A rider representative group fears that a Victorian Road Toll Increase Inquiry (RTII) report will vilify riders with inaccurate representations of the danger of riding.
This follows recent police media reports in most states that point out the increase in rider deaths this year but have so far failed to acknowledge the dramatic rise in new and used motorcycle sales in the past year.
The Motorcycle Riders Association of Australia has issued the graph below based on Australian Bureau of Statistics and Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics data which shows motorcycle and scooter fatalities decreasing over the past 10 years.
The RTII report and recommendations to be tabled on Thursday, March 25, 2021, are expected to present “rubbery figures … obviously put together by non-riders”.
The report will available by clicking here on Thursday.
An MRAQ press release says the Traffic Accident Commission has been reporting that riders make up 1% of road traffic but 19% of all road user deaths.
And with second-hand motorcycle sales not included in the data, the rider proportion could be much higher.
Deakin University motorcycle safety researcher Dr Liz de Rome has been claiming for years that motorcycles make up about 4% of motor vehicles.
If you count unregistered motorcycles, the percentage of motorcycles in traffic must be higher. “TAC figures are unreliable,” the MRAQ says.
“TAC figures make riding motorcycles look more dangerous than it is.
“These rubbery figures may mean the people putting them together are incompetent, or it may be the anti motorcycle culture in road authorities showing itself.
“No system develops reliable countermeasures to road trauma without reliable traffic/crash data.
“RSV/TACs use of rubbery figures to justify spending and policies that have speed limits reduced and costly wire rope barriers installed while roads are dangerously neglected.”
You can report information about crime anonymously to Crime Stoppers, a registered charity and community volunteer organisation, via crimestoppersqld.com.au 24hrs per day.
It follows a tragic 24 hours on NSW roads with a rider dying late Wednesday after hitting a truck in Port Macquarie and another hitting a police car after being spotted on the wrong side of the road with the lights off about 2.30am on Thursday at Tuggerah Lakes.
The latter incident will be investigated by an independent review and information provided to the Coroner.
Anyone with information about these NSW incidents is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000 or https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au.
Our sincere condolences to the riders’ families and friends.
A police report that claims riders of high-powered motorbikes are over-represented in the crash statistics demonises riders as “thrill seekers” and is “absolutely meaningless”.
Victorian Motorcycle Council media spokesman John Eacott says the scant Victorian Police assessment of crash statistics is “akin to claiming that more blue cars crash than white cars”.
Victoria Police compiled crash data for the Melbourne News Ltd paper, Herald Sun, which showed that 27 out of 67 deaths in 2017 and 2018 involved bikes bigger than 1000cc. About 10% of crash police reports did not detail engine capacity.
Another 28 riders died in the 500-1000cc category while riders of bikes under 500cc had fewer deaths but sustained more injuries.
The crash data did not include any information about the increase in motorcycle licences or motorcycle registrations, although bikes under 500cc are 37% of registrations and 18% of fatals in 2017/18, according to VicRoads.
Stats furphy
John also points out that there are no statistics kept in Victoria to equate accidents with the kilometres travelled by any type of bike.
“As with the mythical ‘returning rider’ (which still remains undefined and therefore without evidence based stats) this is another furphy,” he says.
The report that “cherry picked statistics” only served to demonise riders, he says.
The “Hun” sought comment on the cops’ report from Stuart Newstead of the Monash University Accident Research Centre who declared riders are “thrill seekers”.
John rejected the “emotive” comment that demonises riders as a poor reflection on MUARC with no supporting evidence-based data.
We have contacted transport departments in several states for relevant statistics to show the full picture that includes registrations, engine sizes, crashes, etc.
However, they say it will take several days or even weeks to collate the data.
We will advise when we have received the full picture.
Riders and drivers warned
Meanwhile, in the wake of a recent spate of fatal crashes in Queensland, RACQ spokesperson Lauren Ritchie has issued a warning not only to riders but also drivers.
“Riders don’t have the same level of physical protection as drivers and sadly they’ll always come off second best so it’s important they’re taking precautions like riding to conditions and wearing all their safety gear,” she says.
“It’s critical riders don’t ride beyond their capabilities because when things go wrong on the road, there’s little room for error.”
However, Ms Ritchie adds that drivers also must play a part in keeping motorcyclists safe.
“Motorists can make simple adjustments to their driving like taking the time to look specifically for motorcycles and being vigilant in checking their mirrors or over their shoulder when changing lanes. Those extra seconds looking could save a life.”
“Local police will look at problematic locations and particular patterns in bad driver behaviour and target accordingly,” he says.
“This gives us our best chance to influence drivers across the whole state.”
“We see first-hand time and time again the devastation experienced by the victims’ families, as well as our first responders directly because of road trauma.
“Enough is enough and action needs to be taken. Every time a motorist sees police on the road it is a reminder to follow the roads rules.
“We have seen increased motorist compliance from road rule enforcement, so we will have additional police in the community to make this happen.
“The community can’t continue with their current driving habits as it is ultimately killing friends, family, and loved ones.”
Victoria Police will target both road and off-road motorcyclists this Labour Day long weekend in the annual Operation Arid.
