SOUNDS IN THE NIGHT

ON RIDE  THIS WEEK


·         Jonesy from Temporary Australians talks about the show and the controversy about its name

·         Henri de Gorter talks about Television Sydney, community television in general and other motorcycle shows

·         We find out how Casey Stoner is doing in testing at Sepang

·         We catch up with Nathan Gyaneshwar to find out about this year’s Black Dog Ride to Central Australia

·         And we find out how last weekend’s Sofala Bike Show went in the rain

·         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’s the next best thing to having some motorcycle fun? Listening to others who are having it as well!And you can do that on Thursdays for two hours from 10pm EDT. on 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)

      ·Studio guests to talk about their personal motorcycling experiences

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 www.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

ANTI-ASSOCIATION LAWS? COMMENTS PLEASE

 
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/tough-anti-bikie-laws-set-to-pass/story-e6frf7jx-1226284356874?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+HeraldSunNewsBreaking+%28Herald+Sun+%7C+Breaking+News%29

Dale Robert Maggs
Mob 0432776458
Independent Riders Group

BIKE BOOZE BAN IN QLD - FEB 2012

From: Damien Cognotto OAM [mailto:d.codognotto.oam@bigpond.com]
Sent: Friday, 24 February 2012 12:44 PM
To: Peter Hawker
Subject: Re: Some UMCQ Flyers.

G'day Peter.

The Queensland push for a total ban on alcohol for motorcycle & scooter riders, but not for all road users, is not based on logic or good science and it is obviously unfair.

The Independent Riders' Group (IRG) might consider a total ban on alcohol for all road users, including bicycle riders, but not a ban targeting just one small group of legitimate road users, us.

Cars injure and/or kill most road trauma casualties. A total ban on alcohol for bike riders would have little impact on the whole road toll. A total ban on alcohol for car drivers would mean a significant reduction in the road toll but would reduce revenue from taxes on the alcohol and hospitality industries and would probably reduce income from fuel and car sales over time. Road authorities need to be seen to be doing something without reducing revenue or upsetting big business or strong lobby groups like the RACV, NRMA, RACQ and others.

It is easier and less costly for road authorities to be seen to be doing something by targeting bikies. The public will believe the bureaucrats' spin that there's something wrong with people who choose to put themselves at risk by throwing a leg over a motorcycle or scooter. Consultation with stakeholders is avoided and/or manipulated, results sanitised. VMAC was a good example. Millions of our tax dollars spent on another series of shock horror TV ads, propaganda based on opinion not fact.

Road authorities want car drivers to know that the responsible thing to do is protect these poor sad bikies from themselves by legislating and taxing them off our roads. That opinion was published in the Australian Financial Revue a few years ago.

It's the same bigotry that said single mum's were not good people because they were single so it was  for their own good that bureaucrats took their babies. Over-dramatic parallel? I don't think so. Road trauma is killing and injuring Australians everyday. People who are legitimately riding motorcycles & scooters. Riders' families are badly damaged. Most of this pain is caused by car driver error.

Drunk car drivers are a huge threat to all road users but road authorities want to target riders with an alcohol ban. This is not based on evidence. You have to query the bike bigots motives and prejudices.

It's about time generations X & Y learned how to stand up for their rights from the baby boomers. If they don't, they will lose them.

Many thanks

Damien

www.damiencodognottooam.blogspot.com

Friday, February 24, 2012, 8:02:18 AM, you wrote:

G’day Damien

I got these (Flyers on a Qld alcohol ban for bikes) emailed to me from a Qld fella.

Regards

Peter Hawker
PO Box 4062
KOGARAH BAY NSW 2217
Mobile: 0422 923 825
Email: peterhawker5@bigpond.com
http://mcssac.blogspot.com/
http://petesrallyadventures.blogspot.com/

AGE INPUT 1 - FEB 2012.

ADAM CAREY
The Age
Transport

Dear Adam.

Thanks for your call this morning.

The  Victorian  Motorcycle Council graph attached was presented to the
current  parliamentary  inquiry  into motorcycle & scooter safety.

For  other  statistical/science comment contact Michael Czajka on 0403
073 055.

Police  figures  on  helmet  use  by  motorcycle  &  scooter riders in
Victoria  are based on unreliable data. Crash scene data, particularly
collected  in  rural  areas,  is  based  to  a  large  degree  on  the
observations  and  opinions of untrained officers ticking boxes. Crash
scenes  can be assessed, if at all, hours after the crash. Some police
figures  on helmet wearing and fault, presented to committees like the
Road  Safety  Reference Group at VicRoads are at best questionable, at
worst misleading. Here's an old example.

The Victoria Police crash investigation unit is dangerously under-resourced.
Officers with no appropriate training tick boxes and note opinions when
collecting crash scene data sometimes hours after a crash.
This is particularly true of non-fatal crashes and more so in country areas.

Looking  only at motorcycle & scooter fatalities is misleading, out of
connect.  The "big picture" includes fatal, injury and property damage
crashes.  Not  comparing  motorcycle & scooter crashes with pedestrian
and  bicycle crashes (in the 3 categories) can give a false impression
of the size of the motorcycle & scooter crash problem.

The  questions of whether or not the motorcycle & scooter road toll is
inflated   with   off-road   figures   and   how  comprehensively  and
effectively   bike  crash  scenes  are  studied  by  qualified  police
investigators need answers not spin.

