On the safety offensive
Hurt rider wants better education
A BELL Park man who was severely injured in a motorbike accident is calling on all P-platers to undertake defensive driver as part of learning to drive.
Henry Jaruga was driving a motorbike towards Anakie Rd at Lara in April last year, when the driver of an oncoming vehicle failed to give way, leaving him in intensive care for two weeks. He is still suffering from the physical and mental impacts of the crash.
“The impact wrecked the nerve that goes to my left arm. I broke my pelvis in six places and spent months in recovery in a trauma care centre,” Mr Jaruga said.
“It was bad timing because I had just retired three days prior to the accident and my wife had just passed away from motor neurone disease. It’s impacted me substantially. My short-term memory is shot.”
The former car industry maintenance fitter said drivers needed to be more aware of their surroundings, including of cyclists and motorbike riders.
Mr Jaruga, who hopes to get back on the bike one day, said he was travelling at about 40km/h when he was hit.
“I can’t recall the actual accident, but the other driver was trying to turn into a depot,” he said. “I know it’s a long shot but I’d like to see every person who wants a drivers’ licence to spend a year on a motorcycle as part of their probation to make them better and safer drivers.
“I have seen a few longterm motorcyclists behind the wheel and they all drive really well.”
But a Department of Transport spokeswoman said the Road Smart program, which was launched in March 2018, had already been effective in training learner drivers.
Road Smart includes an interactive classroom session delivered by a trained facilitator; a practical driving session and eLearning modules. Nine offsite driver training centres are available to regional schools who participate in the program, but there is not one in Geelong.
“The program has helped almost 60,000 students since we launched last year — with a third of these students from regional Victoria — to develop skills and strategies that will reduce their risk on the road,” she said.
The department fears that while defensive driving courses are well intentioned they could lead to overconfidence and risky driving behaviour, particularly for inexperienced drivers.
Greater Geelong had 32 motorcycle crashes where riders were hospitalised from March 2018 to March 2019.
Slater and Gordon motor vehicle accident lawyer Sarah Elseidy said motorbike crashes were all too common in the area and often involved collisions along coastal roads.
“Many roads along the coast are high speed and many of them have tight bends so it requires high levels of concentration and attention,” Ms Elseidy said.