Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

Alas it had to happen eventually, not that I believe this is the first, rather just the latest and one that it seems there is firm evidence it's the WRB that took him out. Text below pinched from another forum.

http://news.theage.com.au/motorcyclist- ... -1khp.html" target="_blank

We know that there have been several incidents where a rider has died striking a WRB in the past. But, this is the first instance where the evidence has been reported this clearly.

Please - no comments about the rider - we need to discus what action needs to be taken "now the evidence is so clearly in".

My first sugestion would be that riders email the media about this one, and ask for action to be taken as but a start. We have been asking that WRB be covered for years - now might be a time to get the ball rolling.

Remember - whether speed was involved or not - cars hit these things at speed and the public accepts that as being OK........

Bugger!

I hate those things. We have a lot along the higway near home and they spook the life out of me.

You are right Mick- action needs to be taken.

KSRC petition????

Our minister for infrastructure loves the fukn things. If he gets his way they'll be absolutely everywhere. When I first saw the story two things jumped out at me. 1. Wire rope barrier.
2. counselling has been arranged for emergency services and witnesses...

I've got a car here that hit one of these things. Let alone the damage the posts do.

Black Magic wrote:Bugger!

I hate those things. We have a lot along the higway near home and they spook the life out of me.

You are right Mick- action needs to be taken.

KSRC petition????

Petitions are a fairly ordinary lobbying tool to be honest, what it probably needs is a veritable shitload of ppl to write to media and their local members to get this talked about much louder than it currently is, of course the prob with that idea is that it requires ppl to do someting other than ride their motorbikes and that rarely happens.

We're all aware of the things and the inherent dangers they present but we don't want to have to actually DO something to get them removed, we'll just hope someone else does it or hope they kinda dissappear one day...

The Motorcycle Council has opposed the use of it for years but as usual the outspoken truth about WRB falls on deaf ears.

Would he not have still been pretty messed up from hitting a normal guard rail?

Daisy wrote:Our minister for infrastructure loves the fukn things. If he gets his way they'll be absolutely everywhere. When I first saw the story two things jumped out at me. 1. Wire rope barrier.
2. counselling has been arranged for emergency services and witnesses...

Tell me about it then again i cant think of a single minister thats parts of lennons government that would even know what a WRB is....... The last fuckn thing we need here is more of the damn things, just look at the brooker highway ffs. That counselling comment is disturbing and i really feel sorry for the poor blokes that had to be there. RIP to the rider and condolences to his family............. what a joke that shit like this is avoidable

matt76 wrote:Would he not have still been pretty messed up from hitting a normal guard rail?

I suppose that depends on a myriad of factors. The real question is, what is on the other side of the WRB that motorsists need to be protected from? I agree that WRB's are potentially fatal, but if the other side of the barrier is guaranteed death (ie: 300 ft cliff) and the barrier saves just one life.....

This particular barrier is mounted on the island that separates the dual carriageway on a long flat straight. Well almost straight. Like 99% of the major roads in the north of this state, it is a good, well maintained road.

http://maps.google.com/maps?t=k&hl=en&i ... &z=15&om=1" target="_blank

So much for SAFETY barriers more like DEADLY barriers ... Friggen Cheese Cutters !!!

Daisy wrote:This particular barrier is mounted on the island that separates the dual carriageway on a long flat straight. Well almost straight. Like 99% of the major roads in the north of this state, it is a good, well maintained road.

http://maps.google.com/maps?t=k&hl=en&i ... &z=15&om=1" target="_blank" target="_blank

Seems like an odd spot to have WRB. Seems an even odder spot to crash.

aardvark wrote:Seems like an odd spot to have WRB. Seems an even odder spot to crash.

Our minister wants to divide all our roads with them. Remember that they're designed to keep morons in cages in their own lane. *sigh* I just don't know how we survived all these years without them.
As for it being an odd spot to crash, he was travelling west. I don't know the exact spot - but I do know that the road to the right of the map is a very steep hill and just before it sweeps left into the straight it passes under a railway bridge. In the old days they used to crash into the central pylon. Maybe he ran wide going into the straight. maybe he just lost control ...

matt76 wrote:Would he not have still been pretty messed up from hitting a normal guard rail?

Matt as per the comment above the term "cheese cutter" is common for this type of barrier
Normal guard rauil has a large surface area as compared to the smaller wire rope that would tend to decapatate rather than have a surface to slide along or bounce off (wouldnt want to try it) Of corse there is still the supports under the guard rail that could cause a similar outcome if you were to hit it low, but both are designad to stop cars & the wire rope design has been introduced because it is cheaper not because it is safer.... at the end of the day its no good for bikes

Plenty of these stuff along melbourne-geelong hwy and I'm not sure why they're even there. No cliff or such.

Hitting this thing at anything above 40k on the neck is a certain death I think, let alone the 100k speed limit.

robracer wrote:

matt76 wrote:Would he not have still been pretty messed up from hitting a normal guard rail?

Matt as per the comment above the term "cheese cutter" is common for this type of barrier
Normal guard rauil has a large surface area as compared to the smaller wire rope that would tend to decapatate rather than have a surface to slide along or bounce off (wouldnt want to try it) Of corse there is still the supports under the guard rail that could cause a similar outcome if you were to hit it low, but both are designad to stop cars & the wire rope design has been introduced because it is cheaper not because it is safer.... at the end of the day its no good for bikes

Fair enough, I havent done any research into it. It sucks that we are the minority, so if it is really good for cars it will get the nod.