ROAD USER EDUCATION

NOV 5, 2011.

In a rush of publicity about the deaths of young drivers, Minister Mulder and Police Deputy Commissioner Walshe called for a reduction of the number of young Victorians who die while travelling in cars. The usual short term fixes were bandied about but there was, as usual in these circumstances, nothing about real change to solve a systemic problem.

A version of this letter was published in today's Herald Sun on page 36.

"A  teenage girl dies in a road smash. Too many terrible tragedies like
this. The family calls for compulsory driver education in schools.

Police  Deputy Commissioner Walshe says he will meet young drivers to
find  out  why  they  make  the wrong decisions. (HS 3/11/2011. "YOUNG
FATAL   ATTRACTION")  Roads Minister Mulder desperately calls for help
to cut the road toll.

It's  one thing for officials to take personal action after a tragedy,
to  hold seminars and take kids to emergency wards, it's quite another
to  look  at  the  big  picture and make the reforms the system needs.
Short term fixes achieve little for victims and their loved ones.

The idea of compulsory road user education in schools isn't new but it
needs  a  new  government attitude to achieve. RUE needs teachers then
facilities.  It will cost but reduced road trauma costs will make it a
very   good   investment  for  Victoria.

Better  drivers  mean fewer passenger, rider and pedestrian casualties
too.

RUE teachers need tertiary education qualifications and a career path.
Sports teachers have to be qualified to teach kids to kick, bowl, swim
or whatever. Isn't road safety as important as sport?

The   private   sector   must   be   involved.  Government  must  help
driving/riding  schools  to  qualify  to  work  with state and private
schools  to  teach  youngsters  to  use our roads without injury. This
would  have to happen in steps. The first step is the hardest. But, is
there the political will take the first step.

Damien Codognotto
Independent Riders' Group
Melbourne"

IN BOB WE TRUST.

I'm not overtly religeous.

Not covertly either if it comes to that.

But, with all the (often deserved) bad press about priests it seems to me right and proper to support a good priest. Father Bob McGuire OAM has been parish priest at St Peter's and St Paul's in South Melbourne for 38 years. He is a very good priest.

Bob came up with the "HOPEMOBILE" to get to the community and help people. Not just the very poor, although he and his supporters work hard for them, they help anyone.

http://www.fatherbob.com.au/

For most of my life Bob's been about somewhere. He was our cadet unit chaplin in the 1960s. He sometimes ate at the Society, which show good taste. He helped me and my mates out, which doesn't, but never mind.

After all these years serving our community church toffs want to force Father Bob to retire. This is a time when religeons in OZ are crying out for clergy. This is a time when governments are seeking ways to keep people from retiring to keep our work force and economy viable. So what's with Bishop Hartless and the cathedral bureaucrats? Bob's only 77. There are two working Victorian priests older than that and the Pope's 84 and he still gets about in his Popemobile, although some say he'd be better off in a sidecar on a Guzzi ... but that getting off the point.

They can't want to sack Bob because he isn't a good priest. And it's not the quality of his work. And it isn't his high profile and popularity ... is it? Bob is more fun to watch on TV than Bishop Hart, so people watch. And it's been recognised with an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) and he was named Victorian of the Year in July.

Bob and the Bishop were in the Herald Sun today (Nov 5, 2011. Page 17)

"... Archbishop Hart said Fr Bob would remain a priest, but relieved of the 'grinding demands' of a parish, and wished him a 'time of  peace'.

Bob loves the 'grinding demands', it's his life.

But stung by the dismissal, Fr Bob wasn't preparing for peace.

'Get in touch with Tim Fischer, the Australian Ambassador to the Vatican, and tell him to go knock on the door of the department for the prevention of cruelty to parishes,' he advised supporters.

I wrote to the Herald Sun.

THE HERALD SUN
LETTERS

Father  Bob's  life is working for people who really need his help and
the cathedral sacked him.

