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Rider hits traffic sign in fatal crash

Motorcyclists road signs traffic sign
Road signs in Surrey England

A 50-year-old rider has died after his motorcycle hit a roadside traffic sign in rural Nowra, on the NSW south coast.

Police say that just before 3pm yesterday (14 August 2019) “a motorcycle travelling south on Parma Road at Yerriyong was approaching a bend, when it hit a traffic sign pole”.

The rider was unable to be revived and died at the scene.

A crime scene was established by South Coast Police District officers who are “conducting inquiries into the circumstances surrounding the crash”.

Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000 or https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au. Information is treated in strict confidence. The public is reminded not to report crime via NSW Police social media pages.

UPDATE: 2nd fatality

NSW Police report a second rider has died after his motorcycle left the road and hit a sign.

The accident happened about 1.30pm on Friday (16 August 2019) on the Kings Highway, near Captains Flat Road, Carwoola.

The 71-year-old man was treated at the scene before being taken to Canberra Hospital in a critical condition, where he later died from his injuries.

Our condolences to both riders’ family and friends.

Traffic sign hazards

Two Austroads reports in 2014 and 2016 identified there were too many changes in speed zones and too much roadside “furniture” causing a particular hazard to riders.

Despite these reports, wire rope barriers, speed signs and other hazards have proliferated on our roadsides.

While the 2016 report said the road environment accounted for only 2% of motorcycle road deaths in single-vehicle crashes between 1999 and 2003, “certain road elements have the potential to contribute to the actual outcome and severity of the crash”.

It said the first step was to identify roads that pose the highest crash risk to motorcyclists, then perform safety audits.

The report recommended a raft of motorcycle-specific road modifications including:

  • install flexible but durable materials or shields underneath barriers (no mention of wire rope barriers!);Wire rope barriers promise safety survey
  • install attenuators or energy dissipaters on posts and poles;
  • relocate trees, poles, signs and other roadside objects;
  • recommended maximums for potholes, ruts and cracks before repair is vital;
  • rapid road repair including quick removal of oil, diesel and other spills;
  • fluoro warning signage at known crash zones;
  • better-designed crash barriers (read this Austroads view);
  • improve road surfaces for skid resistance, road camber, badly located drains, rough edges, etc; and
  • add advance stop lines at intersections with filtering lanes for motorcycles to reach the front of traffic.
Most of these recommendations have been ignored by governments at all levels.
  1. Why do Govts (State and Federal) ignore AustRoads recommendations?
    Because that would cost money (never mind it would be money well spent, as opposed to most of the schemes in place today), and it would mean acknowledging that motorcyclists aren’t all Sons of Anarchy characters out cause mayhem so can’t be blamed for everything that’s wrong with society today

  2. I may have too much imagination but as I was driving to Adelaide the other day I noticed a road sign on the left side of the road pushed over so that it was aiming towards oncoming traffic at about 30 degrees from the ground & my thought was, “That would be nasty if you happened to run off the road at that particular spot”. The sign would have acted like a spear at just the right height to decapitate a driver or a passenger. Maybe road authorities could thin out some of their signs on roads.

  3. Metal roadside furniture has always been a huge hazard, we do in Australia have this fixation of installing it en-masse.
    I see so many Keep Left signs bent over onto roadway’s that could potentially take out a motorcycle,scooter or cyclist. Why not start to replace these with plastic bounce back up ones reducing potential injuries & vehicle damage?

  4. Its ironic how in the inane attempt to make roads safer the powers that be actually create more hazards so making the roads less safe. I often wonder if those making decisions on a subject are in any way capable of making an informed educated unbiased decision.

  5. When riding in urban areas i am always well aware of the .[If i cant see them ,they cant see me]
    concept and just about every sign in the middle strip is pretty much at eye level making a small
    object like a motorcycle pretty much invisible.

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