Minutes for General Meeting March 16

Venue: Victoria Park Hotel, 605 Albany Highway Victoria Park 6100

Date:

16.03.2021

Chaired by:

Jeff Thomas

Minutes by:

Peter Butler

Meeting Commenced:

7.30pm

Apologies:

NAAttendance: As per attendance register. 22.

MATTERS ARISING:

Matters Arising from Previous Minutes:

Need Main Roads 138 138 Cards for new member welcome pack and events.** Now in stock, distributed to those present.Dave Wright brought up discussion for the need for business cards for the Safety Officers. Made sense.** Peter to get quotes.Motorcycles using bus lanes trial denied. Road Safety Commission declined support for this.** Dave Wright to investigate and report, MRA to challenge. Work in Progress.

Previous Minutes:

As distributed to the committee and loaded to the website.Motion to accept: Dave Wright                                  Seconded: Jeff Thomas                                   Accepted:

New Members/Guests in Attendance:

• Kate Fandry - PBF
• James McDonald
• Kim Friis
• Simon Waters
• Richard Watson
• Jasper DeMagro
• Jon Della
• Peter Blaquiere
• Ross Fawcett
• Thomas Lane
• Jason Clement

Membership Report:

Life Members: 8Current Membership: 138

New Members Joined:

17Yet to process: 2We have manual membership to process from the Long Riders Bike fest.

Members Renewing:

4

Guest Speaker:

Kate Fandry from PBFPBF is a registered not for profit – Spinal Cord Injury.For traumatic spinal cord injury (paraplegic/quadriplegic).50% of paraplegic/quadriplegic injuries are caused in road traffic, car, bikes, pedestrians.They run a support program through Fianoa Stanly hospital. They have a gifting program, assisting.Member Benefit is $250,000 payout, lump sum.Available within 6 weeks mostly.It’s NOT insurance and doesn’t affect insurance. Its 24/7.They have club memberships available, hence making presentation to MRAWA.Normal rate for individual is $55 PA, with 20 from a club joining its $15 PA (per annum).There is an exclusion list, obvious stuff, can’t be driving drugged or drunk. But you can be drunk and fall down the stairs and are still covered.They also have corporate packages.The Committee will meet on this and consider making this as an offer t the MRAWA Members.** Jeff to table for Committee Meeting** Jeff T to get digital forms, access, to make offer available to members if proceeding.** Peter B to load resources as necessary to website.** Peter B to send newsletter to members with offer if proceeding.

Committee Meeting Matters Arising:

As above

REPORTS

Secretary:

Correspondence:

EMAIL:2 Emails from Damien Codognotto regarding wire rope barriers – In FebruaryDamen Keevers – New MRA Member, advising us on legal aspect wording of new proposed constitution update.Email from member, regarding helmet standards, his daughter was fined. Jeff responded.Email from non-member, regarding parking fine, Jeff advised them, looks as though charge has been dropped.MAIL:Albany Classic and Vintage Motorcycle ClubRide4 Life Newsletter** Please email Gary Pontifex with his ‘Ride 4 Life’ hat on at ride4lifewa@gmail.com to register for their email newsletter.

Secretary’s Report:

Printed Media Quotes/Orders:Rider Aware Stickers are quite expensive, will blow the budget, plus Dave found a box so we are good for now.Brochures: Fatigue, Hydrate, and MotoCap are priced, and ordered.Badges: Now have 3 suppliers contact details. Just need the time for my team to redo the graphics so they can be digitized ready for quote.** Peter will organise new graphic to be made.** Peter will source supplier for badges.

President’s Report:

In this report:

• March Guest Speaker
• Non-Member Joins after MRAWA assists in overturning a fine
• Longriders Dwellingup Bikefest
• MRAWA Policy Statements
• MRAWA Constitution
• Motorcycle Safety Week
• Australasian College of Road Safety
• April Guest Speaker

