Email from Damien Codognotto to The
The Monash University Accident Research Centre report
recommending that the motorbike and scooter licence
age be raised to 21 across
If the aim of MUARC's study was to reduce road casualties then reducing our exposure to single-occupant car drivers would work better and help the environment. If the aim was to show that driving a car improves rider skill and alertness, then a study of car drivers, one group with bike experience, one without, over 5 years (?), would have been more credible. It could have shown car drivers who ride bikes are safer. Good science might say bike licenses should be available before car licenses.
In spite of increased restrictions and taxes, motorbikes and scooters have been growing in popularity for two decades. More than 280,000 Victorians hold bike licenses and pay road taxes. Machines and safety gear have improved hugely over 20 years making riding the safest and greenest it's ever been.
The Motorcycle Riders Association wrote: "It is immediately apparent from an initial study of the full report that the aim is not to produce safer riders - but to produce fewer riders." Reducing the number of pedestrians and bicyclists reduces the road toll too. Considering under-reporting of bicycle crashes, restrictive regulations and taxes should be appropriate for them too.”
Most cars carry just one person, many on unnecessary trips. The prime cause of all road trauma is car driver error. Reduce unnecessary, single-occupant car trips and have a relatively large impact on vulnerable road user casualties. That is, fewer hurt pedestrians, bicyclists, motorbike and scooter riders.
The world warms, our roads are car parks and honoured research establishments are wasting resources on reducing the public's exposure to motorbikes and scooters. Better, fairer and cheaper in the long run to adopt a bicycle-type policy for commuter cycles to reduce road trauma while improving the environment.