Manifesto

It is doubtful that any projected cashflows for income from motorcycles would be affected by removing tolls for motorcycles - because they were NEVER CONSIDERED IN PLANNING

What can you do?

This election is about VOTING FOR THE INDIVIDUAL, not about Parties

Do you really trust the candidate or member to think and act for themselves, or are they a self serving tool of a backroom deal to benefit others?

Vote for good, ethical individuals - avoid the clowns and misleading spin doctors - seek clear answers

What Are The Real Issues?

• Motorcyclists overlooked in transport planning
• Doing nothing is not an option
• No more ignoring motorcyclists or `knee-jerk' responses
• Bad laws encourage disrespect for all laws
• Road Safety Funding Allocation Inadequate for Motorcycles

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Here's an interesting exchange that took place at the NSW Budget Estimates Hearings.

Until October 2002, the total annual direct expenditure on motorcycle safety was a $20,000 grant to the MCC of NSW to support Motorcycle Awareness Week run by the MCC of NSW.

In October 2002, the RTA and MAA contributed funds for the first ever State based motorcycle safety advertising programs in which we saw adverts directed to riders and adverts directed to car drivers. These were launched to co-ordinate with Motorcycle Awareness Week. Since October 2002, the total expenditure on these direct safety programs is around $1.5 million - total for the 3 years. The total is still below $2 million

Notice how Joe Tripodi, then Minister forRoads, answers the questions on this, put by Lee Rhiannon

ROADS ESTIMATES 21 TUESDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2005