March Guest SpeakerKate Fandry – Business Development Manager, Paraplegic Benefit Fund to talk about club memberships.  Possibly add the option to opt in on our website.Non-Member Joins after MRAWA assists in overturning a fineI was contacted in January by a rider (a non-member) who felt he had been unfairly dealt a $75 parking fine in an area with poor signage and inadequate motorcycle bays.  The MRAWA gave him advice on who to contact and gave a sample letter from a previous challenge that was successful.  He emailed me last week with good news:“Just thought I'd give you an update - the Ombudsman is still reviewing the case and I haven't heard back since January when I submitted my initial complaint and followed up with the information you provided.However, a couple of weeks back I didn't (sic) receive a notice from the fines office of COP to say they reviewed the matter in light of the Ombudsman review and have subsequently withdrawn the fine, issuing a 'warning' instead.So a win for the good guys here, thanks for your support.As promised, I have since signed up as a member of MRAWA as a small token of my appreciation.Thanks again and I'll keep you posted if/when I hear back from the Ombudsman.Kind regards,”Longriders Dwellingup BikefestThe inaugural Longriders Bikefest on Sunday was successful with six new memberships.  While there was a good crowd, there were not as many riders congregated as I thought there would be, they seemed to come for something to eat and then move on.  It was after all, a great day for riding.  My address to the crowd went off without any problem but it was important to tell everyone about our safety focus for the event, which was Fatigue, Hydration, Road Craft and Safety Attire.  Two of the new members were Sally and John who own the Longriders Café which was good to see.  They even asked me if they could display our business cards and 138138 cards in their café.  I would like to give many thanks to the volunteers who helped man the stall, Dave W., Chris and Sue, Rob P and Chris C.MRAWA Policy StatementsThis section was in January’s report and is included to retain relevance.Our senior Safety Officer has offered a suggestion that the MRAWA should have policy statements on our website roughly aligned (updated to suit the MRAWA) with those from the Australian Motorcycle Council (AMC).  The purpose is to let MRAWA members, and the general public know what the MRAWA stands for and how we operate, which in my view will help to advance people’s understanding of us.MRAWA ConstitutionWe have been informed that the new constitution in its current form is not compliant with the rules governing constitutions.  I have asked a barrister and solicitor to review and advise on where we are not compliant.We can either vote on the content, which is the important part and fix compliancy later or defer to next month’s meeting.Motorcycle Safety WeekThe Motorcycle safety week begins on Saturday the 11^th April with the York Motorcycle Festival.  The MRAWA will have a stand to display safety videos and pamphlets.  Is there a volunteer who can drive the equipment to York and setup on the Saturday morning?  Volunteers will also be required to assist in manning the stalls.All week – There will variable safety messages on electronic freeway signs.11^th – The MRAWA will lead a safety ride to the York Festival for all interested riders.  Riders will meet at the Midland Gate carpark where a donation can be made to support Beyond Blue.  A coffee van will be present for those who need charging.   MRAWA volunteers are required to act as corner markers.14^th – Ride your Motorcycle to Work Day.  The purpose is to get as many motorcycles onto our roads as possible, so drivers become more aware that they do actually share the road with motorcycles.  Talk to your employers about allocating a couple of car bays at your workplace for the extra motorcycles.  Get behind this initiative to raise awareness.17^th – Free Ride Right advanced motorcycle skills course run by Dave Wright.  Registration for this event is required as seats are limited, further details will be available closer to the date.18^th – MRAWA sponsored safety ride with coffee and donuts for all riders.  Further details shall be forwarded closer to the date.Australasian College of Road SafetyI attended a seminar in February hosted by the ACRS who talked about road safety in W.A., road crash statistics, where they occur and frequency.  This data will be used by the Main Roads Department to help design urban intersections to be safer, as they have a probability for an accident.  The benefits of being a member of this organisation was obvious, so I have now joined as a general member.  That gives the motorcycling community two voices in any discussion in urban design and how it affects vulnerable road users.  The other being Dave W who has been a member now for 10 years.April Guest SpeakerThe April Guest speaker is Edward Rose who is the ACRS Treasurer and Technical Services Coordinator in Urban Development who will talk about intersections and their design in an urban environment.That is all for now, the next general meeting will be on the 20^th of April 2021 and will be chaired by the Vice President, Gary P.The next Committee meeting will 6^th of April 2021.Jeffrey ThomasPresidentMotorcycle Riders Association of W.A. Inc.Mobile: 0409 293 320president@mrawa.orgFrom the Long Riders Bike fest Dwellingup ride and event we have 6 new members.** Peter B to setup as new manual sign up members in system.Constitution: Status update from the President in main Presidents report.Peter Butler noted that it had been touted in social media that the constitution was now being updated because of recent events in social media. Peter stated for the record that updating the constitution was scheduled as recorded in the minutes of July 2020 and again in October 2020.https://mrawa.org/meeting-minutes/minutes-general-meeting-agm-2020/https://mrawa.org/meeting-minutes/2020-october-20/2020 was very busy with 2 major events, the Numbat Rally in September and the Motorcycle Safety Week in October.