I've  known  Bob  McGuire  for nearly 50 years. He is a priest who not
only  practices  what  he preaches, he's very good at it. He makes the
needs of Melbourne's neediest his top priority.

He  reaches  a  lot  of  people through the media. The media keeps our
society  informed. It is both a service and a tool. Bob uses the media
expertly  as  a  tool to do good in our community.

Victoria  has  too  many  nit picking bureaucrats generating rules for
rule's  sake.  So  does the Catholic Church. If church bosses cut some
red  tape,  showed a more human face and encouraged the Father Bobs of
this world, they might fill some pews on Sundays.

I'll support any new charitable organisation Bob starts.

Damien Codognotto OAM
Melbourne.

It seems to me Bob and his supporters are in a similar situation to Australia's motorcycle & scooter riders. Rules are being forced on them by a bureaucracy that is detached from the realities of the road or the parish. Rules that often make no sense and too often are counterproductive.

I'm going to write to Ambassador Fischer care of Parliament House, Canberra, ACT 2600. I urge anyone with a sense of what's good for our community to do likewise.

Damien Codognotto OAM

Melbourne.

HIRSTY IS ON THE WIRELESS ON THURSDAYS.

ON RIDE THIS WEEK

* We find out how Marco Simoncelli will be honoured by riders at this weekend

* We talk to Chairman Shaun Lennard while he visits Europe on behalf of the Australian     Motorcycle Council

* Camel from the United Motorcycle Council updates us on recent amendments to the Queensland anti-association laws

* And we talk to Tex about life on the road with his famous four legged riding companion Bundy

Plus lots of news, views and music from Australia and beyond

TUNE IN in Sydney live on 90.5 FM and across Australia on

www.2ccrfm.comfrom 10pm -Midnight EST on Thursday.

Please check out Facebookand if you like the programme don't forget to Like this page and recommend it to you friends.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/RIDE-on-2ccrfm-with-Greg-Hirst/265400733475447

Ride

 

What? 2CCR FM 90.5. When national motorcycling identity Greg Hirst will entertain you with:

* Humorous stories of a motorcycle nature

* Interviews with well known motorcycle riders

* Stories from Aussie motorcycle clubs about their positive activities

* Update of key some motorcycling issues

* News on local and national motorcycle events (especially for those listening online)

And lots of great Aussie rock, blues and alternate music, plus a little overseas stuff. So listen in every Thursday for some motorcycle radio fun: on radio in Sydney or online on

* Studio guests to talk about their personal motorcycling experienceswww.2ccrfm.com around Australia.2CCR broadcasts all its programmes online and so Ride can be heard in NSW, Victoria and Tasmania at 10pm,Qld at 9pm, South Australia and Broken Hill 9.30pm, the Northern Territory at 8.30pm and in Western Australia at 7pm.For more information contact Greg on www.greghirstenterprises.com.au

 

 

HD EDITORIAL - NOV/DEC 2011.

Issue 119 of Heavy Duty Magazine has a strong message from Doc Robinson.

In part the Editorial reads:

" ... But once again it is time to face off with the powers that be whose aspirations seem to be the destruction of motorcycling in this country, although they hide behind the alleged rationale of improving safety. Bullshit! More likely it is a two-wheeled version of penis envy as these short-dicked, pencil-necked politicians (DC - and public servants) hate the fact that we have more fun on any sunny Sunday arvo than they get to enjoy in their entire hen-pecked, yes dear, no dear, whatever you say dear, lives.

I've been criticised a couple of times for using the term 'safety nazis' but even that pejorative term is not strong enough for the reality of the situation. How about this comment regarding Etags for bikes as reported in the Herald Sun.

Police (Vic.) Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe told the Inquiry into Motorcycle Safety that riders should be targeted with electronic tags as front ID for speed cameras. Police also said that tags would help with 'intelligence' gathering. What's next? Compulsory numerical tattoos? Imbedded microchips with listening devices?

