Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

the way I see it is this - deaths on the road should just be accepted as the ultimate risk of driving a motor vehicle. Get over it. If you choose to drive a car / ride a bike, then you do so in the full knowledge that each trip has a risk factor attached, and the ultimate risk is losing your life. Don't like it ? Then catch a bus, ride a bike, or walk.

If speed really did kill, then there would not be a living Australian on the roads today - because everyone speeds at some point or other, and most of us have never died from being 5-10kmh over the limit - have we ?

Reducing speed limits is not the answer, otherwise we may as well all go back to riding fucking horses !

kaneg wrote:....I personally think, that this mobile phone thingo is a lost course ......
You can not turn the wheels of time back to before mobile phones and there's no way that today's and even more so, tomorrows generation will not talk on their phone while driving. I think a legistlative meassure has to be aplied by which automobile manufacturers have to have handfree systems as a standard feature, made as safe as possible and compolsury similarly to seatbelts or airbags.
Selecting a radio chanel, putting on makeup or slirping on a thickshake, can be just as dangerous when you think about it, so where do you draw the line......

Pete - I have seen a few other people make the comparison between selecting a radio channel, and talking on a mobile phone, or eating a sandwhich / sucking on a milkshake etc - and the concept is totally flawed. Here is why..... and this rant is not aimed at you mate, just my thoughts in general about mobile-phone use while driving a vehicle.....

When you eat a sandwich - is the sandwich talking to you, telling you to remember to pick up milk and bread on the way home, or go past Bunnings and grab that birthday present for the missus, or a million other things ?? Is the sandwich taking your focus off the road ? Is it forcing you to think about something else *entirely* , other than the task at hand, which is driving safely ???

Of course it isn't. Neither is selecting a radio channel or adjusting the volume on the radio. Comparing these actions to having a conversation on a mobile phone - wether its hands-free or not - is absolute bullshit. They are nothing similiar.

Phones have the capacity to take a message - every phone should be linked to the electrics in a car so that it is automatically turned off when inside a vehicle, and can only receive messages.

The question I ask is this - does your life depend on answering every call that comes in when you are driving ?? Or having to make a call when you are driving ??? Of course it does not. If the situation is so urgent, then pull off the road and take/make the call while stationary, with the engine turned off. This is not hard, and the reality is that someone else's life could well depend on your actions in yakking on a phone while driving. Quite frankly, I fucking hate it, and if I do see some nob-jockey yakking on the phone while driving, I have often ridden right up next to the window and slammed my fucking fist onto their windows - this seems to terminate most conversations immediately.

mick_dundee wrote:Still too many dying Mr Smith is the essence of the problem I believe. Even here in the nanny state.

Mick...I agree 100%
one death is one too many (I am biased here as I lost wife #1 in a car crash)

but the screaming headlines Pete put up...
After a horror 2009, concerted national action is needed to address a spike in the fatal road toll
really is a bit silly here because Brumby and Co are spouting (along with plod)...lowest ever toll in Vic
so the message is confusing.

We all know road users need to be more careful, obey the rules, drive to suit the road conditions etc
guvmints need to keep improving roads etc and car makers need to keep improving the breed
but...national action to address a spike (upwards I guess) in the road toll ????

as I said...where?

Gosling1 wrote:Phones have the capacity to take a message - every phone should be linked to the electrics in a car so that it is automatically turned off when inside a vehicle, and can only receive messages.

Slight Flaw there Gos, then the carnt wants to read that message & Text back gets up my goat

Good points especially the "teach them to drive"
Any monkey can operate a machine, which is exactly what a car or bike is!
It's knowing what to do when something goes wrong that's make all the difference between a good operator and a bad one.
Anybody who has worked heavy industry knows that.
It may be mobile, but it is a MACHINE none the less

full article here....
http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/ne ... 5815293262

robracer wrote:.....Slight Flaw there Gos, then the carnt wants to read that message & Text back gets up my goat ...

texting !!! 10000% worse than talking !! Instant Loss of Licence for 6 months if caught texting while driving.....

I wonder how many people who support talking on the phone while driving, would support their doctor getting his bets in on race 3 at Gosford, while he is in the middle of your appendectomy !!!!