Ms LEE RHIANNON: How much money does the Government put into Motorcycle Awareness Week?
Mr JOSEPH TRIPODI: To date the Government has spent $1.5 million in advertising that coincides with awareness week.
Ms LEE RHIANNON: The $1.5 million is spent by the Government on awareness week?
Mr JOSEPH TRIPODI: On motorcycle awareness and safety which coincides with awareness week.
Ms LEE RHIANNON: Does any grant of money go to a motorcycle group or any group as part of awareness week?
Mr JOSEPH TRIPODI: To the best of my knowledge there is no direct funding to that particular group but obviously our programs coincide to ensure that that community group gets the best results it possibly can for its constituency, and the RTA assists in that objective by ensuring that the advertising campaign coincides with that community initiative, thereby making sure that collectively we get the best result for motor cyclists.
Ms LEE RHIANNON: What is the cost effectiveness of $1.5 million for that program?
Mr JOSEPH TRIPODI: Safety dollars are extremely important. Advertising road safety is a very valuable and important function of the RTA. I think the RTA gets good value for money, as do motorists and motor cyclists.
Ms LEE RHIANNON: Will you continue to put up money in subsequent years?
Mr JOSEPH TRIPODI: There is no intention to change that support we currently extend to the Motorcycle Council of New South Wales.
Ms LEE RHIANNON: Is the Government committed to implementing real changes to motorcycle safety when it involves changes in RTA policy?
Mr JOSEPH TRIPODI: Obviously we always seek to be open to suggestions on how to improve road safety for motor cyclists. We are happy to receive any submissions and ideas that could assist in improving road safety for all road users.
Ms LEE RHIANNON: Is the Minister aware that Cross City Tunnel operators fine people if is the E-tag technology of tunnel operators does not work?
Mr FORWARD: That is not correct. How electronic tags work is that the various providers of E-tags have what is known as a white list. In other words, a list of those numberplates that then link up to a tag. If a motorist goes through and, for whatever reason, the tag or equipment does not work, a photograph is taken of the numberplate. If the numberplate coincides with a numberplate on a white
list, all that happens is that that particular account gets billed for the cost of the transaction.
Ms LEE RHIANNON: So a person who has an E- tag is not fined, they just have to pay the toll at the regular rate that should have been paid?
Mr FORWARD: Correct.
Ms LEE RHIANNON: Will the Government insist on technology that makes it possible for motorbike riders to use E-tags on the new tollways?
Mr JOSEPH TRIPODI: Three initiatives are currently under development to overcome difficulties experienced by motorcyclists with regard to tag recognition when passing through toll gantries. The first is that the Roads and Traffic Authority is trialling a special bracket to attach tags to motorcycles. The trial is in its early stages, and the results to date have been positive. The second one is Q-free. An electronic tag supplier has built a prototype motorcycle tag that is softer than those currently available, and waterproofed. Initial designs have been provided to the Motorcycle Council of New South Wales for input prior to proceeding.
NOTE: the proposed designs were presented by RTA on 17 December 2003, never built and the proposed trial never ocurred, the last communications on this being 4 May 2004
The third one is that Cross City Motorway, the operators of the cross-city tunnel, have proposed the introduction of a tag armband. This type of tag is currently being used in Norway and France. Testing indicates that the reliability of E-tags increases if the rear of the tag faces forward— the same orientation as it would have if it were attached to the windscreen of a motor vehicle. Motorcyclists are advised to keep a short distance back from the vehicle immediately in front of them, and to keep in the centre of their lanes.
NOTE: these armbands are dangerous to use and had been rejected in MCC of NSW reply to RTA letter of 4 June 2001
Ms LEE RHIANNON: Has the Government taken any steps to reduce the use of wire rope barrier cable fencing, or to move it further from lanes to diminish the hazard to motorcyclists?
Mr JOSEPH TRIPODI: Would you repeat that?
ROADS ESTIMATES 23 TUESDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2005
Ms LEE RHIANNON: I am talking about the wire rope. We get a number of complaints from motorcyclists that it is very dangerous. Are you taking any measures to phase it out?
Mr FORWARD: At an AusRoads meeting, which I am chair of, we discussed the issue of wire rope barriers. The VicRoads agency was going to do a study, and canvassed throughout Australia to find evidence that the wire rope barriers were dangerous to motorcyclists. They were unable to provide any evidence that actually suggested it was dangerous to motorcyclists. It needs to be realised that if a motorcyclist comes off and slides across the road, he is more than likely to be hit by an oncoming vehicle. If he slides into the wire rope, he slides back onto the road that he has come off. There is no evidence, according to the VicRoads authority, that this is dangerous to motorcyclists. If they were to hit a concrete barrier, chances are they will also end up with quite severe injury.
NOTE: the problem is shallow-angle impacts. Smooth concrete allows the rider to slide to a stop, wire rope fencing chops into the riders body, having been designed for car bodies, not human bodies
Ms LEE RHIANNON: Has the RTA or the Minister's office received complaints from motorcyclists about wire rope barriers?
Mr FORWARD: I have not received any complaints from motorcyclists about wire rope for years.
Ms LEE RHIANNON: Does "years" mean three years, or five years?
Mr FORWARD: I have been chief executive now for six years, and I have not received one complaint.
NOTE: the Motorcycle Consultative Committee run by the RTA had received ample complaints from the MCC of NSW, such as the case of Les Finn killed in December 2004 near Swansea, who was chopped in pieces by the posts that hold the wire rope. So much for so-called "consultation"
The Hon. DON HARWIN: Minister, in 2003 Minister Scully committed the Government to the expenditure of $100,000 to conduct a feasibility study for a second crossing over the Shoalhaven River, and last year or the year before in the estimates hearing he said that one of the expenditures
during the 2003-04 year was for "investigations for a second crossing of the Shoalhaven River". Can you confirm that the investigations have actually taken place, and can you detail the findings of the feasibility study?
Mr JOSEPH TRIPODI: This Government recognises the importance of the Princes Highway as a major road transport corridor for New South Wales. Obviously, in our negotiations over Auslink, the Federal Government has not agreed on its significance, particularly anywhere south of Wollongong. The benefits of improving traffic flow across the Shoalhaven River at Nowra are recognised; and, as a first step in identifying options and locations, a feasibility study for an additional crossing was initiated. The original study has been completed, and it indicated that further analysis of traffic management each side of the existing bridges is warranted. Funds of $100,000 were provided in 2004-05 for completion of this study, and the findings are currently being reviewed.
The Hon. DON HARWIN: Would you release the study, if it is finished, as you said?
Mr JOSEPH TRIPODI: It is currently being collated. So I will make a decision when I receive it. You are asking me to make a decision about something that has not happened yet, so it is
difficult for me to answer.
The Hon. DON HARWIN: So the study has finished—
Mr JOSEPH TRIPODI: No, the study apparently has not been finished.
The Hon. DON HARWIN: I am sorry; I thought you said in an earlier answer that it had been.
Mr JOSEPH TRIPODI: No. Funds of $100,000 were provided in 2004-05 for completion of the study, and the findings are currently being reviewed.