Vice President’s Report:

Ride 4 Life Rides share - https://www.ride4life.org.au/and on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Ride4LifeWA/events/

Treasurer’s Report:

ON FILE.

Road Safety/AMC Report:

State Election 2021Now that the WA state election is over, we will need to make contact with the possible new Minister for Police and Road safety to make our selves know to them so that we can form a constructive relationship going forward.We of course will need to wait for our premier to announce his new cabinet.Bike Fest Dwellingup 2021We held a set up a booth for MRAWA at Longriders Café on Sunday 14^th March for the first of the 2021 Dwellingup Bike fest, this was organised by the Longriders Café. We had a steady run of people approach are booth to enquire about the MRAWA and signed up 4 new members on the day, we also handed out many membership forms, and of course promoted rider safety. I would like to thank our volunteers who helped out on the day.These type of events are a great way to communicate with the general motorcycle community and we should attend as many of these events as possible.Riding in Groups videoI am hopeful of getting the go ahead from the Road Safety Commission for my grant application with them to produce a series of videos on the safety and aspects of riding in groups. These will be produced as a series of short messages that can be used and shared throughout motorcycle groups and online.MOTORCYCLE SAFETY WEEK 202111^th April – LaunchYork Motorcycle FestivalBeyond Blue Charity ride from Centre Point Shopping Centre Midland to York.Coffee van on site at Midland.Donations towards Beyond Blue ($5.00 pp)Talk at Midland by representative from RSCSafety talk and promote MRAWA by ride leader.AT York –6 metre x 3 metre booth on site by organisers including power.Focus – Motocap, fatigue, hydration.Will need additional brochures, stickers banners produced and printed.Funded by RSC grant/partnership.Wednesday 14^th AprilRide your motorbike to work day, or something similar? suggestionsSaturday 17^th AprilFree Ride Right CourseFunded by RSC grant/partnership.Sunday 18^th AprilCoffee and doughnut with a cop safety ride from Fremantle heading towards Rockingham.Funded by RSC grant/partnership.All weekVariable message board signs on freeways etc withy MC safety messages.Huge social media campaign safety campaign.Mainstream media announcements (TV, radio, newspapers)Funded by RSC grant/partnership.MRAWA Grant Breakdown MARCH 2021Road Safety Commission – MRAWA Partnership FundingOriginal funding $10,000 + GSTWe have now expended funding as follows-Social media campaign - $2,000.00 + GSTRSC attendance at the 2021 York Motorcycle Festival - $4,000.00 + GSTAttendance of MRAWA at the York Motorcycle Festival $1,000.00 + GSTRide Right Course - $700.00Safety Coffee with A Cop $600.00TOTAL $8,300.00 + GSTBalance of funding $1,700.00Printing and rider safety promotionMotorcycle Aware Driver bumper stickers – 500 = $451.00 + GST 1000 = $753.70 + GST  2000 = $1,482.20 + GSTBraking Habits Booklet –500 = $915.70 + GST  1000 = $1,336.40 + GST  2000 = $1,973.90 + GSTFatigue, Hydration and Motocap brochures – 2000 copies of each $1,050 + GSTA Frames - $160.00 each approx.Motion - not to proceed with the printing of the Motorcycle Aware Driver bumper stickers at this timeNot to proceed with the printing of the braking Habits booklet at this time , however make the changes to the document regarding the from and back page endorsements, and post the e-booklet onto our website similar to the Make Yourself Visible booklet.Proceed with the printing of 2000 each of the Fatigue, Hydration and Motocap brochures at a total cost of $1,050.00Proceed with the purchase of 4 double sided A frame poster stands 900mmm x 600mm to replace the old damaged A frames cost approx. $580.00 + GST eachTOTAL $1,630.00Dave WrightRoad Safety Officer MRAWAMotion to accept: Dave Wright                                  Seconded: Peter Butler                                   Accepted:Steve Fish met with several other groups regarding existing issues that face the motoring community. In that meeting it was advocated for a combined effort between all non-government bodies in WA to share knowledge and increase our presence (300,000 sounds a lot better than 1,000 or 30,000 etc.)The idea is for the group to assist each other with contacts in various government positions and also put itself forward to government departments when they need to ask the opinion of the motoring community so that all parties can be aware of upcoming changes and be called upon to have input into new policies.

