Media Release Wednesday January 23rd, 2008

Calls for motorcycles and scooters across Australia to be fitted with front ID come hot on the heels of calls for all vehicles to be fitted with satellite-linked, speed-control devices. Satellite speed limiters may not become law yet but motorcyclists are being targeted as a test group in the name of road safety. These moves have more to do with controlling the population and increasing revenue than they do with any sort of safety. See links below.

A December 2007 VicRoads paper on "front number plates" has leaked. The document does not identify the authors. Apparently it says VicRoads have got round problems with motorcycles and scooters not being designed to display front ID. They have come up with  options. Stickers? Plates? Or electronic front ID allowing machines to be tolled and tracked?

In 2002 VicRoads commissioned a report by a qualified transport expert. That report is selectively quoted in the 2007 report, but issues like liability in the case causing of injury in a crash are overlooked. The earlier report indicated the introduction of front ID would not necessarily be cost-effective in practice.

VicRoads aim is to introduce front ID for motorcycles and scooters nationally. Virtually no countries require front ID on bikes.

It is not clear what role the expert committee, the Victorian Motorcycle Advisory Council (VMAC), had in the 2007 document. VMAC meets at VicRoads in Kew  ([email protected]) to advise the Minister, Tim Pallas ( [email protected] ) 

It seems the 2007 document is a "draft regulatory impact statement". Given the numbers involved, justifying the cost of national introduction of front number plates by guesstimating a 2 to 4% reduction in bike casualties is laughable and unsubstantiated. 

VicRoads wants riders to believe its' estimates and assumptions, but we don't know the qualifications of the report's authors. The evaluation methods used seem to be based only on speed reduction. We don't know the full cost of the report. Sooner or later costs get passed on to the rider through registration fees or the TAC antibike tax.

The Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into Crashes Involving Roadside Objects (2005) contained many "estimates" and "assumptions" by VicRoads. The Executive Summary was damning about the lack of quality crash data in spite of promises by administration after administration to improve data collection.

It is difficult to see how front ID on motorcycles and scooters can reduce crashes. In 2007 insurance figures indicated that a massive 40% of bike crashes involved a car hitting a bike from behind with another 20% of bikes being hit when a car changed lanes. Front ID would not have prevented these crashes. TAC are paying up to 40% of claims to off-road riders so road rider statistics are inflated. 

Front ID for bikes seems to be more about targeting riders for specific blitzes and introducing road tolls. Police support front ID to track bike riders.

In Melbourne's Sunday Herald Sun on April 14, 2002, Assistant Commissioner Bob Hasting reportedly said. "Victoria Police wanted front number plates to be reintroduced. ... there were also concerns about being able to track people who used their motorbikes in crimes ...." About 280,000 Victorians are licenced to ride motorcycles and scooters. 

In 2002 Police released several speed camera photos of speeding riders. At least one, claiming 179 kph! in a suburban street, was bogus. Even Superman would have trouble controlling a motorcycle one-handed in that wind. This photo, on it's second release, featured on the ABC's Media Watch. Police claimed it was a new shot.

Front ID has potential to worsen the unrider problem. Up to 35% of rider fatalities are unlicenced. Unlicenced/unregistered riding is unlikely to be positively effected by front ID on bikes.

Most motorcycle and scooter, bicycle and pedestrian casualties are victims of car driver error. A small improvement in driver behaviour would benefit all road users. Logic says that the money wasted on yet another front ID report would have produced a greater road safety benefit if it had been spent on road user education or putting the money into more police on our roads.

Climate change, gridlocked urban areas and inadequate public transport means responsible road authorities are encouraging environmentally-friendly transport, but not in Victoria. Instead of looking at ways to make motorcycles and scooters safer, more affordable and more efficient, particularly for commuters and as links to public transport, our administration is wasting our tax dollars on measures that no one else in the world considers even sensible. The leaked document has sent shock waves through Australia's 1.3 million strong motorcycle community. Many are thinking that this is another way for big brother to expand continuing population surveillance.

If you value you right to ride, contact the Victorian Shadow Minister for Transport, Terry Mulder MP at  [email protected] or on 03 5231 5046.

Damien Codognotto