General: On-road training launched, VIC riders scrutinised
Roads and Ports Minister Tim Pallas launched the unique VicRide motorcycle rider training scheme in Victoria yesterday, an on-road coaching trial that’s intended to find ways to improve safety.
“The VicRide trial is a world first,” Pallas explained. “No other on-road motorcycle safety program has been implemented on such a large scale or evaluated as comprehensively.
“This on-road trial will include 2400 newly licensed riders and will show how effective coaching can be in making motorcyclists safer road users.”
Pallas said the VicRide coaching trial would help improve safety, with half the participants to be given on-road guidance from experienced coaches. The other half will ride without coaching and the results of the two groups will be compared to determine the effectiveness of the program.
“Motorcyclists are 38 times more likely to be seriously injured in a crash than car drivers and passengers,” he continued. “Novice riders in particular have a high crash involvement.
“Since 2002 there has been a reduction in motorcyclist fatalities by 31 per cent in Victoria compared to an increase of 19 per cent for the rest of Australia. However, this year we’ve seen a dramatic increase in the number of riders being killed on our roads – with 32 dead almost double the number at the same time last year.”
Commenting on the trial, Pallas is confident it will assist to raise rider safety in the state.
“The trial will improve our understanding of the benefits of on-road coaching for beginners and the findings will assist us in determining how it could be used in the future,” he said.
“Each rider who participates in the trial will receive a four-hour coaching session involving a variety of city and country riding, and participation in interviews. The coach will discuss riding styles, provide advice, hints and feedback, and demonstrate safe riding skills.”
The trial, developed with the support of the Victorian Motorcycle Advisory Council, will be conducted by Monash University Accident Research Centre and independently evaluated by The George Institute for International Health.
Recruitment for the trial will begin immediately and is expected to take several months.
The trial is part of the Government’s Powered Two Wheelers Action Plan 2009-2013 strategy released last year, which promotes safety and better integration of motorcycles across the Victorian transport network.
VicRide’s launch came just one day after Deputy Commissioner Ken Lay, Victoria’s top state traffic policeman, said that selected motorcyclists disobeying the law are having a sizeable impact on Victoria’s road toll in 2010, which is experiencing its worst result in five years.
In an interview with Radio 3AW, Lay yesterday commented on the behaviour of a select group of Victorian motorcyclists as he revealed a number of traffic photographs displaying motorcyclists speeding and ignoring the need for protective riding apparel.
”Many motorcyclists know that we can’t capture their image so they travel and move at a speed that’s clearly inappropriate and highly dangerous,” Lay commented. ”There’s a group of the motorcycle riding fraternity that clearly know that and give us the bird from time to time, as you’ve seen.”
Images released show one riding sticking his finger up at a camera on a cruiser-style motorcycle, another doing a mono on what looks to be an unregistered dirt bike at 111km/h while attired in shorts and a t-shirt, with others simply speeding through the front-shooting cameras since motorcycles don’t have front number plates.
“I know that the majority of motorcyclists out there do the right thing and stick to the limits, wear protective clothing and avoid lane cutting,” Lay continued. “But everyday I am passed by hooning motorcyclists who put themselves in grave danger and I am simply fed up with it.
“We need to understand what the climate on the roads is like, and from these images it is clear that there are significant problems with some motorcyclists in Victoria,” Lay concluded.
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