WRB SMASH - JAN 10 2013

G'day all.

Got a glimpse of a truck smash on the TV news in Melbourne last night,
January 10, 2013. Probably a commercial channel.

It looked like a major country highway, 2 lanes each way, grass median
strip with wire rope barrier down the middle, bit of a curve and I got
the impression the truck was going up hill on the inside of the curve.

It could have been a b-double.

The  truck  seems to have gone straight ahead, over the WRB, onto its'
side and slide into oncoming traffic.

Then  a  policeman  came  on  to tell us that the WRB had absorbed the
impact  and  probably saved lived! What training did that officer have
to  make  that  assessment? How  much  time did it take to assess the
crash site while managing the crash scene? How many police were at the
crash site?

If this was a robbery or an assault an officer would not be allowed to
pre-empt  any  legal  proceedings  with his opinions in the media like
this.  And,  why  defend  WRB?  I've never heard a policeman go public
defending other barriers after a crash.

Could  it  be  that  a  police  road  authority "partner" has a vested
interest in WRB not being seen to fail?

The  Victorian  Parliamentary Inquiry into motorcycle & scooter safety
(DEC  2012)  came up with recommendations that call for an independent
authority to handle ALL road crash data. The Independent Riders' Group
strongly  supports  those  recommendations.  The  current  system is a
bureaucratic mess with various vested interests squabbling over who is
in charge of what and who gets what information related to road trauma.

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

We  would  appreciate any links to reports on this truck crash and any
other information on it that's available.

Damien Codognotto OAM
Spokesman
Independent Riders' Group
Melbourne

d.codognotto.oam@bigpond.com