expect more changes in QLD

It's reported in the papers that the Queensland government are working
on an overhaul of Queensland's motorbike licensing system after 65
motorcyclist fatalities on state roads so far this year.

Nev..
'04 CBR1100XX

 

That would no doubt have something to do with the quality of riding that you
see up here and the so called training mostly carried out by bike shops who
have a sale of a bike hanging on the particpant getting through Q-Ride
(apparently conflict of interest isn't a phrase much known up here....)

 

Yep; a whole heap of riders have been killed in suburban Gold Coast and on
the M1 motorway so they're already blitzing Mt Glorious and the "bike" roads
of the Gold Coast Hinterland to fix the problem.

 

I've seen Q-Ride blamed a few times but I've yet to see any evidence that
it's NEW riders (and Q-Ride graduates) that are getting killed.
It seems to be just a general collection of males in their 20s on
sportsbikes, kids on trail-bikes and 45yo Harley riders.

 

Yair, and more of the 'same' with speed camera's. Big blitz been going
on here in Cairns for many months - all the fun roads hammered by the
cops, but most prangs with bikes have been outside the blitz area's.

Moron Gubberment.


Percy

 

And so they should, the idiots who go up the range road drive like maniacs

 

That be the 'Breakfast club'.

Percy

 

It's called being seen to be doing. People see this action and feel happy
that something is happening. Well that's the theory anyway and I doubt it
will change in a hurry.
How superficial!
If they were serious about keeping the motorcycle fatalities down they would
do something more positive rather than punitive about it.
An intense rider training like the "Stay Upright course should be mandatory
with every licence. New and renewed.

Here north of Brisbane, we have an excellent facility to assist with this,
it's called Lakeside. It's not a long straight - high speed track, it's a
track about cornering and control. Especially if we leave the pot-holes in
it, or the "Bump under the bridge which is a buggar on bikes".

Many other road users would benefit from this facility as well.

 

In aus.motorcycles on Sat, 10 Nov 2007 23:04:22 GMT

If they were serious they would ban bikes....

However.

The question is, how are these guys splatting themselves? Are they
overcooking corners, not reading the road surface properly,
overconfident, scaring themselves by coming in too hot and hitting
the brakes?

Overconfidence won't be helped by more training, that just increases
confidence unless done with the idea of decreasing it in mind. Won't help
the he-man macho bullshit of group rides either, only age helps that.

Training won't help the road surface, and track training probably won't
help road reading. It might help the bods scaring themselves.

First find out what the problem is, then fix it.

Zebee

 

About 10 years ago, the local Dept of Transport office had a group of
dedicated bikers who, voluntarily, along with the support of the
Department, ran a motorcycle advanced rider course in the evenings at
the departmental transport depot.

This course included both theory and practical lessons and was so good
for me, as a returning biker, that I went through the course twice to
pick up the things I had not retained in the first course. The course
ran about six weeks and covered much especially using common sense,
being aware of what was around you, braking, slow speed riding,
avoidance techniques, and counter steering amongst much.

The Department, in it's wisdom, shut the course down some seven or so
years ago to allow 'private industry' to do their thing.

So much for the gubberment being fair dinkum about biker safety.

Percy...

 

The _ONLY_ thing any government (or opposition) is really fair dinkum about
is being elected....

P

 

You got that right. Look at the current federal government's
advertising strategy for the upcoming election. They're spending
millions of dollars which could be used to convince everyone what a
great job they've done but their strategy appears to consist solely of
"don't vote for the other guys".

Nev..
'04 CBR1100XX

 

Ain't that the truth!

 

http://tinyurl.com/2l3ch2

Nev..
'04 CBR1100XX

 

Interesting link - thanks.

So apparently I'm not the only one who thinks it's a conflict of interest.

The Q-Ride scheme up here is a bloody joke and the fact that bike shops are
allowed to do the training is a disgrace. In the short time I spent in the
industry up here I've seen quite a few occasions where a punter who has
never ridden a bike before comes in, starts drooling over x make of
sportsbike and the sales droid says mate, put down a deposit, we'll get you
through Q-Ride and you can ride away on it in a couple of days.

They then spend a day or two running them through basic bike handling with
only a token covering of roadcraft, hazard perception and risk management
(let alone things like understanding risk taking motivation)... they then
get unleashed into traffic and your favourite twisty road and are little
better than an unguided missile.

In the 3 years I have been in Brisbane I am still left slack jawed in
disbelief at the generally awful standard of riding in traffic, and the
apparent lack of awareness of the risks so many riders up here seem to take.

 

Erm; the only thing they care about is feeding on the public tit!
If they could get all the money and benefits WITHOUT having to go through
all the inconvenience of being elected I'm sure they'd be able to get over
that disappointment!!

 

Yep; a PERFECT example!
I appears to say the Q-Riders are the problem (and certainly blames the
Q-Ride training) without ever actually saying whether ANY of the victims
were Q-Ride graduates or not.
I reckon its a con-job!

 

Compared to where ?

(Genuinely curious.)

 

For me, Sydney. Spent 9 years there. Brisbane riders just seem to have less
disciplined traffic behaviour. Following too close (especially on places
like Gateway, M! etc), no concept of buffering, lane splitting at speed,
apparent poor low speed skills, no sign of setting up brakes for hazards.

It's all just based on my observations in the 3 years I've been here, but I
reckon after 8 years as a part time rider trainer in NSW those observation
skills aren't too shabby...

 

As one of my Uni lecturers used to always say - correlation is not
causation. Interesting nonetheless.

I still think there's a real issue with those selling the bike doing the
training....