Daily motorbike news, views & reviews
A rider who was rear-ended believes he would have been able to avoid it if he had been taught to lane filter and has called for the skill to be included in learner and advanced rider-training courses. Shannon, 37, of Caboolture, Queensland, says he was rear-ended because he lacked the training and therefore confidence to lane filter. …
Technology has outpaced road rules on driver distraction, leaving the current rules inadequate, difficult to police and confusing as they vary between state boundaries. So, in the wake of a recent national summit on driver distraction, the National Transport Commission is calling for public input to tighten the rules. Rather than seeking a technological solution, …
The Victorian Motorcycle Council has called to remove mandatory hi-vis vests for learner riders in its 10-page submission to the review of Victorian Road Safety (Driver) Regulations. Among many changes to the road rules, the road regs review proposes one demerit point for learner riders who do not wear a “securely fastened” hi-vis vest and …
A recent reader asked if it was legal, safe and wise to switch off the motorcycle when stopped for a long time at roadworks. Firstly, it is not illegal to switch off your motorcycle when stopped at roadworks or even the traffic lights. In fact, many modern cars have stop-go technology that automatically switches off …
If you think Australian road rules and lane filtering rules vary substantially between states, how about the USA where the only two states with lane splitting have completely different rules! California has now been joined by Utah which has recently legalised lane splitting, while several more states are considering lane-splitting rules. Lane splitting It’s called …
Hopes of a trial of forward stop lines or motorcycle boxes for the safety of filtering riders have been set back after the Australian Road Research Board rejected the idea. Forward stop lines are used in many European and Asian countries to give riders a safe head-start from traffic and protect them from rear-end crashes. The only …
This cyclist video from a Tasmanian rider shows how cyclists use numbers to defy the road rules, prompting more calls for an identification system for bicycles. Suzuki rider Estelle Rose posted the video on her Facebook page. Cyclist video “I’m riding to work this morning, obeying the road rules and such, but then I get …
A recent crash that injured a NSW police motorcyclist happened despite a new rule requiring motorists to slow to 40km/h when passing stationary or slow-moving emergency vehicles. The incident occurred at Warrell Creek near Nambucca Heads, NSW, last Sunday when the officer pulled over a car and was hit by another car. Motorcycle Council of NSW Chairman Steve …
Highway road shoulders look inviting for motorcyclists when the traffic is heavy, but is it legal and are they a safety trap for riders? Some say it is actually safer than filtering between lanes of traffic as there are fewer instances of drivers suddenly pulling on to the road shudders compared with drivers swapping lanes. …
Queensland is the only state that allows edge filtering on some roads and now riders have been granted further leniency when the speed limit is temporarily changed. Lane filtering was introduced in 2015 under the former Liberal State Government, thanks to lobbying by the Motorcycle Riders Association of Queensland. The rules included the unique allowance …