MRA slams Brumby government
Has taken aim at the proposed Graduated Licencing Scheme as a concerted campaign to reduce motorcycle numbersThe Motorcycle Riders Association of Victoria MRA (Vic) has slammed the discussion paper released by the Victorian Minister for Roads Tim Pallas on a proposed Graduated Licensing System (GLS) for motorcyclists as fundamentally flawed and unworkable.
“If this goes ahead we’ll see more unlicensed riders and more people dying on our roads,” said MRA President Kerry Walton. “The GLS is the first step in an insidious government campaign to reduce motorcycle numbers. The paper unequivocally reflects the Government’s financial motivation to remove riders from the road.”
Recently, the Bikesales Network ran a news story about projected costings contained in the GLS discussion paper. One of the measures discussed, completing up to 120 hours of supervised riding, suggests that in a worst case scenario a novice rider without access to an experienced rider to assist them may be faced with costs of nearly $14,000 if they need to hire the services of an accredited rider training instructor.
The MRA blasted the steep pricing in its media release, and the brickbats continued:
- MRA: The state government uses junk science and skewed statistics to peddle its anti-motorcycle message in the media.
- MRA: The number of deaths per registered motorcycle has actually decreased in the last 10 years. Not only in Victoria, but nationwide.
- MRA: There is no evidence whatsoever that mandatory learner supervision reduces motorcycle deaths or serious injuries.
- MRA: The proposed system will only encourage more unlicensed riders onto the roads as evidenced by similar systems in Queensland and Western Australia.
- MRA: Unlicensed and unregistered riders account for more motorcycle deaths than learner riders.
“The MRA advocates licensing reforms for all road users in the form of better training and road-user education,” said Walton. “The proposed GLS is based on car data and is not a valid model for motorcycles.
“The MRA insists that any changes to the current system must be supported by evidence, not driven by an anti-motorcycling ideology and garbage statistics from a government addicted to the revenue raised from its draconian enforcement policies, which clearly do not and have not ever worked anywhere on Earth.”
VicRoads, the government’s statutory body, is currently going through a public consultation phase before it prepares a formal report for the state government on the GLS.
The Victorian Labor government is currently in caretaker mode ahead of the state election on November 27.
The Liberal opposition hasn’t yet announced any motorcycle-specific policies in the run up to the election.
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