A 13% drop in speed camera offences by Victorian motorcycles despite bike registrations increasing 25% has been cited as a need for front number plates.
The Victorian Motorcycle Council says the statistics should be a good news story, but claim Road Safety Camera Commissioner Gordon Lewis has twisted the figures for his own purposes and to vilify riders. The VMC says the call for front number plates is “little more than a cynical attempt to raise revenue” that would put the state out of step with the rest of the world.
Front number plates would mark a return to the bad old days when front number plates were aptly called “people slicers” because of their effect in an accident. It would also put the state totally out of step with modern design and aerodynamics. If it ever happened – and it is unlikely – many manufacturers would abandon the Victorian market.
The Commissioner’s report reveals a 13% drop in the number of speeding motorcycles detected on Victorian roads, down more than 3000 in just one year, from 15,938 in 2012/13 to 12,888 in 2013/14. The Commissioner called the statistics “chilling”, but the VMC says there are no statistics to indicate an increase in death or injury among riders. In fact, they say motorcyclist fatality and injury figures have never been lower in real terms.
VMC spokesman John Eacott says the figures show one in 14 registered motorcycles are detected speeding compared with about one in four other vehicles.
The commissioner has also claimed that the increase in undetectable motorcycles is “alarming, but the VMC says the actual numbers have gone down, while the rate has increased marginally from 64% in 2009/10 to 73%.
The VMC says the increased rate is due to the increasing number and frequency of use of speed cameras, most of which are placed facing the front of oncoming vehicles.
“By the Commissioner’s own admission, the camera system has failed to identify a completely legal and ADR-compliant mode of transport. This will be corrected by new cameras capable of capturing vehicles from both directions, which represents the single greatest admission that the camera system was flawed from the very get go and confirms what the VMC has been saying all along,” John says.