Police forces around Australia are pushing hard to have high visibility protective clothing made mandatory for motorcycle & scooter riders.
At the Victorian parliamentary inquiry into motorcycle & scooter safety (PIMS) in 2011, police repeatedly called for five items of protective gear to be made compulsory for riders - helmet, jacket, pants, gloves and boots. Notably they have not called for more protective gear for pushbike riders.
How Orwellian does it have to get before Australian bike riders decide to get organised again and use their votes to protect their right to ride? Police at PIMS even called for tracking devices on motorcycles & scooters under a front ID law. All sound a bit far fetched? Read the transcripts of the PIMS public hearings in 2011. Go to:
www.parliament.vic.gov.au
Look up the Road Safety Committee then the motorcycle safety inquiry. All the submissions and transcripts are on there.
The technology exists and while road authorities are reluctant to conduct any real research into motorcycle & scooter safety, they were happy to test tracking tags on government vehicles in Melbourne.
Some riders say bike clothing laws are good, even overdue. They are not. Several things will happen if more protective gear is made compulsory.
Less choice: Regardless of quality, items will be banned in Australia if the manufacturer/importer does not pay for Australian standard testing. This is already the case with helmets. Doesn't matter how good it is, without an Australian standards sticker the hat is illegal.
I wear Australian-made Medal boots. They are the best. I have a couple of new pairs in the cupboard. Those boots would be illegal under the proposed laws, regardless of them being the best, because they do not make them anymore so they could not be tested to meet the proposed police standard.
More cost: Manufacturers/importers who do pay for Australian tests will pass that cost on to consumers. With higher costs more riders will go back to their cars and more will ride illegally. That's bad for everyone. The bike industry will be hurt and jobs will be lost.
More irrits: Five items of compulsory protective clothing will mean more police checks. Riders will be targeted for clothing checks.
Australia is supposed to be a free country. The concept of government being able to tell me what pants and top I'm to wear, and even the colour of same, is abhorrent. I got my first motorcycle in 1967 and bikes have been my primary transport for nearly all of the since. I'm pro protective gear but anti intrusive laws that reduce both my freedom of choice and my right to ride.
Join your local UMC, IRG or the riders' rights organisation of your choice while you are still allowed to do so.
Damien Codognotto OAM
Spokesman
Independent Riders' Group
Melbourne
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