Well measures almost as bad are being proposed, measures such as five-piece, high-visibility clothing so we all go down the road looking like we've fallen into a tank of flourescent paint. This high visibility approach is the central dogma of motorcycle safety. It is based on the responses of drivers who whine plaintively 'I didn't see the motorcycle' and, in a very small percent of cases, this may be true.

However, mostly that is crap. The truth of the matter is that they did not see the motorcycle as a threat to their personal well being, though they may well have seen it. The underlying reason for this is because in our steel cages we do not feel physically threatened by a light-weight vehicle.

Many, many times they do see us but pull out anyway, because either they can't judge our speed or we aren't perceived as a measurable risk to their own safety. Motorists will turn across in front of a bike time after time, whereas they would not make that turn if we were a semi trailer or a bus. This is the key, not whether we are seen or not.

The MRA Driver Awareness Rides of the 1980s got a strong message across to drivers. The sign on the Budget trucks say. "Car drivers, if I hit you with my truck then said I didn't see you, how would you feel?"

The Americans have a highly motivated lobby group called the AMA who will legally challenge any legislation that threatens motorcyclists. Americans know about winning against repressive legisation. ..."



WIRE ROPE BARRIERS - NSW 1 - NOV 2011.

My questions/comments are in your text in bold, blue italics.

I recommend you refer Vanessa Juresic (RTA NSW) to the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into Crashes Involving Roadside Objects - March 2005. 

Please note. The Executive Summary clearly documents the lack of hard evidence/data on crashes involving road furniture, including wire rope barriers (WRB). If that is true in Victoria, it is probably true elsewhere. 

Chapter 8 covers WRB. That the Federal ATSB did not continue with motorcycle & scooter safety tests on WRB because it would cost too much is clearly documented on page 209.

The bibliography indicates a paper avalanche. In the time available there were too many reports for the Victorian Road Safety Committee (VRSC) make a comprehensive, effective study of. We suspect many of these papers/reports suffer inadequate data collection, have poor methodology, or are not relevant to Australia's conditions and circumstances. To make sense of this large amount of material we need unbiased researchers to sort the wheat from the chaff, so to speak.

Australian road authorities have spent hundreds of millions of tax dollars, maybe billions, in WRB. Exact information is not available. We think the Victorian Auditor General should audit all road barriers in use in this state. Given the massive amounts of tax dollars involved, road authorities might be accused of conflict of interest if they refuse to release raw data on WRB crashes and overall costs or refuse to allow independent studies of the material in the VRSC report on roadside objects and elsewhere.

Saturday, October 22, 2011, 9:36:48 PM, you wrote:

Damien,

Don't forget those questions re WRBs

Cheers,

....

From: Damien Cognotto OAM

Sent: Tuesday, October 11, 2011 9:16 PM

Subject: Re: Fw: Wire Rope Barrier info

Hello ....,

Thanks for keeping me informed.

We have a Parliamentary Inquiry into motorcycle safety. The public hearings are after the Phillip Island GP so I'm busy but I'll try to get something done on this tomorrow. I appreciate the opportunity.

Damien

Melbourne

Tuesday, October 11, 2011, 7:54:13 PM, you wrote:

Damien,

Refer below.

I know this is for NSW but if you'd like to send me as many questions as you'd like to, please do.

Cheers,

....

To: Vanessa (RTA NSW)

Sent: Tuesday, October 11, 2011 8:23 AM

Subject: Re: Wire Rope Barrier info

Vanessa,

This may take a few emails as I have a lot of correspondence from my recent story to get through. I will be sending you comments/questions I have received from members and those that have been posted on the website discussion forum.

The most asked is "why does the RTA persist with installing a safety barrier that is potentially lethal to all motorcyclists?"

Could persisting with WRB have anything to do with financial commitments and/or career cultivation?

Also "why doesn't the RTA sheath or cover the wire ropes to protect motorcyclists in the event of an impact with them?"

