The significant number of unlicensed motorcycle riders and riders of stolen bikes who make up the road toll should change police patrolling methods from speed traps to increased licence checks.
About one in five Australian motorcycle deaths involve riders not holding a valid motorcycle licence, according to Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland (CARRS-Q) research.
So far this year in Victoria, there have been nine motorcycle deaths and only two of them involved licensed riders on their own bikes.
Five of the fatalities involved unlicensed riders and the other two were riding stolen bikes.
Despite the fact that riders claim they are already harassed by police performing random licence checks, perhaps it is time for us to be harassed even more.
Licence checks or computerised automated scanning of motorcycle number plates would go a long way toward snaring these thieves and getting unlicensed riders off the roads.
After all, they skew the road crash statistics in such a way that authorities point the finger of blame at all riders.
What follows is usually more speed cameras and sometimes greater penalties.
Speed cameras do not catch unlicensed riders nor bike thieves. Only police patrols can do that.
Furthermore, greater penalties only encourages more people to ride unlicensed, hoping to avoid detection and fines.
Also, CARRS-Q points out that unlicensed riders are more likely to not wear an approved helmet, increasing their risk of being killed in a crash.
Time for police to turn off the cameras and get out on the road and do their job.