Extra police resources, including 10 more “booze and drug buses”, will be deployed in priority areas, including Wangaratta/Benalla, Yarra Ranges, Geelong/ Moorabool, Glen Eira and Greater Dandenong.
The operation runs from 12.01am tomorrow (8 March 2019) to 11.59pm Monday (11 March).
Road Policing Command Assistant Commissioner Stephen Leane says they will pay particular attention to road and off-road riders because of the record number of deaths so far this year.
However, Police say they will not just target motorcyclists, but all motorists.
“We especially urge motorcyclists and country road users to do everything in their power to make themselves as safe as possible as these groups make up 80 per cent of our lives lost this year,” Assistant Commissioner Leane said.
“Please just slow down and drive to the conditions. It doesn’t take much; plan your journey, don’t drink if you’re going to drive, and take that extra few minutes to drive at a speed that is appropriate to the conditions you are travelling in.”
“All too often we accept fatal crashes as a normal thing that just happens on long weekends.
“Well I am saying one person is too many, let alone the 59 lives lost this year.
“The only acceptable number is zero, so we need the community to assist in ensuring that this weekend is safe for everyone.”
Ambitious road toll targets, such as the improbable Vision Zero campaign, create unrealistic expectations that only serve to goad politicians into knee-jerk responses.
They usually consist of lower speed limits and crackdowns on motorcyclists who are over-over-represented in the statistics.
So it comes as no surprise that Australia is not on target to meet its ambitious National Road Safety Strategy road toll objective, agreed to by all state and territory governments in 2011.
They include a special federal Cabinet position for road safety, relevant bureaucratic support, government recognition of road safety and a $3 billion-a-year road safety fund.
All commendable recommendations.
However, they also ridiculously advocate Vision Zero targets by 2050.
Rider concerns
Among the 12 recommendations are two insidious references to issues that should send a shiver down the spine of many motorists, in particular motorcyclists.
One is to “implement rapid deployment and accelerated uptake of proven vehicle safety technologies and innovation”.
This could mean mandating technologies such as automatic emergency brakes in motorcycles.
He recommends 80km/h on some highways and 30km/h in CBD streets.
Together with the AAA’s recommendation, this could be the impetus governments need to drop speeds.
Crash data
The inquiry into the NRSS does not recommend better crash data which is still largely in the hands of untrained police, rather than specific crash investigators.
Motorcycle Council of NSW (MCCNSW) chairman Steve Pearce says proper crash investigation would reveal the real causes of motorcycle crashes and help prevent further accidents and deaths.
A 2012 Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry documented the lack of reliable crash data and recommended a road crash data authority be set up independent of VicPol/VicRoads/TAC.
Motorcycle Riders Association of Victoria spokesman Damien Codognotto says that “while we base road trauma countermeasures on unreliable, inadequate crash data we will get unreliable, inadequate countermeasures”.
Crash data for motorcyclists is not as bad as many police and the mainstream media would have us believe.
The AAA’s inquiry found there were 191 motorcyclist deaths on Australian roads over the past 12 months compared with 242 the previous year which is a decrease of 21.1%.
Meanwhile, cyclist fatalities increased 80%.
So rather than a crackdown on motorcyclists, let’s have a crackdown on riders who flout road rules.
The road safety expert who advocates wire rope barriers, lower speed limits and mandatory hi-vis vests for riders, and alcohol interlocks and electronic rider aids on bikes has been honoured with a special award.
UNSW Sydney Professor Raphael Grzebieta has been honoured with the 2019 Kenneth A Stonex award in recognition of his lifetime contribution to reducing run-off-road injuries and transport deaths worldwide.
“In other words, any changes to current designs of road barriers will have almost no effect on reducing rider fatalities and serious injuries,” he says.
Prof honoured
Professor Raphael Grzebieta
The annual Stonex award was presented by the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s Transportation Research Board’s (TRB’s) Roadside Safety Design Committee AFB20.
It honoured the Prof for “identifying the leading causes of roadside fatalities and injuries and developing mitigation techniques using full-scale crash testing and computer simulation”.
WRB supporter
The Professor says he has “long advocated for installing nation-wide wire-rope barriers”.
“When wire-rope barriers are installed with rumble strips on rural roads, there is an 80 to 90% reduction in fatalities and serious injuries,” he says. Sweden halved their fatalities when they installed these barrier systems in 2000.
“Victoria has now installed 1200km of wire-rope barriers on rural roads to reduce their rising fatality count in 2016. They just recorded their lowest ever road fatality count (in 2018).
“Other states and in particular NSW are still lagging behind terribly. They are simply not investing the same scale of money to have a real effect on deaths and serious injuries.”
Victoria’s road toll in 2018 was 214, compared with 259 in 2017 and 290 in 2016 when they started installing wire-rope barriers, he says.
The Prof says the barriers have been controversial with motorcyclists because of misinformation.
They have also supported a petition by widow Jan White, whose husband, Phil, aged 60, died when his bike unavoidably hit a dead kangaroo on a 110km/h slightly sweeping bend of the Calder Highway in Victoria on November 5, 2017.
Phil and Jan White
Phil hit four support poles on the WRBs next to the road.
