Suppose I ought to write this up.... State Government ----------------- Due to have a meeting with the Minister and RTA in the next week or two. The idea is to get motorcycles added into more policy decisions. Any more would be better than what we have now, which is nil... It is an election year so we will be asking for big things. One of the asks will be for a regular consultation at high level. Not with the middle managers but with people who can really make decisions. Tolls are on the agenda of course! The govt says they can't charge bikes different tolls, it is all down to the individual operators. General feeling at the meeting was that unless the toll operators get a regular solid hit in the bottom line by processing fees for bikes whose tags 'don't work' then nothing will change. Make it harder to toll bikes than to not toll bikes and we might see some action. The MCC as an organisation (as distinct from delegates and member clubs) currently has no policy on this. Election -------- yes it is an election year. The MCC website will have a set of questions for pollies to answer, and paper copies will be sent to all candidates. We will need volunteers to chase up candidates in their own areas to answer the questions. Motorcycle Awareness Week -------------------------- Spent more on MAW this year than we have before, mainly through making the nude riders commercial. The interest in that's been huge - it's been shown on TV all over the world, mentioned in both car and bike mags in many countries, and generally done what it was designed to do which is raise awareness of bikes and riders. Thanks to the Democrat Senator Arthur Chesterfield-Evans the one off funding the govt gave us for MAW is now recurring. Third Party ----------- A while back a pillion was injured in a crash caused by a tyre blowout. The Motor Accidents Authority have said that crashes caused by mechanical failure aren't covered by the greenslip now, but would be by October. It isn't clear just what will be covered though. Help for injured riders ----------------------- Studies have shown that disabled riders (whether it is permanent or temporary) have a much higher instance of depression than other people disabled in accidents and a higher rate of suicide or attempted suicide. It's also apparent that many of them are not getting much help when they leave hospital - no information about services to help at home, not followup. Two people you make have seen at the m/c show, the ones who have been riding the same BMW for 40 years and have been selling a book about their travels are putting the money towards trying to alleviate this problem at St Vincents. They are hoping to find someone who knows the ins and outs of the hospital system who can help them to use the small amount of money they'll have available each year as effectively as possible. Meanwhile, if you know someone who has come off and is housebound, get over there and take them out! To the pub or dinner or a movie. Help them get help, find them a cleaning service, do what you can. website ------- Yes, the website's a mess... We need people to read the content and tell us what is hard to understand or badly put together. For example, the section on noise Just Grew, it needs to be properly sorted. So volunteers to take the info and recast it are needed. Please, look at the site, say what's good and what's bad about it, what info you need and couldn't find, and help to rewrite things that are confusing or badly worded. Old road blackspot funding -------------------------- The funding has definitely been allocated for improving the sightlines, reasealing, widening centre markings, and rubrails on armco. All suggestions from the MCC's Brian Wood who is on the blackspot committee. Reporting hazards ----------------- Following the article in 2 wheels, Sydney water have announced they will cover their plates in skid resistant material. Apparently they had to ask 2 Wheels where to find the Australian Standard to follow... A delegate said that he'd been asked at a party about skid resistant plates. It seems the questioner was from the bridge design team at the RTA and said "I guess we should know about these things". Bulli Pass ----------- There are changes proposed to the intersection at the bottom of Bulli Pass. The MCC is making a submission about realigning approaches to the proposed underpass. Erina Bridge ------------ Gosford council asked Brian Wood to have a look at the approaches to Erina Ck. Apparently there's been subsidence, so they wanted a motorcyclist to check the safety. Good on them! Hazard REport Forms -------------------- Lots of these are coming into the MCC, so people are getting out there and reporting problems. Keep it up! Poor line marking ----------------- An NRMA report found that much of the line marking is substandard - missing or very faded. The MCC has sent the RTA a letter reminding them that any new work has to be skid resistant. We have also been talking with Bombala council about their proposed ads on the road. They say they are well aware of the need to be skid resistant for bikes, as the general manager is a rider. Thunderbolts ------------ After giving a paper at a local govt road safety conference about what works and what doesn't in motorcycle safety, Brian Wood was approached about the number of crashes on Thunderbolt's Way. Expect some activity in that area. Hopefully sensible road works rather than radar traps... That's pretty much it. If you want to volunteer for something or get more information, then iMotor Cycle Council of NSW Administrative Office 15 Huddleston St Colyton NSW 2760 AUSTRALIA Ph: (02) 9833 7794 (+61-2-9833-7794 for callers outside Australia) Fax: (02) 9833 7795
