HOW CAN YOU BE APATHETIC ABOUT STOPPING CHILD ABUSE???

Bikers Against Child Abuse did have an official Chapter in Victoria but it was shut down in 2016. (Primarily due to member/supporter attrition).

There a few of the group remaining but the numbers currently do not make up the minimum required to form a temporary Chapter.

We would like to extend in invitation to any interested persons male & female who want to become part of B.A.C.A. This may be in the form of a Full Member, Supporter or Long Term Supporter. Full Membership in B.A.C.A may not be for everyone but supporters are just as much a part of the organisation and make very valued contribution. Any bike type welcome. (minimum of 650cc). 

Interested persons are invited to join us for an informal gathering to find out more about B.A.C.A, the Mission and the organisation itself.

http://australia.bacaworld.org/

TAC ANTIBIKE TAX IN VICTORIA

THE TRANSPORT ACCIDENT COMMISSION has a monopoly on compulsory third party insurance in Victoria. Hidden in the premium is a tax that TAC calls a safety levy. It's $70.40 a year on the first bike.

TAC/VicRoads don't tell you that on the bill (registration form). Getting a refund has proven difficult for riders who pay the tax on more than one bike.

The TAC tax is largely unspent, earning a return for the Government. What is spent, is often spent on projects that benefit all road users.

Here's some information from the Independent Riders Group facebook page.

TAC states: "The levy is incorporated into the TAC Charge for motorcycles with an engine capacity of 126cc or above, and is passed onto VicRoads to administer the project funding. Currently the levy is $70.40 as it is automatically indexed by inflation (CPI) on 1 July each year.
The levy is paid just once by each motorcycle owner, any additional motorcycles you own will be exempt from the levy."

To apply for a refund, go to VicRoads here & download .pdf Refund Form.

https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/.../cancel-registration...

The refund cheque will be mailed to the address that you have recorded with VicRoads within 4 weeks.

The 2012 Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into motorcycle safety recommended this discriminatory tax be abolished but TAC/VicRoads continues with this hidden rip off.

Damien
IRG

HELMET CAMERAS IN VICTORIA???

WHATEVER HAPPENED to the helmet camera issue in Victoria?

Max was riding to act as a volunteer marshal when he was pulled up by VicPol. Everything OK. He's a safe rider with a good record. But he had a camera on his helmet. The officer decided this made his helmet non standard and booked him for not wearing an approved hat.

This is one of the ways statistics get distorted and riders get to resent police.

Max decided to fight this injustice and Maurice Blackburn took the case.

Instead of withdrawing the ticket, VicPol Command prosecuted this heinous crime with vigour.

The Magistrate saw the cops' point of view.

The issue was raised at the Motorcycle Expert Advisory Panel (MEAP) at VicRoads, or VMAC as it was known previously, then we heard no more.

An Independent Riders Group member asked what had happened with the helmet camera law so I wrote to the Victorian Police Minister to find out.

I'll let you know when I get a reply.

Damien Codognotto OAM
Independent Riders Group
Melbourne

COURT CASES CAN MAKE ROADS SAFER

IN THE EARLY 1980s, the Victorian RTA (now VicRoads) put yellow concrete bricks along tram trackS to stop cars from delaying trams. They were dangerous. Tripping pedestrians, unseating riders and coming loose in traffic. The RTA later used a plastic version which was almost as bad.

The long campaign against the bricks included demonstrating on TV how the bricks came loose. I was charged with interfering with a traffic control device. The cops raided Channel 9 for the footage of me interfering with the bricks. I appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates Court. The prosecution failed miserably. 

So the MRA took the RTA to court on behalf of Victorian motorcyclists. We lost on a technicality. There were no class actions in those days so the MRA did not have ”standing”, BUT, we proved the bricks were dangerous.

If a person was injured in a crash involving yellow bricks they might win a case for damages against road authorities. Councils across the State pulled the bricks out or stopped replacing them. The RTA did likewise.

The case, though lost, had a big effect. It was positive for the motorcycle community. The high-profile case contributed to many gains for riders over the next 15 years. The RTA policy against rider training was defeated and Honda introduced HART. We got free unlimited footpath parking. Riders were exempt from road tolls. We got an agreement to keep compulsory third party insurance below that for cars. We wrote the terms of reference for the Parliamentary Inquiry into motorcycle safety in the early 1990s. The Motorcycle Safety Forum was established. It would become VMAC then MAG then MEAP.

There was more but it was whittled away by quislings who thought motorcycling had outgrown confrontation. Confronting people who mean you harm is the right thing to do.

In 2017 transport/infrastructure bureaucrats have been locked up for 6 years each for taking bribes. Between 2015 and 2020 VicRoads will spend $4 billion on wire rope barrier. Someone is making a lot of money.

We know WRB is dangerous for ALL road users. We need another court case. The quislings who say fighting WRB is a lost cause or they wouldn’t use it if it was dangerous or it’s safe for the majority are wrong.

They told us leaded petrol was good because it made engines run smooth. People selling lead made heaps. When the damage lead did to young brains was discovered the salesmen tried to discredit the science. Cigarettes were good. Plastic bags were good. Asbestos was good. Even air bags in cars were there to save you not kill you. These things and more were promoted by people making money out of them until the shit hit the very public fan. 

WRB is not good. We need a court case.

Damien

IRG

THE COST OF RIDING A MOTORCYCLE OR SCOOTER IN TOWN

PETER RYAN says the cost of registering and insuring a motorcycle or scooter for commuting is too high. I agree but it's still a lot cheaper for a family than running two cars.

Box Hill is a suburb of Melbourne in Victoria. I registered and insured (TAC) a GS 500 Suzuki twin worth $5000 in Box Hill in 2016.

My V7 Guzzi cost more but that bike was for pleasure, not for commuting.

The costs for the Suzuki were:

VicRoads registration fee - $56.90. Transport Accident Commission compulsory third party insurance - $402.00. The CPT premium is misleading. It includes $36.55 GST (???) and hidden in the small print, "a charge for motorcycle safety initiatives" which we are told is $70 a year (???), in 2016. I can't make the sums work but the total cost to stay legal was $499.10.

It's all a bit confusing. Some say there's a tax on a tax in there. The Victorian Government all-party Road Safety Committee recommended the $70 TAC tax be abolished in 2012 which would have made the total $429.50. But that recommendation has been ignored so far.

I had comprehensive insurance too. The premium was $264.00. The insurer gave me the full no claim bonus (NCB) something TAC with its' monopoly on a compulsory product does not do. I get the irrits with that. Why should I pay the same premium, after nearly 50 years of no claim riding & driving, as a 25 year old who has had a major claim?

Anyway, the Suzuki was both reliable and cheap to run. It was light on tyres and I could get up to 300 kilometres from a full tank. Then there was parking. Parking a car for a day in Melbourne can cost up to $100. Most park & ride facilities in the suburbs are full of cars by 7 am. Parking the bike was free in almost all situations and usually close to my destination.

So I reckon the right motorcycle or scooter instead of a second car makes very good sense. The bonus for most people is, riding is fun.

Damien
IRG

CONGESTION TAX FOR SYDNEY & MELBOURNE 2

http://www.beginnerbiker.com/2017/02/bike-affected-london-emissions-charges/#.WdWz-1uCyUk

CONGESTION TAX FOR SYDNEY & MELBOURNE?