Australia is the WRB capitol of the world. I'm told there are 3 local manufacturers - Brifen, BHP and another. In my opinion covering WRB has two problems for manufacturers and road authorities.

First, cost.

Ask Vanessa (RTA NSW) how many kilometres of WRB are on NSW roads? It should be a simple accounting query to find out. WRB sales to local and state road authorities must be recorded. If full records are too hard try asking for the last finacial year's state expenditure on WRB, include installation, maintenance and repair. One estimate was that WRB costs $50,000 to buy and install. Consider the freedom of information law. In Victoria it costs $24.

Second, liability.

Has a NSW road authority ever paid compensation to a victim, or a victim's family, after a casualty crash at a WRB site? Victims include truck drivers and car occupants. See attached.

Could covering WRB be seen as an admission that WRB is dangerous to riders so measures had to be taken to improve safety? Road authorities can't say they did not know about WRB safety concerns. Would this leave road authorities across Australia open to law suits including possible class actions? If road authorities knew WRB was dangerous and they did not do the research then fix the problem, is that negligence?

As you can imagine, a lot of our members are heavy haulage drivers by profession, they comment "unless a heavy haulage truck is fittted with a bull bar, the vehicle simply rolls over the top of the wire rope barrier, what's the point of them!"

WRB doesn't even stop cars, let alone trucks. Perhaps the worst truck/WRB crash was in Yatala Qld. in 2006. It made national media. RACQ Engineer John Wikman went on TV to call for WRB to be replaced.

The worst car crash was at Burrumbeet, Victoria, earlier this year. Five casualties in a 4WD. Three dead.

The road authorities in both above cases said that no barrier would have stopped that truck or that car ... but how do they know that. Where is the good science to prove it?

Has the RTA tested these barriers for impact with convertible (soft-top) sports cars? It has been shown that small vehicles can wedge themselves under and through into the oncoming lane of traffic, therefore occupant decapitation is a real possibility.

Can low/small vehicles, eg soft-top sports cars, get under WRB? Yes. Has it happened? Probably. Can we get details? Very, very doubtful indeed.

Does WRB deflect up to one lane width when hit by a car or truck? It does. That is plainly obvious in the crash test videos. So, leaving aside the fact that WRB does not stop cross-over or head-on crashes in all situations how can any road authority justify centre-of-the-road WRB installations, especially in high-speed roads carrying heavy traffic?

I have recalled that the 3 different types of wire rope barrier (2 wire, 3 wire and 4 wire) having mixed construction, can be seen between the Old Bar turnoff and the Cundletown turnoff along the centre divide of the Pacific Highway running along Taree NSW.

Given there are at least 3 types of WRB in NSW and a type using box steel posts on Eastlink in Victoria, can the RTA NSW supply a list of all the WRB types in use in this State?

The question has been asked "why are there different installations in the same location?", quite obviously, while the wire rope barrier is in itself a danger to all motorcyclists, the 2 wire is invariably much more dangerous then the 4 wire principly on the surface area to impact ratio.

Are there any safety/installation guidelines or regulations for road authorities in NSW when using WRB? If not, why not? How does this effect a road authorities duty of care to all road users? If guidelines exist but are not followed what is the legal liability of the road authority to the victim of a crash at that WRB site?

You were saying that the RTA doesn't have a set Installation Standard for WRB. Does this mean the RTA is erecting the barriers beyond the manufacturers specifications? I recall discussing WRBs with the Brifen Rep at the Motorcycle and Scooter Safety Summit. He was explaining that their system was uni-directional and not to be used as a lane divider or installed on curves, something I have seen in numerous locations.

So, if the brand is Brifen and their WRB is installed on a curve, then the road authority, it seems, is ignoring the manufacturer's advice on installing the WRB. How does that affect liability in the case of a casualty crash?

Road authorities and WRB manufacturers often say that there is no evidence to suggest that WRB is a danger to motorcyclists. Doesn't that just mean that WRB crash site data has not been collected or is not available?

