* Peter Rolfe Sunday Herald Sun August 29, 2010 12:00AM
A motorbike fatality. Picture: Tony Gough
VICTORIA is set to introduce the toughest motorbike licence testing conditions in Australia in a bid to bring down the state's road toll.
In an overhaul of existing motorcycle licensing, the Brumby Government is considering a stricter testing, training and skills assessment to make it tougher to take to the road on two wheels.
With motorcycle riders accounting for 14 per cent of fatalities and serious injuries in Victoria despite making up less than 4 per cent of registered vehicles last year, the Government is expected this week to outline the radical plan to improve safety and reduce their over-representation in the road toll.
Legislative changes being considered by the Government include:
A REQUIREMENT for learner riders to obtain a minimum number of supervised on-road hours before they are given a licence - either 25, 50 or 120 hours;
MORE rigorous assessment of practical skills before riders can obtain a licence;
AN automatic transmission restriction for riders who pass the test on an automatic motorcycle such as a scooter; and
INCREASING the period new riders have to use learner-approved motorcycles from one year to three.
The move would bring motorbike testing conditions more in line with tests required by others such as learner car drivers who must have 120 hours of supervised driving
before gaining a probationary licence.
Roads Minister Tim Pallas confirmed last night that soon he would release a public discussion paper on the new system that would also consider longer licence durations and
restrictions on what bikes inexperienced riders could legally use.
"The significant rise in motorcycle deaths on our roads this year is unacceptable and we want to put measures in place to help drive down the toll," he said.
TAC figures show motorcyclists are 38 times more likely to be seriously injured in a crash than car drivers and passengers.
Victoria's three-year average motorcyclist fatality rate is six times higher than the passenger car occupant fatality rate.
With 34 motorbike fatalities on Victorian roads so far this year, 12 more than in 2009, Victoria Police Supt Neville Taylor said the death rate of motorbike riders was "a real issue".
Laws now require riders to sit a basic skills test lasting a few minutes before they go on our roads unsupervised.
They also allow a person to complete learner and licence tests on an automatic motorcycle, often a motor scooter with an engine capacity up to 250cc, and be issued with
a licence enabling them to ride automatic and manually geared bikes.
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