Website Update:

MRA Achievements page content added – only start up content so far. We need to have session with maybe life members, and previous committee members to do a recap and update.** Peter Butler to table for FUTURE COMMITTEE MEETING DISCUSSIONS:Ross Fawcett has commented on the post ‘Update Regarding Lane Filtering’. I have responded.Rider Briefing work in progress, will be loaded to website when complete.** Peter Butler to do rewrite and update.** Peter Butler to table for FUTURE COMMITTEE MEETING DISCUSSIONS:

Social Media Update:

MSW campaign work in progress

Stock Report:

Sue Lipsit has been getting quotes to purchase new merchandise. Sue needs the logo in PDF format.** Peter Butler to have this made available.Quote/s on file and included in hard copy minutes.Dropshipping: Jon Della suggested we investigate drop-shipping (AliExpress) for our merchandise items.** Worth investigating, duly noted. Sue you can talk to Peter B on this.Petty Cash: Our previous petty cash of $111 was spent on Numbat paraphernalia apparently, no receipts provided. It was agreed to officially write this off.We need to get a new petty cash float set up, for ongoing as well as the upcoming York Festival.Motion to accept: Chris Cobain                                  Seconded: Peter Butler                                   Accepted:Payment Processor: Our current device is broken, agreed to go purchase new one.** Jeff Thomas and Sue Lipsit to organise.Motion to accept: Jef Thomas                                    Seconded: Dave Wright                                  Accepted:

General Business:

We had a great visitor and new member turnout. I hope I captured the the full essence of what people shared, was a lot of discussion so harder than normal, apologies in advance if I didn’t get it exactly right.James McDonald: – Made lots of comments, I had him send through his notes to me.

1. Changes to road safety strategy

The latest towards zero (2020) road safety strategy published by the road safety commission last year highlights a need to increase WA’s road rating to a minimum of 3 stars on all regional roads. Currently WA’s average road rating is 1.3 stars on average. The largest impact to a road star rating is its speed, with other factors such as rumble strips, crash barriers and divided medians accounting for a lower percentage difference.Regional roads account for the majority of road KSI and the majority of those crashes are apportioned to single vehicle running off the road. In line with the national road safety strategy (and many other countries) regional roads will be recommended to have their speed limits reduced by an amount across the board.I don’t have access to the statistics directly at this point in time, however, the WA road toll has been stagnant for the last 4 years, with crash rates going up. This has put increased pressure on the RSC to deliver results. They have not found an alternative strategy to what they have been using through, just regurgitating their existing policies with little to no success. They have already signed off a doubling of enforcement measures over the next 8 years including more fixed speed cameras and point to point cameras.There is a large amount of work to be done by the motoring community to spread awareness about these changes which will not have any road safety benefit, and according to my hypothesis, this will actually serve to increase crash rates owing to increased rider and driver distraction.

2. Motoring community working group

Last month, I met with Steve Fish and several other groups regarding existing issues that face the motoring community. In that meeting I advocated for a concerted effort between all non government representative bodies in WA to share knowledge and increase our footprint (300,000 sounds a lot better than 1,000 or 30,000 etc.) The idea is for the group to assist each other with contacts in various government positions and also put itself forward to government departments when they need to ask the opinion of the motoring community so that all parties can be aware of upcoming changes and have a chance to have a say with new policy etc.