If WRB crash site data has been collected, can we have it? There should be no privacy issues because victims do not have to be identified. This is road safety not national security.

About 2002 crash tests were carried out by Monash University Accident Research Centre using Toyota Echos at Laverton in Victoria. The full report has never been released. Can we obtain a copy through the NSW RTA?

VicRoads conducted tests on padding for WRB posts. Were there impact tests or just weathering tests? Can we obtain copies of the results of those tests through the NSW RTA?

Last question. Why did the RTA NSW get a spin doctor to respond to your road safety questions rather than a road safety and/or technical officer like and engineer?

All for now, regards,

.......

From: Vanessa

Sent: Monday, October 10, 2011 3:54 PM

Subject: RE: Wire Rope Barrier info

Hi ....,

I hope this email finds you well.  I will take care of this inquiry for you - could you please give me a call to discuss?

Thanks so much,

Vanessa

Media Officer

Media Unit | Corporate Communication | RTA NSW

From: ....

To: 

Sent: Sun Oct 09 21:46:47 2011

Subject: Wire Rope Barrier info

Shannon,

I am preparing to do a follow up article for anational club magazine with regard to Wire Rope Barriers. I would appreciate your assistance in getting a copy (electronic is fine) of the RTAs Wire Rope installation standards.

Also, can you please supply the names of the manufacturers/suppliers of Wire Rope Barrier the RTA sources from?

Perhaps someone from the new Transport NSW organisation would consent to being interviewed for the magazine?

Regards

....

www.rta.nsw.gov.au  

WORK IN PROGRESS .........................................

Hello ....,

PARAMEDICS ON MOTORCYCLES IN VICTORIA

THE HERALD SUN

LETTERS

OUR AMBOS are sick of sooks (HS 29/10/2011). An ambulance and crew attending a woman with a finger stuck in a container or a man with an itchy tongue is a dangerous waste of resources.

A paramedic on a motorcycle can respond to a call quicker and assess the need for a full-size ambulance to attend.

Motorcycle paramedics can also get to medical emergencies through traffic jams to stabilise victims until an ambulance can get through.

Damien Codognotto OAM

Independent Riders' Group

Melbourne

THE HERALD SUN

LETTERS

They save lives in the US, the UK, Singapore and Hong Kong. They do it in Sydney and Adelaide. Now Melbourne will have paramedics on motorcycles too.

500cc scooters can penetrate traffic jams and move safely through crowds at major events carrying a full payload of life-saving gear. Medics on scooters will reduce ambulance response times. The riders will assess incidents and false alarms allowing full-size ambulances and crews to concentrate on serious cases. A better use of resources in a stretched system.

With a motorcycle paramedic stabilizing a victim and giving vital information on conditions at the scene, the ambulance crew can travel safer and arrive prepared. That's got to be better for everyone.

A very good move Victoria.

Damien Codognotto OAM

Independent Riders' Group

Melbourne

THE SUNDAY HERALD SUN
LETTERS

MEDICS  ON  MOTOR SCOOTERS! (SHS OCT 30, 2011) Brilliant! A better use of resources to help our stretched ambulance service.

The  idea  isn't  new.  The  UK,  US,  Hong  Kong  and  Singapore have paramedics on motorcycles. So do Sydney and Adelaide. These  riders  carry  a full payload of life-saving gear. They can get safely  through  crowds  at  major  events  and  can penetrate traffic congestion in an emergency as no 4-wheeler can. 

Bike  paramedics will assess a scene and let base know how serious the call  is.  This allows full-size ambulance crews to avoid false alarms and  prioritise  cases.  Crews can travel safer and be better prepared when they arrive.

With  our jammed roads and big crowds, paramedics on motor scooters is a very, very good move.

Damien Codognotto OAM
Independent Riders' Group
Melbourne

THE 34th MRA TOY RUN