Prof Grzebieta helped launch a $1 million project examining motorcycle impacts into roadside barriers and how motorcyclists could be better protected in collisions, particularly with W-beam barriers.
“We disproved all of the myths promulgated by motorcyclists, providing strong support for continued installation of these lifesaving barrier systems,” he says.
“Sweden saw a 40 to 60% reduction in motorcycle fatalities.”
However, WRBs are banned in Belgium and Norway, not supported by the Netherlands government and have never been used in Germany or other European countries, except Poland, Iceland, Romania, Sweden and the UK to a lesser extent.
Speed freak
Professor Grzebieta also says the award recognises his research into the reduction of speed limits on highways, suburban and high pedestrian active streets.
“The speed limits throughout Australia, in particular NSW, WA and NT, are much too high,” he says.
“In NSW, the limit on parts of the Newell highway are 110km/h where there are no barriers installed. The speed should be reduced to the survivable limit of 80km/h unless median and roadside barriers have been installed.
“Also the speed limit in residential streets, the CBD and high pedestrian active areas should be 40km/h, preferably 30km/h, in line with best practise European countries that have half the Australian fatality rates,” he says.
“The Australian default speed limit for suburban roads is currently set at 50km/h.”
In a paper he co-wrote with his UNSW Sciences colleague Professor Jake Olivier, presented two weeks ago at the TRB’s annual meeting where Professor Grzebieta received his award, Professor Grzebieta said the reduced speed limits he proposed were commonly used by countries such as Sweden, Netherlands and the UK, which had the world’s lowest road fatality rates.
It’s been a horror start to the year for motorcycle fatalities in Victoria with 12 riders now dead after two more crashes today(Sunday, February 10, 2019).
Latrobe Highway Patrol officers are appealing for a witness to come forward after a fatal motorcycle collision in Mirboo North this morning.
Police are also investigating a motorcycle crash that claimed the life of a man in Buckland this afternoon.
First fatality
In the first incident, police believed a motorcycle was travelling north-east on the Strzelecki Highway when it collided with the rear of a red Mitsubishi sedan waiting to turn into Darlimurla Road about 10.50am.
The driver of the Mitsubishi was not injured and stopped to assist at the scene.
It is believed the motorcycle then collided with a white Toyota 4WD which was travelling in the opposite direction.
The female driver and her male passenger were not injured and also assisted at the scene.
The male rider, who is yet to be formally identified, died at the scene.
Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the collision and are hoping to speak to a man who stopped at the scene and was driving a white 4WD northbound on Strzelecki Highway.
The Strzelecki Highway was expected to remain closed between Mirboo North and Thorpdale for some time.
Anyone who witnessed the collision or who has dash cam footage is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential crime report at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au
Second fatality
In the second of the rider fatalities, police say the motorcycle was travelling along Buckland Valley Road when the rider left the road and crashed into an embankment about 1pm.
The rider, who is yet to be formally identified, died at the scene.
Anyone with dash-cam footage is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report online at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au.
Our sincere condolences to the families and loved ones of the deceased riders.
The motorcycle road toll can be reduced by better speed and alcohol/drug use enforcement, safer motorbikes, mandatory helmet laws and improved roads, according to an international report.
These are key points in the latest World Health Organization Global status report on road safety 2018 report released this month. The report is only released every two or three years.
Toll rate flat
The international report also points out that the motoring fatality and injury rate has remained fairly steady as a proportion of population over the past few years.
In Australia, motorcycle crash fatalities have remained flat since 2011 despite an almost doubling of motorcycle registrations in that time. That actually means a decreasing rate of motorcycle fatalities.
Australian crash stats. The flat dotted line is the trend over that time.
Of course, every death is lamentable, but the selective quoting of motorcycle crash statistics, especially during the Christmas/New Year holiday season, can be misleading.
It also serves to demonise riders as having a death wish and therefore not worthy of consideration by other road users.
International report
The WHO report says progress in reducing road fatalities and injuries has mainly been made in high-income countries.
In these countries, there is a high level of enforcement of speeding and drink driving, ABS on motorcycles (mandatory in Australia for bikes over 125cc from November 219), mandatory helmet (99% compliance in Australia) and improved roads, it says.
No doubt politicians and police will just seize on the first issue to raise speeding fines and enforcement.
But they would be ignoring the fact that this is an international report representing 175 countries. By comparison, the low-income countries included in the report (such as Afghanistan) have little to no enforcement of speed or drug/alcohol-influenced riders, no or lax helmet rules and poor roads.
The only category where Australia compares is in the standard of our roads.
Crumbling Victorian roads
WHO says 67% of motorcycle travel in the world is on substandard roads. That surely must include Australia!
(It also mentions separate motorcycle lanes which some Asian nations with much higher proportions of motorcycles have implemented or are considering. We doubt motorcycles will ever have separate lanes in high-income nations.)
WHO says that by 2030, all new roads should “achieve technical standards for all road users that take into account road safety” and “more than 75% of travel on existing roads is on roads that meet technical standards for all road users”.
That’s a long time to wait for appropriate roads that should have been paid for by our hard-earned taxes.
