W.A. - ID devices on bike.!
Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 3:28 pm
ID devices could help police nab biker hoons
30th July 2008, 7:30 WST
WA Police believe embedding electronic identification tags on motorcycles will stop riders escaping speed camera fines and reduce the State’s high rate of motorcycle deaths.
Insp. Neil Royle, from the traffic enforcement group, said the devices would enable speed cameras to instantly identify a passing bike’s licensing details.
He said the lack of identifying details on the front of motorcycles meant riders were escaping thousands of Multanova fines a year and, as a result, many were risking their lives through routine speeding and reckless driving because they felt “above the law”. Already this year, 17 motorcycle riders had died on WA roads and police believed speed had been a factor in nine of those fatal crashes.
Front numberplates have not been required on motorcycles for more than 20 years after a coronial finding that a metal motorcycle plate decapitated a pedestrian.
In July 2002, then police minister Michelle Roberts said the Labor Government was committed to solving the issue of motorcycle identification. But six years on, after trials of stick-on and plastic numberplates and $75,000 dual-lens cameras which shoot from the front and back, nothing has changed.
Insp. Royle said the tags, which cost just $55 and are used in Victoria to identify vehicles as they pass through tollways, could drastically reduce motorcycle deaths. Motorcyclists represented about 3 per cent of all licensed vehicles in WA but accounted for 16 per cent of fatalities.
“This technology, if adapted for speed cameras, could make huge inroads into our road toll and would result in a positive change of attitude and behaviour among motorcyclists,” he said. “There are riders who clearly do as they please on our roads because they feel they can’t be caught because of the lack of a front identifier. It is one of the major issues we face in regards to road safety and something that needs to be tackled quickly.”
Motorcycle Riders Association WA branch president David Wright said he knew nothing about electronic tags but thought they were a good idea. They did not pose the same problems as front numberplates, which affected aerodynamics, could be deliberately covered by a rider using his hands or feet and were a safety hazard.
Shadow police minister Murray Cowper said it was a “disgrace” that the Government had not implemented a motorcycle identification system six years after it promised to.
Police Minister John Kobelke said yesterday the Government would consider the use of identification tags.
It is understood the Government intends to provide police with duallens cameras but the number is still being considered. They are unlikely to be used before the end of the year.
RONAN O’CONNELL
30th July 2008, 7:30 WST
WA Police believe embedding electronic identification tags on motorcycles will stop riders escaping speed camera fines and reduce the State’s high rate of motorcycle deaths.
Insp. Neil Royle, from the traffic enforcement group, said the devices would enable speed cameras to instantly identify a passing bike’s licensing details.
He said the lack of identifying details on the front of motorcycles meant riders were escaping thousands of Multanova fines a year and, as a result, many were risking their lives through routine speeding and reckless driving because they felt “above the law”. Already this year, 17 motorcycle riders had died on WA roads and police believed speed had been a factor in nine of those fatal crashes.
Front numberplates have not been required on motorcycles for more than 20 years after a coronial finding that a metal motorcycle plate decapitated a pedestrian.
In July 2002, then police minister Michelle Roberts said the Labor Government was committed to solving the issue of motorcycle identification. But six years on, after trials of stick-on and plastic numberplates and $75,000 dual-lens cameras which shoot from the front and back, nothing has changed.
Insp. Royle said the tags, which cost just $55 and are used in Victoria to identify vehicles as they pass through tollways, could drastically reduce motorcycle deaths. Motorcyclists represented about 3 per cent of all licensed vehicles in WA but accounted for 16 per cent of fatalities.
“This technology, if adapted for speed cameras, could make huge inroads into our road toll and would result in a positive change of attitude and behaviour among motorcyclists,” he said. “There are riders who clearly do as they please on our roads because they feel they can’t be caught because of the lack of a front identifier. It is one of the major issues we face in regards to road safety and something that needs to be tackled quickly.”
Motorcycle Riders Association WA branch president David Wright said he knew nothing about electronic tags but thought they were a good idea. They did not pose the same problems as front numberplates, which affected aerodynamics, could be deliberately covered by a rider using his hands or feet and were a safety hazard.
Shadow police minister Murray Cowper said it was a “disgrace” that the Government had not implemented a motorcycle identification system six years after it promised to.
Police Minister John Kobelke said yesterday the Government would consider the use of identification tags.
It is understood the Government intends to provide police with duallens cameras but the number is still being considered. They are unlikely to be used before the end of the year.
RONAN O’CONNELL
we are lucky to even exist & if the Govt had its way we would not be riding at all.
Harder to rebirth too... 
. I personally think it's a bollocks idea, but it's probably the way of the future for all vehicles. Hell, in NSW we're trialling GPS speed limiting on cars .... ID tags seem pretty tame by comparison.