Old Pacific Hwy - Party's over?

Dear fellow Old Road users,

I represent an action group comprised of local residents and business owners
from Cowan to Somersby. We have been lobbying the local/state goverment,
along with the RTA and NSW Police to help correct a growing trend in
antisocial motorcycling on the Old Rd.

We don't appreciate being harrassed when going about our daily activities
which sadly, have a lot to do with travelling on the Old Pacific Hwy.

Many of us residents are the ones to help move your battered and mangled
bike off the road after you have "had a moment". They are the lucky ones.
Some never make it home.

After several meetings with the above authorities, we have reached a
satisfactory outcome.

As of the 1st Janurary 2006, the RTA have notified us of the following
changes:

1. The speed limit between Cowan and Somersby will be reduced to 60km/h
2. Police and HWP will increase their presence in the area
3. Further noise testing will be conducted over the comming months
4. Local residents will be reporting dangerous driving/riding behaviour to
Police.

Sadly, it has had to come to this. There is an ever increasing trend in poor
behaviour, and we have had enough.

Please, ride SAFELY! Remember, the "cagers" you harrass on this road are the
ones that help you when you come to grief. We are either the local SES or
BFB guys.

Safe motoring for all.

 

Care to define or specify the "harassment" you are experiencing ?

JL
I've been on the receiving end of plenty of harassment around there, but
have yet to do any...

 

Honourable intentions but I don't appreciate being needlessly harassed by
authority figures with being pulled over regularly for noise tests and
sticker checks whilst going about my law-abiding trip.

Not sure this will work....

I choose Polesoft Lockspam to fight spam, and you?
http://www.polesoft.com/refer.html

 

1. Change the speed limit from 80 (South Side) and 70 (north Side) to 60 and
you think that will change things?

2. Yeah? For how long?

3. Seen it all before - I'll put the factory can back on for the "comming"
months

4. So you will be creating 'hearsay'................yes you did - no I
didn't!! I have an aleebee

Nothing whatsoever will change

ck

pretty sick of what it's like up there anyway to tell you the truth

 

Dear PRAG person,

I don't live in NSW, and have never ridden over the Old Road, so really
I don't care much about what's going on here. Also, I'm not a fan of
motorcyclists playing racer on busy public roads that results in
endangering other citizens - my attitude here is to do it on the track,
or on a bit of road where all you'll hurt is yourself. However, while
we're being all open an honest, I want to get some things straight
here.

As I said above, I don't know the "Old Road" at all. However, simply
from it's name, I'd guess that it's been around for a little while.
Therefore, chances are that it's not just the current generation of
motorcyclist who has enjoyed riding this road. So this presents two
scenarios.

1 - This un-defined "harassment" has been occuring for a large period
of time. I would assume, then, from your descriptive post below, that
if this were the case, most every motorcyclist who has ridden this road
will have had an accident due to their own fault, and have to have been
assisted by yourself or members of your action group. If this is the
case, surely the road would be marked as a black spot, and police
presence would be high to begin with? Also, a logical extension of this
would be that by now, most every motorcyclist on this road has been
killed as a result of a speed or dangerous-riding related accident.

2 - Either this, or the people involved in this action group have moved
into an area which is well known for it's motorcycling situation
(whether this is good or bad is not an issue here), and then take it
upon themselves to complain to all merry heaven to anyone who will
listen about how they're the victims of other people's anti-social
behaviour. Just keep reminding yourself that forcing your opinion of
life onto someone else is in no-way anit-social in and of itself. Take
heart though - you're not alone - hundreds of people every day buy
houses next door to airports/highways/chicken farms, and then complain
about their neighbours, resorting to whatever means they can to kerb
the anti-social activities of the jumbo jets / trucks with exhaust
brakes / rowdy chickens.


Now, regardless of which scenario we find ourselves in, it's obvious
that you seek a resolution of your current problem. Myself, if I had a
problem with motorcyclists in general, I'd be tempted to go to some
form of motorcycling body with my concerns. NSW has the Motorcycle
Council, or whatever it's called, who'd probably be more than
interested in listening to your concerns, since they have the two-fold
mission of both keeping fellow riders alive, as well as helping the
community to see motorcyclists are members of this same community,
albeit with a slightly different form of transport. Lets face it, no
one really wants to die in a terrible accident - it's horrible PR.

However, this is not what happened in this case. It seems (from your
post, which is all the information that you provided) that you did not
consult any motorcycling groups or forums at all. The Action Group
engaged and lobbied all manner of people in positions of authority,
hoping that they would take your point of view at face value.
Otherwise, surely, there would have been some form of meeting or debate
where an outcome satasfactory to all parties could be thrashed out.

Just speculating here, but I believe that your definition of a
"satasfactory outcome" will be wildly different to a lot of other
people's definitions. But this doesn't matter, since they're
anti-social losers who just need to pull their socks up, fly right, and
do what they're told with their lives, correct?

In your post, you include the line "Sadly, it has had to come to
this.". Can you please elaborate as to what other steps you have
undertaken to try and resolve this situation without wasting a
sufficient quantity of the authority's time that they decided it would
be simply easier to give in to what you demand? Grumpy, "holier than
thou" letters to the editor do not count.

Neither does posting to this newsgroup after the event, in a style
designed to boast about your "Satasfactory outcome", and how all
motorcyclists will be sorry that they messed with you. Or something.

As I mentioned at the start, I'm no fan of amazingly anti-social
behaviour. However, I reserve the right to live my life the way I want
to live it, and I expect to be granted this ability, in so far as it
does not encroach upon other people's ability to do the same. I do not
need the Peats Ridge Action Group to "protect me from myself" or any
other such patronising rhetoric.

