HIGH VIZ VEST LAW 16

There  was been a seriously strong reaction against the various police
proposals  to  make  protective  clothing  law. That includes the high
visibility  vest threat from Snr Sgt Gore in Wangaratta, Victoria. See
attached.

From  ABC radio in north west Australia to the Gold Coast to the Daily
Telegraph in Sydney to Prime 7 TV in Victoria riders said NO!

Complaints  and  letters  to  the Victorian Police Minister, many from
Independent  Riders' Group (IRG) members had a strong effect. Sgt Gore
claimed he was misquoted on Gore's Law which is not how some of the 25
people at the Wangaratta forum in July heard it.

Lots  of  people  are  saying  there was/is no proposal to introduce a
Gore's  law.  We  hope so, but Sgt Gore was pretty sure of himself. He
even  gave  a  time line for the introduction of the legislation. They
said  there was no proposal to introduce the TAC antibike tax in 2002,
but  it  came  in.  They said the TAC bike crash ad was not on, but it
was.

Better to react strongly straight away and if there's nothing to react
to, so much the better.

One  thing I've learned in 35+ years of lobbying is that Sir Humphries
do exist and they do not like motorcyclists no matter what they say to
your face.

The  police  submissions  to  the Victorian Parliamentary inquiry into
motorcycle  &  scooter safety make interesting reading particularly on
protective clothing laws.

www.parliament.vic.gov.au/rsc/inquiries/article/1407

A  forum  like  the  one in Wangaratta where Gore's law floated to the
top,  was  held in Wodonga on August 16, 2012. I had a few phone calls
about  it.  I's told about 85 riders turned up and they were not happy
about  Gore's  law. At least one rode up from Melbourne. Two rode down
from Sydney.

At  first  the organisers, Ridesmart North East, tried to make out the
flouro  vest  proposal  was a furphy and they were there to talk about
motorcycle  safety.  The  Ridesmart  forums  are  apparently backed by
VicRoads.  Sgt  Gore was there but he didn't spout his now famous line
that we had to wear a dayglo vest or give up riding bikes.

After  nearly an hour one rider got up and wanted to talk about Gore's
law.  He  was  not  enthusiastically received. He turned the assembled
riders  and  called  for  a  vote. Who was in favour of mandatory high
visibility gear for motorcycle & scooter riders?

Only two hands went up.

The  police  submissions  to  the Victorian parliamentary inquiry into
motorcycle  &  scooter safety make interesting reading particularly on
protective clothing laws.

www.parliament.vic.gov.au/rsc/inquiries/article/1407

I'm  also  told  the parliamentary inquiry committee will hold another
public  hearing  in Melbourne on August 31, 2012. This time it will be
on the TAC motorcycle ad disgrace and, hopefully, how they could spend
so much of our premiums on a campaign that directly effects us without
consultation.

I'll confirm the hearing details as soon as I can.

Please  use  this  email  as  you  see  fit. The more riders and their
friends  that  join  the  Independent Riders' Group the more political
muscle  we  have  and  the  safer our lifestyle becomes. It's free. It
doesn't  effect other memberships. You can withdraw when ever you want
to. All we need is a name, post code and email address.

Damien Codognotto OAM
Spokesman
The Independent Riders' Group
Melbourne
Tel: 9846 8621