3. Lane filtering laws

I have strongly advocated against lane filtering laws as seen in other states for several reasons. Firstly, lane filtering was explicitly outlawed in other states until legislation was introduced to provide more freedoms to motorcyclists. This wasn’t the case in WA, where we had no laws prohibiting it explicitly. To introduce these laws is a step backwards for WA by limiting our ability to choose the safest path with our hinderance or encumbrance.From an insurance perspective, the most likelihood of an incident occurring on the road is in slow moving traffic that is stop start. Stop start traffic on most major arterial roads is usually at an average speed of approximately 20-40km/h. As a motorcyclist currently, in this situation, most will filter past other cars at a pace of approximately 10-30km/h above the flow rate of traffic. If traffic is travelling at 30 km/h, motorcyclists must fall in line with moving traffic as they will no longer be allowed to pass with these new laws. This will introduce many additional points of potential impact in many motorcycle rider’s daily commutes in an unnecessary manner. This will result in an increase in the rates of killed and seriously injured motorcyclists in WA.From an insurance industry perspective, this also introduces an unnecessary minefield for motorcycle riders who have an accident whilst lane filtering, there are now many more pathways for an insurance company to decline a claim than previously in WA. We have seen this unfortunate reality in other states where many motorcycle claims whilst lane filtering have been declined due to the rider not following one or more of the components of the rule.I understand the position taken by the MRAWA and that they had received a significant amount of voice for change and little or no opposition, however, it also should be noted that appropriate outreach had not been made to survey a statistically significant proportion of the motorcycling population. In addition to this, I will always advocate against a policy which has been made in the interest of what people want if there is not statistical evidence to back it up. As such, where there exists no tangible road safety benefit for WA motorists, this policy should not have been pursued.I also recall a survey conducted by the RSC approximately 2 years ago asking for comments on lane filtering laws. At this time I remember significant opposition to change in this survey. Has the RSC ever shared the results of this survey with you? I believe that the vast majority of the motorcycling community would support you advocating for a delay to the laws until proper research can be conducted that is relevant to WA.Simon Waters: – Aired his grievance that the committee had declined Aari Simpson membership application.Simon also aired his grievance against Peter Butler for an alleged statement that we had not declined people’s membership applications.Simon went on to make a derogatory statement against a recent new member of MRAWA. Not appropriate ☹Jon Della: – Came with an open mind. Will base his decision whether to join as a member based on the meeting.Doesn’t believe we should have tackled the Lane Filtering in the first instance. Does understand and support the fact that we’re proactive. Believes the MRAWA should try and engage more in the social media space.Jon made mentioned that our media release https://mrawa.org/general-news/update-regarding-lane-filtering/should have been published on social media as our engagement response to the negative statements on the lane filtering issue.Peter – MV Augusta Brutale: – Questioned the validity of lobbying for the law change at all. He raised the question; did anyone push back on taking this action? Discussion ensued.Ross Fawcett: – Stated that this was best left as vague, this was acknowledged. He believes we need to get engagement via social media and write to your MP.Kim Friis: – Best way forward is to target MP’s, something about reviews, then they listen. Need evidence, reports.Peter Butler: - Shared that he’d also been targeted personally in social media, probably as the initial social media response was that it was currently illegal to lane filter.That was his understanding at the time, because over the years riders have been charged with various offences relating to lane filtering. As stated in our subsequent Media Release, our apologies for misquoting the actual current legislation in our initial social media responses, as stated here and published 19.02.2021https://mrawa.org/general-news/update-regarding-lane-filtering/Peter acknowledged the action of writing a letter or email to the RSC and the Minister as made by Dave Wright and Mr Chinese Symbol Man (now identified as Sam) stating the outrage over the freeway exclusion achieved the desired outcome, a prompt action for the RSC to initiate an urgent meeting to discuss the issue.Peter hoped that the attacks, against the MRAWA and him personally would cease, we could move on, gain support and work together.

Upcoming Events:

Motorcycle Safety WeekChris Cobain will pick up the York Festival gear and get it out there silly early. Chris will liaise with Sue Lipsit on merchandise and paraphernalia transport.We need volunteers on the day.All other MSW Notes in the ‘Road Safety Report’Ride Your Motorcycle To Work Day: Previous years this has been an epic fail.The participation was very low, feedback from lots of riders who do ride to work stated exactly that “I already ride” but missed the point about raising awareness of that or promoting the fact that they ride.Imagine if social media feeds were flooded with pictures of riders and their bikes/helmets/whatever showing the rest of WA how many riders there are.It then makes it personal, oh, I know someone that rides a bike.We all want all people to be more bike aware right?We have stickers, we have pamphlets, flyers, we have Freeway message signage during Motorcycle Safety Week, the Road Safety Commission and government run TV ads on occasion.But surely a solid strategy is to make people realise they know people who actually ride a motorbike, but they never knew that.In my business circles I’ve known people for years, and never even realised they ride. So for how many people is that true?We’ll be posting this on social media to hopefully get engagement on –

• Finding a new name that riders and people can resonate with
• Better ways to raise awareness on social media

Working titles:

• ‘I Ride a Motorbike’
• 'I Ride a Motorcycle'

Rides Report:

21 March - Ride Right Course

• Mirrabooka

Sunday 28 March - Jarrahdale Breakfast Ride

• Meet at the Caltex Service Station Corner Albany Highway & Mills Rd West, Gosnells WA 6110

Sunday 11 April - York Motorcycle Festival Charity Ride (support Beyond Blue) MRAWA Coordinated

• Midland Gate

Sunday 18 April - Motorcycle Safety Week Ride: Fremantle to Rockingham

• E Shed Markets

Next Meeting:

Next General Meeting 20^th AprilNext Committee Meeting 6^th April 

Meeting Closed:

9.35pm