Presidents Report July2019
Hi AllAs you may have heard I decide to not nominate for any positions on the MRA Committee and stood down as President/ Safety Officer at our AGM on Tuesday 16th July 2019.It has been an absolute pleasure working on the MRA Committee for the past 15 years with some wonderful people, but it is time for a new group to move the MRA forward, I am extremely confident that the new committee of Jeff Thomas, Steven Wheadon, Ainslie Kounis and the rest of the new MRAWA Committee will work hard for your best interests and I wish them every success for all motorcycle riders.As this is my last report as MWAWA President I will keep this report short as I am sure you will all want to hear from the new President and Committee. Road Safety Strategy 2020 -2028. The Road Safety Commission has now released its publicI urge all motorcycle riders to take the time to complete the survey as there are some major changes proposed in the strategy (I am sure you have heard of the proposal to lower speeds across all WA roads by 10km/hr) and now is your opportunity to let the Government know your views on this and many other proposed changes.Go to the website and register to have your voice heard. https://imaginezero.rsc.wa.gov.auI am currently working with the Road Safety Commission to arrange a motorcycle rider specific forum to discuss the changes that we would like to see in the new Safety Strategy. The possible date is late July or early August at the moment, although this could change, I will make sure you all get notified once they let me know the final date. Motorcycle Lane Filtering. This has been an issue that I have been working on for a few years now and I will keep hammering the Road Safety Commission until I get a result, I have been assured that it is progressing, although it seems at a glacial pace. Motorcycle use of Bus Lanes. As above - this has been an issue that I have been working on for a few years now and will keep hammering the Road Safety Commission until I get a result, Motocap Road Safety Commission Grant of $1,000.00 has been approved for the MRAWA to conduct a Motocap, five Star Rated Protective Clothing Seminar. I have invited Liz, five Star Rated Protective Clothing Seminar. I have invited Professor Christopher Hurren from Deakin University to present at this seminar, he is the man charged with the testing of motorcycle protective clothing at the University and he is also a keen motorcycle rider.The seminar will be held at Scarborough Community Centre on Saturday 8th August 2019 at 10am for motorcycle rider groups and individuals who wish to learn more of how this benefits you. A Second seminar will be held in the after noon for motorcycle dealers and accessory retailers.For more details on Motocap go to www.motocap.com.au Motorcycle TestingThere is a report circulating regarding stopping motorcycle and scooter riding tests at Joondalup License Centre from 1st July and there is a protest ride planned for Saturday 20th July 2019.I have been in touch with the Department of Transport (licencing services) who have reversed their decision and testing of motorcycle and scooter riders will recommence on 5th August 2019. This is official and has been signed of by the DoT General Manager. I hope to see some of you on an MRA ride soon as the weather will soon be turning fantastic.Remember to ride like you life depends on it. (it does) This report is a mix of Presidents, Safety reports in no particular order.Dave WrightPresidentMotorcycle Riders Association of W.A. As I am standing down as MRA WA President, I have been reflecting on some of the wonderful people who I have worked with at the MRA over the past 15 years, I will not attempt to list them all but you know who you are. I have been thinking of our actions and achievements we have been able to successfully complete during my time on the committee. I will not try and list all the work that we have done for riders but would like to highlight some.
- I joined the MRA Committee in 2004 as Ride Coordinator and Safety Officer.
- One of the first actions that we tackled was rejecting the push to fit front number plates on motorcycles.
- We organised a protest ride to Parliament House were we presented a partition signed by over a thousand riders to ban wire rope barriers.
- In 2006 I took over the President role from George Batt
- 2007 was the year that we first started working with the Office of Road Safety, after we called for the sacking of the chair of the Road Safety Council (Grant Dorrington) and the RAC as the representative on the Road Safety Council, due to their lack of commitment to motorcycle rider safety.
- 2009 saw the start to the conversation to establish a Road Safety Strategy for motorcycle riders and a working group was set up through the Minister for Road Safety to arrange a series of three Motorcycle forums. The final outcome from these forums was a list of 50 action related to motorcycle safety, all of which where completed, This was a huge success for motorcycle riders as this was the turning point where government agencies started to consider rider’s needs.
- 2010 – 2012 was taken up ensuring that all the actions were being progressed and completed as agreed at the forums. We attended every one of the quarterly meeting on progressing these actions, and indeed added some new actions through the Office of Road safety.
- 2013 saw the establishment of the Vulnerable Road User Group and our partnership with the RAC on a number of safety issues including funding for future forums every two years to look a new safety actions that could be established, the review of crash investigations into all motorcycle fatal crashes, and funding for Motorcycle Road Safety Auditor Training.
- A couple of years after the Vulnerable Road User Group was disbanded the Minister for Road Safety establishes the Vulnerable Road User Advisory Group in 2016. This group activities reports directly to the Minister on road safety actions and initiatives.
- Because of our involvement over many years we now have regular access to Government Ministers and agencies including Department of Transport, Main Road Department, Road Safety Commission, WA Police, WA Local Government Association, who are all willing to listen to any of our concerns and indeed seek our input through stakeholder consultation.
I will now put my feet up for a rest and hand over to the new MRAWA Committee, although I will always be more than happy to discuss any issues or give some insight into past actions. Dave WrightMRA Life Member #8