You are not my mother, and it is not up to you or anyone else to pick
me up off the road if I end up there because of my own stupid fault. I
did not ask you to do this, and you have no obligation to. If I do come
off, and if you do help, I will be very much obliged to you for your
kindness. However, you are not allowed to hold this over my head, and
crow about how much of a helpful saintly fellow you are, and how your
good will in this instance allows you to dictate to me how to live my
life. At no time did I ask you to do this. Do you understand the
difference here? You are free to help me, and I will appreciate that
help. However, I do not expect that help, and, should you not be able
to give that help freely, then you should not give it at all.

Maybe you're right - maybe your sweeping generalisations are true -
maybe all motorcyclists on the old road are terribly evil, horible,
harassing folk. As I said, I've never been there. Maybe you do know
better than me, and maybe you really are trying to save humanity.

But maybe you're wrong. And maybe I value the ability to make my own
mistakes, and learn that way. And maybe I resent having rules made
which affect me by someone who has specifically chosen to not involve
me in this rule-making process. And I certainly resent having the maker
of those rules tell me after the fact how good he/she/they are, and how
screwed I'm going to be, "As of the 1st Janurary 2006".

We'll soon see, I guess.

Matto
05 Sprint ST

Who, while we're in a black and white world, has had his life put in
the balance too many times by "cagers", through no fault of his own, to
buy into this "we're all just trying to help you" BS.
</rant>

 

Does it Gerry, oh well, I'm sure you'll be fine eventually.

So are you going to explain to me how

1. reducing the speed limit further when they're already exceeding it
and
2. harassing us with yet more tests

is going to stop the above behaviour ?

I think you'll find the guys above have stock pipes and/or the correct
stickers usually.

JL

 

Oh it probably will for a bit, but not for long

JL

 

All in favour of that.

I don't ride the Old Road on the weekends because of all those clowns.
If all the Police and HWP are up there, free up the otheir presence
from the other roads

Lowering the speed limit to 10km/h won't change the speed that people
do up there.

 

pretty sick of what it's like up there anyway to tell you the truth

Which is _precisely_ the response they're looking for.

 

Please don't speak on my behalf, regardless of whether I may or may not
agree with you.

Sadly, the last paragraph explains something...

This one confirms it.

Dave E ZZR600 => ST2 (stolen) => '03 XX
....you can also keep your offensive "pink mist" fantasies to yourself. :-|

 

*SNIP SPAM ABOUT A ROAD I DON'T USE IN A STATE I DON'T LIVE IN*

I suggest you find a NSW based forum rather than worsening the signal to
noise ratio in here.


G-S

 

el schnippo

agree

if everyone rode through the populated areas at the speed limit in 5th or
6th, rather than 2nd, then there probably wouldn't be an outcry.

do whatever the **** you want in the twisties, behave yourself around the
communities.

ck

 

How could anyone possibly "disrespect" someone who chooses to ride a
Super Sherpa??? I mean _really!_

;-)

big

 

Hehe - perhaps the delivery of 2 cases of red on Fri arvo contributed to my
lapsed synapses and misfiring joke receptors today.

Yes.

Cheers,
Dave E

 

Seen a few more of these things floating around. Thought we had the only
one around, for ages, then two show up in the car park at work.

Mind you, ours is currently in getting some minor repairs after a
parting of the ways halfway up a decidedly slippery slope last week.
Gravity is a real bitch.

---
Cheers

PeterC [aka MildThing]
'81 Suzuki GS450-s (gone on to better and brighter things - I hope)
'87 BMW K100RT (write-off)
'81 Yamaha Virago (XV) 750H (work in progress)
'01 Yamaha FJR1300

www.dmcsc.org.au
http://eladesom.com.au/ulysses/
# 37181

 

Haha! In the greater scheme of s2n ratios, this post is more signal than
noise, compared to some of the other threads in here - even if it IS a
good wind-up.

---
Cheers

PeterC [aka MildThing]
'81 Suzuki GS450-s (gone on to better and brighter things - I hope)
'87 BMW K100RT (write-off)
'81 Yamaha Virago (XV) 750H (work in progress)
'01 Yamaha FJR1300

www.dmcsc.org.au
http://eladesom.com.au/ulysses/
# 37181

 

Offensive?

Hammo

 

He shoots he scores! Alx bags a DodgyDag

Just bringing some perspective to this rather strange initiating post.

Off the top of my head, and you can bother to google, I have posted rather
sternly about idiots rounding the wrong side of a corner and taking out
(rather seriously) a couple on a bike a couple of years back.

(postscript...hahah...first posting that appeared was a trip report
including reference to 4 idiots on stretch into Mooney.

Jul 7 2003, 2:28 pm



Quite a few "gerry" postings/rants in there as well Seems to leap to
conclusions from the bare facts....

Also numerous occasions would have suggested the boyz take it to the track.

Did your opinion just spurt out from the top of your head too? At least my
off the cuff remarks are about my postings and not yours.

Do you have a firearms license for that machine gun? Do you think there are
grounds to deny you one?

SInce when is staking out a corner with a machinegun a responsible civic
view?

You are a pratt. Makes the group so much more interesting.

 

Should be PRAT; Peats Ridge Action Tossers.


Bill

 

Um... it sounded like a reference to a human being 'vaporised' by gunfire.

Not really my thing to be honest. I've spent too much time with landmine
victims in various countries I'm afraid. Perhaps struck a silly nerve!

Cheers,
Dave E