The  fact  is  that cars protect their occupants better since 1987 and
urban  speeds  are  lower, so a reduction in injuries/fatalities seems
logical.  And  cars  require less skill to drive and contain many more
distractions     since     1987.     The    fact    is    that    most
pedestrian/bicycle/motorcycle & scooter casualties involve a car.

Swann Insurance found C2006 that across Australia 40% of motorcycle
& scooter claims involved another vehicle hitting the bike from behind.
Says it all really.

The VicRoads/TAC/Police official policy "not to do anything that might
be construed as encouraging motorcycling" was documented in the 1992/3
parliamentary  inquiry  reports.  VicRoads say they have abandoned the
official  policy  but  it's  still there. In our opinion it has been a
contributing  factor  in  the  reluctance  for  VicRoads/TAC/Police to
conduct  real  research or positive safety campaigns into motorcycle &
scooter safety over the last two decades.

Improvements  to  motorcycle & scooter safety should include road user
education  for  all  classes  of  road  user. Campaigns to improve the
relationship  between  car  drivers  and  bike  riders  on  our roads.
Improvements to the road environment for riders. Equal law enforcement
and penalties for bike riders and car drivers.

The  IRG opposes the introduction of mandatory protective clothing

and of front ID for road motorcycles & scooters.

Damien Codognotto OAM
Independent Riders' Group
Melbourne
Tel: 03 9846 8621

www.damiencodognottooam.blogspot.com

d.codognotto.oam@bigpond.com

HAWKER'S BIKE SAFETY CAMPAIGN - FEB 2012.

DEATH ON OUR ROADS - THE SATURDAY AGE - FEB 25, 2012.

Updated  26/2/2012.


ROAD SAFETY STATS IN THE SATURDAY AGE

Saturday, February 25, 2012.

Page 7.  NEWS

theage.com.au

"... To this end we have augmented today's coverage with a suite of web-based features that present the data in a way that makes it easy to see how the road toll has changed over time.

... we present our entire data set to you via an interactive 'dashboard'. "

I'd appreciate any comments on the website and on the road crash/casualty information.

It seems to me they are still focusing on fatal incidents and missing the big picture. Also, they seems to me to gloss over problems with the data due to the way traffic data is collected and assessed.

Motorcyclists get a negative mention up front.

"... The numbers reveal that more deaths happen in in outer suburbia or on country roads; that young men still die in far greater numbers than the rest of society; that fatal crashes are most common in and around the afternoon peak; and that motorcyclists have not enjoyed the same declining death rates as people in cars, on bicycles or on foot. ..."

And, it seems to me that The Age, like most of the media, fails to mention the elephant in the room, the taboo subject, that car driver error is the greatest single cause of death among all road users.

The Sunday Herald Sun

Sunday, February 26, 2012.

Page 21.  NEWS

" Cyclist injured


A CYCLIST suffered serious injuries after his bicycle and a car collided on one of Melbourne's most popular bayside cycling routes. The man in his 40s, was struck on Beach Road, Mordialloc, about 8am yesterday. He was taken to the Alfred  Hospital in a serious but stable condition suffering abrasions and possible broken bones."

Damien Codognotto OAM
Independent Riders' Group
Melbourne

Send suggestions to:

data@theage.com.au

cc  d.codognotto.oam@bigpond.com

COMPULSORY HI VIZ GEAR & TRACKING TAGS

Police forces around Australia are pushing hard to have high visibility protective clothing made mandatory for motorcycle & scooter riders. 

At the Victorian parliamentary inquiry into motorcycle & scooter safety (PIMS) in 2011, police repeatedly called for five items of protective gear to be made compulsory for riders - helmet, jacket, pants, gloves and boots. Notably they have not called for more protective gear for pushbike riders. 

How Orwellian does it have to get before Australian bike riders decide to get organised again and use their votes to protect their right to ride? Police at PIMS even called for tracking devices on motorcycles & scooters under a front ID law. All sound a bit far fetched? Read the transcripts of the PIMS public hearings in 2011. Go to:

www.parliament.vic.gov.au

Look up the Road Safety Committee then the motorcycle safety inquiry. All the submissions and transcripts are on there.

The technology exists and while road authorities are reluctant to conduct any real research into motorcycle & scooter safety, they were happy to test tracking tags on government vehicles in Melbourne.

Some riders say bike clothing laws are good, even overdue. They are not. Several things will happen if more protective gear is made compulsory.

Less choice: Regardless of quality, items will be banned in Australia if the manufacturer/importer does not pay for Australian standard testing. This is already the case with helmets. Doesn't matter how good it is, without an Australian standards sticker the hat is illegal.

I wear Australian-made Medal boots. They are the best. I have a couple of new pairs in the cupboard. Those boots would be illegal under the proposed laws, regardless of them being the best, because they do not make them anymore so they could not be tested to meet the proposed police standard.

More cost: Manufacturers/importers who do pay for Australian tests will pass that cost on to consumers. With higher costs more riders will go back to their cars and more will ride illegally. That's bad for everyone. The bike industry will be hurt and jobs will be lost.

More irrits: Five items of compulsory protective clothing will mean more police checks. Riders will be targeted for clothing checks. 

Australia is supposed to be a free country. The concept of government being able to tell me what pants and top I'm to wear, and even the colour of same, is abhorrent. I got my first motorcycle in 1967 and bikes have been my primary transport for nearly all of the since. I'm pro protective gear but anti intrusive laws that reduce both my freedom of choice and my right to ride. 

Join your local UMC, IRG or the riders' rights organisation of your choice while you are still allowed to do so.

Damien Codognotto OAM

Spokesman

Independent Riders' Group

Melbourne