THE AGE
LETTERS

"We really need motorcyclists to do everything they can - buy protective gear and a bike with ABS braking ..." said Sam from the Transport Accident Commission in the Sunday Age 28/8/2016.

That's a bit rich when the TAC taxes most bikes $70 plus with their so called safety levy. No other transport type is targeted like this. The tax is on top of the registration fee and the CTP insurance premium so most riders pay as much to ride as drivers do to drive a 4WD monster. And there's no discount for not claiming.

I'm a pensioner. In nearly 50 years on two wheels, mostly in Victoria, I have never made a CTP claim but I pay as much as a 25 year old who's claimed more than once on car crashes.

My latest bike is under 501 cc so I get a cheaper TAC premium, not much mind you. ABS tends to be on more expensive machines. I could use a new jacket and gloves but, on my income, they will have to wait.

The TAC tax hurts low-income earners. The 2012 Parliamentary Inquiry into Motorcycle Safety (PIMS)recommended the tax be abolished but the TAC ignores that recommendation and points to the "whole of government response" to PIMS which was written mainly by TAC and VicRoads.

If TAC wants to get serious about bike safety it should spend the tax already taken on positive bike projects, review CTP, introduce no-claim-bonuses and abolish this unfair tax.

Damien Codognotto OAM
Independent Riders' Group
Merlbourne