Front number plates would cost the motorcycle community millions in initial outlay and ongoing annual costs, according to the Victorian Motorcycle Council.
VMC front number plate reportThe VMC has compiled their compelling case against front number plates after recent comments by Victorian Road Safety Camera Commissioner Gordon Lewis who claimed the drop in speed camera offences by motorcyclists was because they avoided detection with no front number plate.
Maybe it’s because the Victorian authorities have been so vehemently anti-motorcycle, but the VMC has become very proficient in defending riders against ridiculous anti-motorcycle bias.
Their front number plate policy statement covers issues such as aesthetics, costs, road safety, history, speeding offences, design rules, electronic tags and more.
In one of the most compelling cases, the VMC claims it would cost the Victorian motorcycling community some “$30 million with an ongoing $1 million-plus annually plus the cost of a yet-to-be-determined suitable FNP design. This is a significant impost on any community and such a cost imposition for no net benefit should categorically rule out the proposal”.
They say it would also ruin the resale value of Victorian motorcycles and affect the interstate trade in bikes.
The VMC instead suggests other strategies for improved road safety and traffic management including “filtering, training, community awareness, agency cooperation, better data collection, better off road safety focus, etc” which were all key recommendations from the Parliamentary Inquiry into Motorcycle Safety Inquiry.
“In addition, the VMC believes that better-trained riders, wearing their choice of better gear, on better roads with better-trained and more-aware road users sharing those roads, are the key elements to a lasting and significantly safer motorcycling environment.”
Amen.