Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

The State Government is considering modifying its wire rope road safety barriers after persistent criticism from motorcyclists.

Money from the $50 safety levy on motorbike registrations will be used to test three devices designed to stop fallen riders from sliding into upright posts in the wire rope and other barrier systems.

Approving the trials yesterday, Transport Minister Peter Batchelor said relatively few riders crash into barriers, "but there is international research evidence that . . . those who strike barriers are more likely to be killed or seriously injured".

Figures obtained by The Age this week indicate the safety levy will reap at least $2 million more than Government estimates. Completed projects have used about $3 million of the $7.9 million raised in the first two years of the levy, but the latest approvals mean $6.2 million has been committed.

Mr Batchelor said that in addition to the barrier trials, three rural motorcycle black spots would be tackled.

VicRoads safety manager Eric Howard said riders were typically injured when they slid under the wire rope barriers and into the supporting posts.

Motorcycle safety campaigner Damien Codognotto said a big problem with the system was that it relied on a greater number of posts than others.

"My feeling is this stuff is deadly for motorcyclists," he said.

However, he noted that the barriers were highly effective for other road users. Forty-two per cent of road fatalities in country Victoria occurred when drivers ran off the road into a tree, and the wire ropes cut their risk of being killed by 90 per cent.

Mr Batchelor said the three methods to be tested for rider safety were Moto Tub - a plastic tube placed under the lowest strand of wire rope to absorb impacts - a padding system for posts and a flexible shield called Rubrail. Each would be tested on several kilometres of roadway

It now appears the safety levy on motorcycle registrations will raise at least $12.2 million over three years, $2 million more than estimated when it was introduced in 2002.

A total of 52 projects designed to make local roads safer for motorbikes and to tackle specific rider black spots have been completed, Mr Howard said.

Money has also been allocated to a $560,000 research program to study riders' perception of hazards, and $20,000 had gone to a preliminary study of why drivers fail to give way to motorbikes at intersections.

A riders' representative on the Victorian Motorcycle Advisory Council, Michael Czajka, said the "underspending" of the levy was in research projects that were more difficult to assess in advance than road safety projects.

Blackzxr wrote:We have a few crashed in 04, and they all fell off cruising down the freeway, didn't we......

neka79 at optusnet.com.au wrote:i fell of riding in a str8 line...
Neka

neka79 at optusnet.com.au wrote: i fell of riding in a str8 line...

Blackzxr wrote: At the end of the day, they are dangerous, but how many are on bends