June 2016

Safety ReportJune 2016IN THIS REPORT –

• European standards (ECE22.05) motorcycle helmets. (update)
• Motorcycles in priority bus lanes. (update)
• Motorcycle Road Safety Audits.
• Metro and regional Ride Right Courses.
• Star Rating for motorcycle protective clothing.

 Motorcycle Helmets (update)As I mentioned in my last report, we are now allowed to legally buy and wear a European certified motorcycle helmet (ECE 22.05) in W.A. and now that South Australia has joined the party, all states and territories in Australia.I have been informed that some motorcycle helmet manufacturers are now just bringing into Australia only ECE 22.05 certified helmets and not going to the extra expense of changing their manufacturing process for the relatively small Australian market. This will have two major benefits, firstly the manufacturers can now bring into Australia there full range of helmets this was not always the case for Australian Standards helmets because of the cost to certify each type of helmet in their range. Secondly the cost of helmets in the future should be reduced because of the saving to the manufacturers by not having to pay for the certification to Australian Standards as well as European standards. We now just have to wait for the old stock of Australian Standard helmets to be exhausted to buy a ECE 22.05 certified motorcycle helmet. Motorcycle using priority Bus Lanes (update)The Department of Transport contacted me last week for our input into their evaluation of the trial of motorcycles using priority bus lanes on Beaufort Street and South Street. I reported that I have mainly received good feedback from riders that used these roads although some riders stated that too many cars ignored the regulation on Beaufort Street and the benefit there was not as good as South Street because of this. The only other negative comment that I received was from a rider who was pulled over on South Street by the police for illegally using the bus lane, it seems not all the police are aware of the trial and failed to see the many signs along both of these roads, the good news is he managed to educate the officers on their error and was send on his way by a couple of confused officers.The Department of Transport evaluation is now complete and I have asked the Question were there any negative reports from the bus drivers or any safety incidents, the answer no safety incidents and no negative feedback from the bus drivers. We should now in the near future see many more priority bus lanes open to motorcycle riders. Motorcycle Road Safety Audits I am pleased to let you know that since the last newsletter the Road Safety Commission has indeed secured funding to start Motorcycle Road Safety Audits of some of our most popular motorcycle routes. I believe that in some instances our roads and roadsides can contribute to motorcycle accidents and the severity of the injuries of riders and by identifying these issues to the relevant road authority we can reduce the number if crashes. Indeed Safer Roads and Roadsides is one of the four cornerstones of the Governments Road Safety Strategy.I have now completed a Motorcycle Road Safety Audit of Toodyay Road and the results are with the Road Safety Commission and I thank them for getting this established in this financial year. I trust that this is just the start of a comprehensive safety audit of motorcycle route roads to be supported by the Road Safety Commission and that funding will be allocated to this important project next financial year.      Metro and Regional Ride Right CoursesAs you are no doubt aware we applied for and received funding from the Road Safety Commission to conduct a series of Ride Right Course in Regional W.A. and to date I have been to the Peel region, Bunbury, Albany, Esperance and held one in the metropolitan area at Mirrabooka thanks to separate funding from the city of Stirling. I will be travelling to Kalgoorlie, Geraldton and Narrogin over the next couple of months to complete the series.These are theory only courses that focus on the mental skills requires in safe riding of the motorcycle and include hazard perception, reading the road, reading other road users, road positioning, correct cornering, emergency braking, counter steering and more. These courses have been very well received with anywhere between 20 to over 40 people attending and even the more experienced riders stating that they got some useful information from the course and believed it will make them a better and safer rider. If you get a chance to attend one of these courses then you should, at the moment and for as long as I can get reimbursed for my expenses I will keep them free, I personally do not get paid to conduct these courses but do them because if the information just stops one crash then I believe it is worthwhile. Star Rating for Protective Motorcycle ClothingWe have been pushing for some time now for a star rating for protective motorcycle clothing from the relevant motorcycle safety agencies and the motorcycle clothing manufacturers. This would be similar to the tags you get on cars to let you know that it has been tested and the number of stars indicated the protection you would get from that garment in the event of a crash. This has been worked on for the past few years by TEC in Victoria and has now been organised the NSW Road Safety Branch with funding from all Australian States including Main Roads W.A. and is progressing very well. We expect for some star rated motorcycle clothing to be in motorcycle shops next year. All the clothing will be tested independent of the manufacturers such as Deakin University which has the equipment to carry out impact and abrasion tests and some manufacturers are keen to get this up and running. This is not a compulsory clothing regulation but purely voluntary as is the star rating on cars and will give us a better understanding of just what it is we are buying. That’s it from me for now, as always please feel free to contact me on any issues you may have RIDE LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT