RIDING THEIR LUCK
MOTORCYCLISTS FACING HORROR YEAR ON OUR ROADS
GEELONG is on its way to recording the worst year for motorcycle accidents in more than a decade.
The latest Transport Accident Commission statistics show there were 34 crashes in just the first five months of last year.
One rider, whose wife was killed in a crash that also left him seriously injured, is joining the police in calling for better driver education to protect motorcyclists and end the mayhem.
ON average, two motorcyclists die and 49 more are hospitalised each year on our region’s roads — which are now heading towards their worst year for crashes in more than a decade.
And now, road users and police are calling for more training for both drivers and motorcyclists, to better protect the most vulnerable road users.
The latest Transport Accident Commission statistics reveal there were 34 crashes in the first five months of 2017 in our region — including Greater Geelong, the Surf Coast, Queenscliff and Colac Otway.
If the trend continued, there would be 81 motorcycle hospitalisation claims in our region in 2017, the most in more than a decade and well above the region’s 11-year average of 49.
The 2017 surge can be partially put down to a March spike, when 14 motorcyclists were hospitalised in just 31 days.
Geelong Highway Patrol sergeant Darren Murphy said the amount of motorcycle accidents slowed down in the latter half of 2017.
Sgt Murphy knows better than most the dangers of riding motorbikes, after both working on the Highway Patrol and witnessing the death of a best mate while both were riding their motorbikes.
Better training for both motorcyclists and drivers was needed to help lower the number of crashes involving motorbikes, Sgt Murphy said.
“Certainly being a motorcyclist you’re a very, very vulnerable road user, and as much as people love the freedom of riding a motorbike out in the open air, you’ve got to be very aware of your circumstances and what you’re doing,” he said.
Transport Accident Commission road safety lead director Samantha Cockfield said too many people were being killed or seriously injured in motorcycle crashes on Victorian roads, despite a reduction in rider fatalities in 2017. “It is critical that drivers and riders share responsibility for keeping each other safe on the roads,” Ms Cockfield said.
“Drivers need to be always on the lookout for motorcycles and understand the vulnerabilities of riders, while riders can help by ensuring they are visible to drivers through correct road positioning. “
Motorcyclists hospitalised in our region are almost always men, with females making up just 10 per cent of hospitalisation claims since 2006. In that time men accounted for 100 per cent of motorcycle fatalities.
Riders aged between 40 and 59 are in the most danger — accounting for more than 40 per cent of all hospitalisation claims since 2006.