more bike bashing ?

"Runaway road toll blamed on rise in motorcycle use" (article below)

So, 94 extra deaths than last year, of which the increased motorcycle
deaths represents less than a quarter (21 increase).

Take out the bicycles (increase of 8..more than doubled..) and still
left with a conclusion that runaway road toll should be blamed on rise
in cars, trucks, buses and pedestrians as the majority contributor to
the increase (breakdown unknown from article).

Yes, as per usual, motorcyclists are over-represented in the stats as
a proportion of road users however is it statistically valid to assert
that the "runaway" toll increase is to be blamed ("a major cause of
the sharp increase ") on a group that (by numbers) represents less
than a third of the increase compared with non-2 wheeled deaths? (65)

Darn stats! Always makes for a good story and headline.

*****************

http://www.smh.com.au/national/runaway-road-toll-blamed-on-rise-in-motorcycle-use-20091120-iqva.html

ROAD safety experts say the growing popularity of motorcycles and the
recovery in the economy are behind the spike in the state's road toll.

The director of the NSW Government's Centre for Road Safety, Soames
Job, said a major cause of the sharp increase in the road toll - up
from 321 deaths in 2008 to 415 deaths in 2009, as of Wednesday - was
the increase in ''two-wheel vehicles''.

He said that as of midnight on Thursday, motorcycle fatalities stood
at 65 for 2009, compared with 44 fatalities for the same time last
year, while the number of deaths of bicycle riders had more than
doubled in the same period, from six to 14.

The Minister for Transport, David Campbell, said that following the
steep rise this year - even before the traditional Christmas party
season begins - the Government held an emergency road safety meeting
and implemented an action plan. It included increasing the number of
highway patrol officers and deploying them in known black spots and
introducing hard-line sanctions for high-level speeding offences.

''This year's road toll has already surpassed last year's total and
that is simply not good enough,'' he told the Herald.

Two children, aged 11 and 15, were killed and two teenagers critically
injured on the mid-North Coast late on Thursday night after the car
they were travelling in crashed into a power pole at high speed.

Police said a 16-year-old female learner driver had taken the 2004
model Mazda 3 sedan out unsupervised.

Senior Constable Jason Bentley, of the Port Macquarie Crash Unit,
said: ''They were travelling at high speed and overtaking other cars …
and there were a lot of witnesses. She panicked as she was overtaking
the cars and lost control.''

Dr Job said motorcyclists and cyclists were especially at risk riding
on sharp curves on country roads or at busy city intersections. He has
raised the possibility of new laws requiring the riders of mopeds and
motor scooters to wear protective clothing in addition to helmets.

In January, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries reported that
motorcycle sales had ''soared to record levels''.

Dr Stuart Newstead, a senior researcher at Monash University's
Accident Research Centre, said motorcycles had increased in popularity
because of traffic congestion in cities such as Sydney, easier parking
and drivers wanting vehicles that were cheaper to run and, in many
cases, created lower carbon emissions. But with their popularity came
a 25 per cent increase in motorcycle fatalities since 2004.

Dr Newstead also suggested higher overall road tolls were often
related to growing affluence because the wealthier people felt, the
more discretionary trips they made in their cars. Economic growth also
meant more trucks carting goods were on the road, increasing
motorists' exposure to risk of an accident.

 

Just looking at that final paragraph, if we get a significant amount of
long haul freight back onto rail instead of road, that should help matters
too. I suppose that even, "More Rail Freight Could Curb Savage Road Toll"
wouldn't sell quite as many papers though. Cheers

 

alx wrote:

The director of the NSW Government's Centre for Road Safety, Soames
Job,....

Fucking brilliant!

The head honcho for road safety, and he doesn't know there aren't any
mopeds in NSW. :-(

regards,
CrazyCam

 

Sounds more like Soames Job needs another type of Job
maybe head patient at the psych centre

 

Not just a case of potato vs potato?

H

 

No.

Other states, Q'land,SA and WA, have a "moped" deal.

Car drivers don't need a licence or any training, they can just get on a
"moped", usually an automatic scooter of less than 50cc engine size, and
ride it.

In NSW, you have to have a licence for scooter or a motorcycle.

regards,
CrazyCam

 

Sorry, I wasn't clear.
Does his comment mean that he is describing powered two wheeled bikes other
than motorcycles as either mopeds or scooters?
H

 

The RAC in WA is trying to get that overturned so that we will need a
moped licence before we can ride one.

Theo

 

Hammo wrote:

I dunno <shrug>, but I'd expect someone in his position to know that a
moped is a class of vehicle which doesn't exist in NSW.

I wonder if this Job character has any kind of certificate to show that
he knows what he is doing?

regards,
CrazyCam

 

Wouldn't it be wonderful to think that someone in Govco actually
understands enough about two-wheelers to know what the "ped" in moped means!

On another tack; non-motorised treadlies generally go a bog-load faster
than motorised ones do so it'd be peculiar that they'd be omitted if
that's the case. (1)

(1) We don't have (legal) petrol ones in my state so I'm only basing
that on the electric ones I see.

 

Lars Chance wrote:

<Cough> The ped bit fell by the wayside many years ago.


regards,
CrazyCam

 

Licencing bicycle riders would be a better money earner for the NSW
guvvament.

 

In aus.motorcycles on Sun, 22 Nov 2009 01:15:45 -0800 (PST)

DOubt it.

Because you have to decide whether you licence children and if so how
much for.

Then you have to charge enough to cover the admin costs. Which is
quite a lot.

THen you have to work out how you are going to enforce it.

Dunno why people think this "licence" thing is going to solve any
problems. It isn't as if it has before.

Zebee

 

Didn't Job get tried by this mythical religious person? Probably
fogged his senses.

 

There are pedal mopeds all over the place down here, but they have this
silly 200 watt restriction.

Yes yes... you are going to call them 'electric assist bicycles' which
is silly I reckon.

A moped means pedals.

What you're talking about (and some silly government nongs misused the
word for) are low powered scooters. [1]


G-S

[1] And yes I approve of car drivers being able to drive speed
restricted low power scooters.

 

Licencing bicycle riders would be a better money earner for the NSW
guvvament.
***********************************


Sure, and it will have the same effect as the helmet law they brought in
which not many seem to abide by

 

The only reason motorists push for bicycle licensing is pushbikes on
main roads in peak hour and a few inconsiderate city couriers. children
are not a problem, not many children are silly enough to use main roads
in peak. Bicycles are not a problem on suburban streets.

 

Oddly enough, I've not been a problem on main roads in peak hour
either, as I filter through and overtake the majority of traffic.
People might *perceive* that I hold them up an extra 10 seconds, but
once I've filtered through past them at the next parking lot, they'll
still be stuck behind the same car they were stuck behind 10 minutes
ago.

'course, I have gotten rid of that problem these days. Some mornings
I don't see any traffic in an hour and a half, but a few sleepy 'roos.

--
TimC
Actually, I was most impressed when I looked up into the London sky and saw a
star through all the light pollution. A few of us checked a few astronomy
references to try and identify it, and we're reasonably confident that it was
Sol. -- Peter Corlett in ASR

 

Agreed. They're all just "scooters" not "mopeds and scooters" (which I
think was Hammo's point).

 

Crap!
It's just a sour "why should *they* get away with it..." mentality same
as it is when they see someone else speeding or they whinge about
lane-splitting motorcycles!