MOTORCYCLISTS in Victoria have two Police to look out for, as Operation Motus – a patrol unit specifically aimed at policing motorcyclists – has been unveiled by Victorian police in an attempt to curb the spike in recent rider fatalities, which has so far seen 28 riders killed in 2016.
The operation signals a shift in the focus of the Victorian Police Solo Unit, as more than 70 police motorbikes will patrol major roads at peak periods.
The focus of the Solo Unit will be to target all motorcyclists in an attempt to isolate unlicensed riders or those riding outside the conditions of their licence, speed, impairment, unsafe/illegal behaviour and those wearing ‘inappropriate’ protective clothing.
Big questions remain over the unit being able find an unlicensed riders or those rising outside of the conditions of their licence short of pulling over everyone they come across have not been answered directly.
Road Policing Assistant Commissioner Doug Fryer said, “If you’re a motorcyclist in Victoria who hasn’t been checked by the police lately, expect that to change.”
That sounds like it means officers will pull over every rider they come across.
Mr Fryer said the patrols were to ‘warn’, ‘educate’ and ‘engage’ with riders, “It may be to talk to them about appropriate clothing, or the line they are taking when they are riding.”
Why are we getting a police response to an increase in rider fatalities which sounds like it’s going to result in lectures from police about your choice of riding gear and the way you ride – even if both are within the law.
What right do the police have to delay a licensed, law-abiding motorcyclist with a lecture about appropriate clothing?
The Victorian Police has no civil right or obligation to do this.
Cycle Torque encourages motorcyclists – especially anyone with a high risk of being involved in an accident (including but not limited to learners, returning riders and idiots) – to wear motorcycle-specific protective gear, but we don’t believe Police should be pulling people over and ‘chatting’ about riders’ choices.
We also don’t believe it is our job to lecture riders on what to wear either. Inform riders about what is out there, yes… we do that, but what you choose to wear is none of our business, nor is it any of the police’s business.
It will make riders become paranoid of being pulled over without breaking the law.
When riders are paranoid about being pulled over, their comfortable, ‘police-approved’ safety gear isn’t aiding concentration, which is one of the reasons the police will tell you to buy it, when they pull you over and proceed with a lecture and ‘random’ breath-test.
Checking the speedo every 10 seconds might also end up in riders taking the wrong line from time to time, and hence pulled over for education purposes, and yep… another ‘random’ breath-test.
“There are certain aspects of policing motorcycles that can’t be done by vehicles,” Mr Fryer said.
“We have had a horror start to the year when it comes to motorcycle fatalities and this is our response.
“The Solo Unit will now be deployed to areas we have identified as particular hot spots for motorcycle fatalities, collisions or dangerous behaviour.”
Mr Fryer has previously told the Herald Sun the closest thing to a pattern they can establish with this year’s death toll is good weather, but “long-term trend data highlights that riding a motorcycle in Victoria — when looking at 20-year trend data — has never been safer,” he said.
A recent Victorian Government-funded tourism strategy actually outlined the benefits of motorcycling in the area, the Minister for Tourism and Major Events Louise Asher said, “motorcycle tourism has the potential to make an important contribution to the Victorian economy, particularly in regional areas,” and these measures will only deter motorcyclists from travelling to this nanny state.
Any revenue raised from nabbing a few unlicensed and speeding riders will not be offset by motorcyclists being put off travelling to Victoria.
“Motorcycling is the fastest growing road user sector, nationally experiencing eight per cent growth per year over the last decade and 12.5 per cent in sales growth last year alone,” Asher said.
Victorian police will say Operation Motus will be a success if the death toll is lower.
But, will it?
No one will want ride a motorcycle there long enough to find out.
Thank goodness as car drivers are so perfect ,because they always indicate there intentions to turn, never use their mobile phone whilst driving and are the best knowing how to use roundabouts. I spend My entire day on a bike and commute on a bike to a from work. I think better money spent on stopping drivers that are a danger to themselves and others and RE TESTING THEM ????
This state is becoming a joke, what is the percentage of unlicensed riders in these stats or are these stats fudged, soon they will be enforcing what type of bike to buy and ride. Like with all things there are a small percentage of people who think they are invincible on the road and unfortunately some pay with there life, Victoria Police seem to be wasting tax payers money buying more unnessary motorcycles when realistically they will only pull over a small percentage of motorcycle riders, here’s a thought, put on a BBQ and invite the motorcycle riders for a chat
Hmmmm……I guess that’s one way to look at it. Perhaps another way might be, this could just perhaps target those that are doing the wrong thing too. So what if they pull over a few riders who aren’t wearing correct riding gear, maybe it might finally get through to them that they should think more about their own life and how hospitalisation effects not just themselves but everyone associated with them. And I don’t see a problem if it does make some riders check their speedo a bit more often than they usually do, it might make some of those retards out their slow down.
