strategy is more lane discipline on multi-lanes roads as practised in Europe.

Why don’t police patrol for drivers illegally hogging the right lane?

And why aren’t trucks (vans, caravans, etc) restricted to the “slow” lane as they do in Europe?

The answer: Because it is easier to deploy speed cameras which generate millions in revenue.

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

Is traction control a key to safety?

The push for mandatory traction control in motorcycles seems to be starting already with a VicRoads safety campaign emphasising it is a key to rider safety.

The campaign features an erroneous online quiz which suggests that traction control will “prevent you from falling off”.

VicRoads is not alone in suggesting traction control and other electronic rider aids are the key to safety.

UNSW Sydney Professor Raphael Grzebieta has suggested every motorcycle should come with an alcohol interlock, ABS and other electronic rider aids, while riders should be “lit up like a Christmas tree”.

So we wonder how long it will be before traction control becomes mandatory on motorcycles.

After all, ABS became mandatory in European and Australian cars in 2003 while electronic stability control (incorporating traction control) became mandatory six years later.

ABS becomes mandatory in November on new motorcycles over 125cc (bikes with lower engine capacities must have either combined brakes systems or ABS), so maybe traction control will follow in six years!

There is already a growing push in Europe for more technologies to be made mandatory in vehicles such as “black box” recorders, automatic braking and even automatic speed limiters.

While the introduction of mandatory hi-tech in motorcycles has not yet been discussed, the examples of emissions controls and ABS show that motorcycles generally eventually follow suit.

Traction controlTattoo throttle hand key

The VicRoads “Always On” motorcycle safety campaign seems to suggest traction control is a key to rider safety.

In its online survey, the first question asks: “If something unexpected happens while you’re riding and you have to brake, which of the following can help prevent you from falling off?”

It provides these answer options: ABS, traction control and stability control or all three.

Their “correct” answer is all three: “ABS stops wheel lock, traction control senses traction loss and stability control monitors the way you’re riding. These technologies work together to keep you on your bike.”

They got one thing (partially) right: ABS does stop wheel lock.

As for whether traction or “stability” control are activated during braking is debatable.

To assess this part of the question, we need to know what they mean by those terms.

In cars, traction control was an early technology that simply cut engine power when the wheels started spinning.

Stability control is a lot more elaborate and involves sensors that detect pitch, roll and yaw, controlling it with a variety of measures that include throttle, brakes and even some steering input.

No motorcycle has true stability control, although some call their traction control “stability” control, even though it’s not.

So VicRoads firstly need to get their terms right. As it is, the mention of stability control is simply confusing.

Also, traction control would not activate under braking unless you are accelerating at the same time.

Key to safety?

But is traction control really the key to motorcycle safety as VicRoads and other safety “experts” suggest?

The idea of traction control is to prevent rear-wheel spin from too much power for the road surface by cutting engine power.

It helps to prevent power slides, but also wheelies and burnouts!

Peeves wheelie advertising key

As a motorcycle journalist, I have experienced traction control on many different motorcycles.

On one early incarnation, it hesitated in identifying the slip and then abruptly stopped the engine power, nearly throwing me over the high side.

However, traction control has improved dramatically and many modern bikes now offer varied controls for varied conditions.

For example, some have an off-road setting that allows some rear-wheel slide before a “soft” cut to the power.

This allows the rider to use power to turn the bike by sliding the tail to a certain degree before intervention.

Traction control will also help prevent slides on wet tarmac or bitumen roads with corrugations or slippery debris.

But it is wrong to think that traction control will prevent crashes.

You can still crash with traction control.

The problem is that if you do crash on a bike with traction control, it will most likely be at higher speeds than if you had no traction control!

Having traction control on your bike may also provide a false sense of confidence that makes riders careless with throttle use.

If traction control were made mandatory, how many manufacturers would simply add a cheap system that could be more dangerous than not having any traction control?

You can guarantee that these cheap systems would be included on the cheaper, learner bikes.

* Should traction control be mandatory on motorcycles? Leave your comments below.

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

Tips for Staying Safe While Riding at Night

(Sponsored post)

Going on a night ride can be a calming and exhilarating experience for any motorcycle enthusiast. The absence of traffic and more quiet surroundings are just some of the reasons why riding at night is worthwhile.

But apart from quiet and open streets, bikers still face considerable risks as the streets go darker and darker. Accidents are more likely to happen during the night, so you will have to be extra careful when they begin their journey at sundown.

For that, let’s take a look at a few practical tips to keep yourself safe and secured.

  1. Check your lights

Perhaps the most important bit of maintenance you should be routinely performing is checking and testing your lights. For this, focus on the headlight and turn signals. Electrical issues can cause these lights to malfunction, so you should be able to check for wiring problems. Most commonly, you will just need to replace the bulbs for when they burn out. The last thing you want as a biker on the roads at night is for people driving a car or truck to be unable to see you.

  1. Keep yourself visible

You could thank street lamps for illuminating your path, but when you’re in certain areas where you’re almost invisible, you might want to make sure that you and your bike are highly visible to other motorists. One option is to install LED lights. You can also wear reflective jackets and pants and add reflective tape to certain parts of your motorcycle. Not only will these approaches help you avoid oncoming traffic, but they will also protect you from the dangers lurking behind every corner.

  1. Drive sober

If driving under the influence during the day is considered dangerous, then a night ride after a few drinks is a deathwish. Many motorcycle accidents are caused by irresponsible riders. Going on a late night drinking spree won’t be all that worthwhile if you’d end up spending the rest of the night in the hospital, or worse. Never give in to the temptation if you really want to get home in one piece. But often, there will be a traffic collision in which you’re not the one who’s intoxicated. Especially if you’re left with major fractures and made to go on an extensive hospital stay, you will need to work with a drunk driving lawyer who can help you get properly compensated after an accident.

  1. Stay alert

Drunk drivers are the only risks you should worry about during a night ride. You also need to be cautious of places where animals cross as well as other obstacles on the road such as open manholes, road bumps, and traffic cones. As a good rule of thumb, you should be able to regulate your speed. Doing so gives you enough time to react on the last minute after spotting an obstruction.

You can’t really avoid going on a night ride where there are too many risks to your safety. But with these tips in mind, you can avoid being another casualty in the dark.

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com