VACC demands support for two-wheeled transport
June 2, 2008 by Alborz Fallah
With the cost of petrol constantly increasing a few of us have ditched the car in favour of small forms of transport, namely scooters and motorcycles. The VACC has called for the Government (State and Federal) to encourage this shift in vehicle choice for everyday commuting.
The VACC wants the Government to better protect riders by introducing a variety of new initiatives.
“With rampant petrol pump prices, it is now apparent that there are fewer cars on the daily commute to work. This presents an opportunity for the Government to acknowledge the role motorbikes and scooters can play in reducing congestion and vehicle emissions, and also in reducing petrol costs for families and commuters,” VACC Executive Director, David Purchase, said.
VACC wants designated and signed “Safe Routes” with improved traffic management features for two-wheeled transport.
“Scooter sales were up 40% last year and they are here to stay. That is a simple and inescapable fact. But the infrastructure for two-wheeled vehicles is not up to scratch. The Government needs to make fundamental improvements to our roads and form an integrated transport policy to incorporate motorbikes, scooters and push bikes.” Purchase continued.
The VACC also points out that with more scooters on the road, carbon emissions are reduced significantly.
The problem with two-wheels transport is the increased level of danger for the rider. Over 80 per cent of all motorcycle crashes are caused by other vehicles hitting them from behind or failing to see the motorcyclists at intersections to give way.
To combat the issue, VACC wants to see safety boxes for motorcycle and scooter riders at the head of busy intersections while allowing access by scooter riders to certain, designated bicycle lanes on roads where such sharing can be achieved safely (many electric and smaller scooters travel at bicycle speeds or less).
A further suggestion includes adding boxed turns, utilising safety boxes, on certain busy intersections for scooter riders (to avoid having them standing unprotected in the middle of passing lanes)
“Both Labor and the Coalition appear to be confused over their best policy on tackling the rapidly rising petrol prices. But there is a golden opportunity staring politicians in the face in promoting the environmental and economic merits of two-wheeled transport. It has worked in Rome, Paris, London, Stockholm and Tokyo – why can’t it work in Australian cities?” Mr Purchase said.
Should do the State and Federal governments do more to encourage two-wheeled transport?
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I’ve actually been thinking about this lot lately. As the article states, there is a lot less traffic around at the moment, namely Saturday. The impact has been crazy.
The only things that have put me off looking into motorized two-wheel transport is the safety part. Coming out or being hit at speed scares me. But I don’t think this safety idea is the way to go. It would cost to much and is impractical. This article pretty much states the way of the future is on two wheels. It’s not. Research is obviously being done on future fuels for cars, which will end up starting the “car cycle” all over again.
I agree motor bikes/scooters are ok as long as they don’t have to share the roads with cars etc.
Would have to be crazy to ride a bike in the city in my opinion given the behaviour of some car/truck etc drivers.
Need their own roads but this is impossible.
I gave up riding motorcycles years ago, but in 7 years on bikes I had two minor accidents one my fault and another a car drivers fault. If it wasn’t for the fact I have a passenger/s in my car most of the time i’d get on a bike. You can ride safely in car traffic but you must take considerably more care and ride 100% defensively. I’m glad the authorities are taking this seriously but they also need to educate car drivers for awareness to motorcycles.
Unfortunately the Australian mentality toward people on 2 wheels is still a murderous one. It doesn’t matter if it’s a pushbike, a scooter, a motorbike or a hog (even the crippled oldies buzzing around in their electric 4 wheel things are detested). All are considered “Hells Angels”
It will require much more than a few designated lanes to change this culture of “bikies are all dirty, will rape our daughters, and should be jailed”.
And for the record, not all motorbikes are economical. Cars that do 6.0l/100 or less consume less fuel than a 750cc motorcycle.
I came back to Melbourne last Monday to hit peak hour traffic. I couldn’t help but notice that 99% of the thousands of cars around me had one person in them.
Not to mention the majority of cars were 6 cylinder+.
I don’t see how these people can complain about the price of fuel when they are bringing big fuel bill on them selves.
I think this is a great idea, bring on more scooters and bikes and the government could also give out LPG style grants to people who buy new cars 1.6L and under.
Yes the price of petrol is ridiculously high. Then do something about it!!! Sell one of the two Commodores(or the like) in your drive way and buy a Mazda 2 or a Peugeot 207.
It’s not just the fuel economy of bikes and scooters. As Jimbo pointed out, most cars stuck in heavy traffic have just one person in them. Imagine the affect on peak hour traffic if even half of those single passenger cars were replace by bikes.
Safety would also improve if there were less cars and more bikes. Less cars to run into you and more people would be bike aware because they have to be.
The VACC are right. The answers for fuel prices and traffic congestion are here now. It’s on 2 wheels.
i used to ride a motor bike in my late teens and early 20s until a typical taxi driver nearly killed me…..so i repaired the bike, put it up for sale and never regretted it!
And Reckless1 is correct…..a small car or better still a big car on LPG is cheaper on fuel than even a medium sized bike and if you care about your welfare or have a family to drive around the bike just isn’t an option!
Safety is a huge issue – especially for new scooter owners.
Scooters have been a part of life in European cities for decades. The government would do well to adopt some of the successful programs in place overseas.