Clearly you aren’t a rider and are just an ignorant keyboard commando….. For your education 1) The only safety gear required by law is an approved Helmet, I choose to wear a jacket etc but on a stinking hot day why should I be pulled over if I decide to wear just a T-Shirt? I know many people who have been in bike accidents, been wearing fully protective gear and still ended up with serious injuries requiring extended hospital stays. 2) Having to look down at your speedo takes your eyes off of the road ahead and feeling like you have to monitor it more than you already do is dangerous as it affects your reaction time should something happen in front of you (lets say a driver texting and swirving in to your lane or a car pulling out from a sewrvice road as they havent bothered to look) or affect a line you may be taking through a corner. Every split second counts even when you are doing the speed limit and obeying the law 3) Dangerous riders will continue to be dangerous riders regardless. They dont care about the law now why would they after reading this article. Lets be clear people breaking the law should be caught and fined etc in accordance of the law but pulling over law abiding riders for no reason is excessive. Statistics actually show that drivers are the cause of over 90% of motorcycle accidents not riders so maybe a more targeted approach to drivers texting, drink drivers and well hell just pulling over a driver for no reason but to lecture them on how the dark colour of their commodore could affect its visibility at night time (even though the colour is legal) may be a better way of stemming the tide…. Whats good for riders should be good for drivers right? I mean there are more car fatalities than motorcycle fatalities after all
Wow. The organisers of the MotoGP races at Phillip island must be wondering how many less spectators they will get this year due to the “safety campaign” being waged by Victoria police and how long it will be before the races head to another track in another state? Did someone say Tailem Bend?
Or maybe they can focus on the real problem car driver’s its like truck drivers its easier to hit truck drivers than it is to put brains in car drivers guess now it will be bike riders as they to ard like truck drivers the only ones who understand road rules 1 in 4 car drivers is the average % for car drivers positive to drug use
There was a Group of us setting up a plan trip in October , After hearing about the news we have Canceled our plans, we had over 50 rider’s planed to go down together.
I’ve started a petition in an attempt to draw attention to the issue, we might get lucky.
https://www.change.org/p/victoria-police-stop-operation-motus-targeting-motorcyclists?recruiter=13398471&utm_source=share_for_starters&utm_medium=copyLink
I fully endorse more police presence on the road in peak hour but they should be looking for incompetent road users in general not just motorcyclists again. Every day I have to witness the poor driving such as indicating after initiating a turn or lane change, driving at 10km/h under the speed limit on the freeway, constant lane changing, trying to merge onto the freeway at 10Km/h under the traffic speed, braking before the exit, it goes on and on. Motor cyclists in general take their riding seriously and most have completed extra rider training courses to improve their skills, most drivers can’t park and can’t merge because they can’t even judge the length of the vehicle they are driving. If I choose to ride in a T shirt on a warm day or evening and experience one of the rare pleasures in life then that would be my choice and it only puts myself at risk, I support laws to protect people from the reckless behaviour of others but there is no place for laws that simply remove our rights to decide how much risk we are prepared to take to enjoy life to the full. unfortunately our law makers and legislators will only be happy when we only leave the house to go to work and spend the rest of the time watching reality TV rather than having a life, it also seems that the goal is to have everyone using our roads to accommodate the most incompetent drivers, so eventually we will all be driving at 10Km/h with someone walking in front of the car with a red flag to warn kids with their eyes stuck to the phone. When will we get officials with some common sense? get the IDIOTS off the road including people that simply can’t or shouldn’t be driving because they are simply incompetent!
I don’t know, maybe educate drivers AND riders, instead of victimizing one party. I ride my motorbike to work and back on a daily basis, the amount of times I nearly get taken out because car drivers don’t check their blind spots and just merge lanes on their will is so damn high that it’s a daily part of life now, avoiding driver errors. Maybe the problem is that licenses are being handed out from cereal boxes these days.
My thoughts.
1. I thought police wernt suppose to discriminate between road user.
2. How are police going to be able to tell if your wearing normal jeans or Kevlar jeans, will you have to take off your jeans to prove to them?
3. Its highly unlikely they are going to see many if any riders wearing thongs and tshirts because its too bloody cold this time of year.
4.If the police breath test every single motorcyclist they pull up, then its considered no longer random.