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
