Sth Canberra - oil on roundabouts

A couple of weekends ago I had finished a most satisfying run down past the tracking station and out into the southern suburbs of Canberra.

Not being awfully familiar with the area I was putting around looking for a petrol station before having another run when I noticed a bike down near a large roundabout (near a Woolies petrol station and other shops).

I pulled up and one of the fellas there said there was oil deliberately dumped on the roundabout by car drivers hoping for some sideways action. And that this was happening regularly.

So anyhoo, just be careful down there.

I also noticed this from the MRA.

Rather long, isn't it.

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Fellow Road Users and Motorcyclists,

We recently had an incident where some malicious individual/s poured oil on 8 round a bouts in the Tuggeranong Valley, resulting in the crash of a motorcyclist. Fortunately the motorcyclist apart from being very annoyed was unharmed.

A number of members of WIMA contacted the MRA ACT and asked us to follow up on the incident with the ACT Government and find out exactly what happened as it would appear the round a bout in question had been “cleaned” and no signs were in place. The results of that contact are below.

I put the wheels in motion by writing to the members of the Motorcycling and Roads consultative committee asking, what the protocol for road cleaning was. As to methodology and signage given that the crash was on a spot that was still oily after a clean up and had no signs in place.

I had an immediate response from the committee and within 48 hours I had Ken from Roads ACT talking to me face to face about the issue. That’s what I call service.

I would also like to add that both Ken and the man responsible for the clean up Steve are both keen motorcyclists so they have a vested interest in making sure its right.

The protocol to be followed is that Roads ACT cover the area with a course sand to absorb the vast majority of the oil. This sand is then collected and cleaned of the road, additional sand may be added if required and the process repeated. Once the road surface is adjudged to be clear, a layer of fine grit is place on the contaminated surface and where necessary signage is erected.

On the night in question Roads ACT were called out around midnight to eight round-a-bouts to carry out cleaning works due to oil contamination, and carried out the approved cleaning routine. Steve walked the round a bouts after applying the fine grit and the surface appeared safe for all road users. (I’ll speak about signage separately). The following day I was informed was a scorcher as such any contaminants that were trapped in the road substructure were released back up to the surface making the round a bouts unsafe as evidenced by the crash.

Signage is an issue, as a balance has to be reached as to when and when not to post sign. As we are all aware that if signs are put in place and there is nothing obvious ahead then we tend to become desensitised to the possible risks. The same is true if signs are left in place too long. The MRA’s opinion is that signs should be used whenever there is doubt as to the effectiveness of the cleaning process or where external conditions may undermine cleaning effectiveness and should be removed after surface validation has taken place. Ken said he’ll follow up on the signage issue.

What worries me the most is that either some one (or some group) is trying to injure or kill road users indiscriminately, or a group of individuals is fouling the roads to enhance their driving fun without regard to the safety of others.

As responsible road users please report any activity you see of the type mentioned IMMEDIATELY to the Police, and contact Roads ACT on 6207 2500 during business hours or call Canberra Connect on 132281 after hours to get the clean up crew on the job.

On another note, after storms we often get scouring residue on the roads, please report any instance of this to Roads ACT so they can ensure the road surface doesn’t contribute to the ACT’s crash stats.

So lets keep our road surface clean.

/end transmission.

People dumping oil to get sideways action is shocking, but remember, every round a bout next to a fuel station is a potential hazard. Many people, particularly truck drivers, fill their tanks to the brim and then slop fuel on the round a bout on exiting the station. A stop used by trucks will often have round a bouts covered in diesel and they are slippery as hell.

Unfortunately this is one of the negatives of having so many roundabouts in Tuggeranong. I've seen this down here before, and as was discussed on the weekend, they are even doing it out on some of the roads we love to ride like the corner of Point Hut Rd and Tidbinbilla Rd...they even do it on the oval carpark across from where I live ferchrissake!

I'd like to think it is a passing fad, but I know it's been done for years so we just have to keep our eyes open

I nearly lost it coming around a corner the other day.... spun up the back wheel for a second.... Right next to a building site.... scary stuff...

a mate of mine used to live just up the road from where you are talking about, and he said regularly ppl would dump oil on the round-a-bouts in his area and do burnouts etc around the round-a-bout and crap like that.

It is pretty darn crap though!

So in other words their "fast" cars are too piss weak to be able to maintain a power oversteer four wheel drift and they need the oil to do it. Retards.
(apologies to anyone retarded who finds being compared to these people offensive)

Ooooh that makes my blood boil!

I have enough trouble dealing with the dickheads in my area who have cars that leak oil like a sieve - one wet morning my rear wheel slid out because of an oil patch in the middle of a roundabout.

Still, there is worse. I remember once reading a post on kawiforums from a guy who saw a grumpy old man deliberately pouring oil on a curve on a road favoured by weekend motorcyclists. As in, he was trying to cause them to crash!

thanks for the tip Holly, will be *extra* careful when heading over to s/side........

Fark'n carns...

If ya can't make you car spin and slide to Tommy Makkinen then bloody don't... It's just like wankers who go out when it's been raining and do the same...

I nearly got dacapitated when these clowns in an old 929 hardtop came blasting round the corner in th wet and lost it... when it finally gripped, it was pointing straight at me (who was sitting there stationary at the lights), hit the median strip, launched and ran straight into the A and B piller of my old VK...

I ducked, they bounced off and landed about 10 metres back...

Catch them and make them lick the oil up.