Scooters rally for Melbourne streets
October 16, 2008 by Matt Brogan
Love them, hate them or simply love to hate them, you can’t deny the ever growing presence of Scooters on Melbourne’s streets – and we’re about to get a double dose with more than 400 riders expected to participate in the VACC ‘Safe Routes’ Scooter Rally 2008.
Meeting at Luna Park, St Kilda, from 10.00am on Sunday 26th October, the cavalcade will leave at 10.30am and ride, en masse, to Waterfront City Piazza, Docklands. As well as sharing the camaraderie that seems to go hand in hand with scooter ownership, the occasion also provides scooter owners with an opportunity to press the State Government for changes to road design and traffic management to make scooter riding safer for scooter commuters.
“VACC is recommending the implementation of signed ‘Safe Routes’, safety boxes, access by scooter riders to certain designated bicycle lanes and allowing boxed turns at certain busy intersections,” VACC General Manager, Communications and Marketing, Tim O’Brien said. “Scooter sales are booming. Some brands are up nearly 60 percent on last year. They are a cheap alternative to cars, they benefit the environment because they leave a tiny carbon footprint, they reduce congestion on roads and they reduce pressure on city parking spaces. It is time for the Government to take them seriously and to accommodate scooters in our road planning and traffic management systems”
The Rally forms part of this year’s Community Safety Day of which some 50,000 people are expected to attend. There will be helicopters, fire trucks, boats and other vehicles used in rescues and emergencies on show at Docklands facility as well as Victoria Police and Ambulance historic vehicles, and displays by the Coast Guard and Defence Forces.
“VACC and Scooter riders are very much looking forward to being part of Community Safety Day. We are also keen to work with VicRoads and the Government for creative solutions to make scooter riding safer for all,” Mr O’Brien said.
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That photo of the guy irritates me for the same reason most scooter riders irritate me. If some mum in her SUV merges into him on the way home, he is f*cked. Open face helmut means his jaw is will bare the brunt of the impact if he face plants, ankles and feet will be ruined with his sandals offering no protection, leather jacket is just an overcoat, so offers no protection. Riding butt naked will offer just as much protection from the industrial belt sander that bitumen is at 50kmhr.
Yes, there are motorcyclists as well who don’t wear much protective gear, but the problem is way worse with scooter riders. Just because you ride in the city at slower speeds, doesn’t mean you won’t be messed up if someone knocks you off at 50km/hr. I’m just trying to fathom the delusion that scooter riders seem to have, that because they sit upright and don’t have a clutch and gear peg, suddenly they are safer than a motorcycle. The tiny wheels make potholes are lot more dangerous for one. At least that guy has one of those 3 wheel scooters, so it’d be a bit more stable, but still.
Yes, riding with full or at least partial gear can be an embuggerance, but so’s hospitals and funerals.
Completely agree. I bet the girl in the 2nd pic probably rides her scooter as dressed aswell.
Couldn’t agree more guys. As someone who rides daily (my anti-spam word was Triumph) it really annoys me to see scooter/bike riders in tank tops or suits. One spill and they’ll know all about it. Pleased to see the TAC finally doing some advertising on this front too.
Anybody that wears an open face helmet when riding a scooter, motorbike or even a Harley is asking to swallow their own chin. When I ride, it helmet, gloves, boots, jackets and kevlar jeans. No less.
The girl in the 2nd photo is smokin’ hot!!
Err, and oh yeah, I think more should be done to make roads safer for scooters, they’re fun to ride and superbly economical.