The roadtoll would drop substantially if women weren't under the misapprehension that they can multitask
There's a fine example of mass hysteria, some Womens Libber starts the rumour and it's spreads like wildfire
and most of the browbeaten soft in the head males believe it
Well here's something all of us old fellow's know to be a fact!
It's the exact opposite, from early childhood I was taught that Women can't chew gum and walk at the same time
Also witnessed it thousands of times personally
She's texting....she's off in the gravel and it's a Fargin FACT.
I would expect the Girls to attack now but any Bloke who does is a fookin Gayarse, Brainwashed,
head in the sand, pussywhipped ANTI realist

robracer wrote:

laidback1952 wrote: Fixing the roads is not the solution. No road has ever killed anyone...only people making mistakes on these roads.

True but from a safety perspective, highway upgrades such a a barrier between on coming traffic saves lives, not talking about cheese grater either
The dual carrage way upgrades of the Pacific Highway has no doubt made an impact in their perspective areas & hopefully the gov will continue to put funds into it.

and also meaning we are getting decent roads for once and not the goat tracks that are still parts of the pacific highway full of pot holes and god knows what other shit

Gos, I agree with you 100% I hate the phone users and texters as much if not more than you do, and for your info if I get a call and have the opportunity I pull over , if not then I call back when I arrived to my destination.
Texting is a real killer.

All I'm saying is that it's a lost war mate, I really think that.
The reality is that regardless of the fact that the use of phones are illegal and punishable, it's a trend (sorry, growing trend and NOT going to go away )


curious as here in Vic..the guvmint is sprouting
LOWEST ROAD TOLL EVER (since records began)

So, what have the Victorians done to achieve that ? (they have PI?? )

Pete, nothing to do with PI, we just have cameras everywhere and coppers in the few spots they aren't, we're brow beaten into driving like English taxi drivers as soon as you hit 3 kmh over the limit they'll be a camera in your face or a copper giving you the earful but how dangerous you're driving is...

Up to midnight last night 65 people died on Australian roads in this holiday season :

NSW - 22
VIC - 17
WA - 8
Tas - 4
SA - 3
NT - 1
ACT - 0

either way with victoria still suffering the 2nd highest and on a high nunber hopefully the pollies realise there over kill on speeding isnt accurate. its not wrong but its not right either. hopefully now the governments might pull there heads out of each other and fix the state of the roads

kaneg wrote:Up to midnight last night 65 people died on Australian roads in this holiday season :

NSW - 22
VIC - 17
WA - 8
Tas - 4
SA - 3
NT - 1
ACT - 0

Pete ... while I don't want to trivialise the loss of life and injury, or the grief of relatives - this is from the RTA..


http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/roadsafety/st ... index.html

The second paragraph is interesting.

Thanks Ron, yep the stats on Vic sound good in that perspective...

from the same site though I found this :

Mobile phones and driving
It is illegal to drive or ride a vehicle while using a hand-held mobile phone. The penalty is a significant fine and three demerit points.

This means that talking, sending or receiving text messages, playing games or taking photos are illegal when using a hand-held phone. It is also illegal to perform these activities when your vehicle is stopped but not parked, for example when you are waiting at traffic lights.


A hands-free device can reduce the physical effort to make and receive calls but it doesn't necessarily make it safe to use a phone while driving. It is illegal to use a hands-free phone while driving if it causes you to lose proper control of your vehicle. The penalty is a significant fine and demerit points.

If you must talk on a hands-free phone while driving:

Make sure it is a hands-free phone that is set up and working before you start driving.
Keep the conversation short. Don't engage in complex or emotional conversations.
Tell the person on the other end that you are driving and may have to end the call.
Never text message (SMS) while driving.
End the call if it is distracting you from driving.
Remember, if you don't have proper control of your vehicle because you are talking on a hands-free mobile phone you are guilty of an offence.



is it just me or this is "whishy washy" as they come?

No that's pretty wishy washy to me.

This means that talking, sending or receiving text messages, playing games or taking photos are illegal when using a hand-held phone.

Games, while driving, Christ, even I think that is bordering on suicidal, even if your surname is Schumacher.

It is also illegal to perform these activities when your vehicle is stopped but not parked, for example when you are waiting at traffic lights.

Didn't know that one, though i guess it makes sense too.