I got a reply!!!!!

[Brougham]

Dear Nathan,

Thank you sincerely for your email.

I have had a couple of complaints on this issue and thank you for also making your concerns felt.

I can assure you that I am very keen to ensure that motor bike riders are as safe as possible on our roads which usually means educating car drivers to keep an eye open for them.

I have contacted the Road Safety Council for their comments and will get back to you as soon as I have heard back from them.

Nathan, thank you again for your email and please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any further questions or concerns.

Kind regards


Ben Wyatt MLA
Member for Victoria Park
Phone: (08) 9361 1777
Fax: (08) 9470 2875

[chidding]

So can we get what was written in your email

[Aphex]

Local member FTW!

Still awaiting a reply directly from ORS. Time to send a copy of my original email to my local member i think.

[taint]

wicked, local to me aswell. Hopefully he follows it up

[Brougham]

this is what i wrote to him:

"Dear Mr Wyatt,

As our local MP (I live in Carlisle) I'm writing to you in regards to the negative attitude towards motorcycle awareness campaigns and general motorcycle safety that expressed by the Road Safety Council, Grant Dorrington (the chairperson) in particular.

Over the weekend, another motorcyclist was killed on WA roads, and a public statement issued by the Motorcycle Riders Association of Western Australia (MRAWA). This article was published on the ABC News website ( <http://ww

w.abc.net.au%2Fnews%2Fstories%2F2007%2F12%2F03%2F2 107537.htm>
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2...03/2107537.htm), and features a statement by Grant Dorrington suggesting that all motorcyclists speed, and the death and serious injury of riders falls squarely on their shoulders.

Whilst I agree that motorcyclists are vulnerable and less visible than other road users, these comments reflect poorly on the general motorcycling community, and feed the already negative public attitude the public has to those who ride.

Mr Dorrington seems to have found the safety of riders too difficult and has surrendered his role in safeguarding ALL road users, and as such I feel that it is time for Mr Dorrington to be moved on, so that a more forthright person can take the helm of the Road Safety Council here in WA, and work to protecting all road users, and not just the 'easy' ones.

It is also about time that the Road Safety Council ran an awareness campaign, highlighting the need for the public to take a second look for motorcyclists on the roads. This necessity is further highlighted by statistics from the WA Insurance commission for 2006, which state that of the 403 accidents involving the hospitalisation of a rider or pillion, fault was placed on the rider in only 25 (6.2%) of these cases.

As far as I am aware, such awareness campaigns are run in both New South Wales and Victoria.

As a Labour Party Member, you are no doubt aware of the fine steps that the Federal Government under Kevin Rudd has taken towards climate change and their committment to saving the environment. The use of motorcycles and scooters in cities - instead of large cars and SUV's - play an important part in cutting Australia's emissions and also in cutting down usage of fossil fuels, as well as a large host of other positive outcomes for local cities.

With this in mind, it would appear obvious that the Labour Party would have the interests of motorcyclist's in high regard and put pressure on the Road Safety Council to take responsibility of considering this road user group.

Thankyou for your time, and I hope that this email letter is treated with the seriousness that the situation calls for.

Regards,

[Scoundrel]

Nice!

To those of you who wrote to the ORS, you probably won't get a reply this month, and if you do, it will just be an 'acknowledgement' response.

[Rebecca]

Good work.

[Bunyack]

Well done!!

[Morgs]

Good work.

+1 - Well written letter.

[Walley]

Great letter. Uve done us all a favour mate

[Mish]

Very nicely done. Me being one of those on the East Coast (in Canberra) I do see 'some' attempt made to make drivers more aware of bike riders. Funny actually, the RTA in NSW sent out a cornering guide to all motorcycle riders! Was pretty good, particularly the line where it says go into the corner wider so you can see the exit clearly. While this may slow down your corner entry, it will provide a faster exit line. Thought that was cool.

[Brougham]

I'm not political, but Ben Wyatt is a fairly young politician and he appears to be pretty keen to get involved in things to help him up the ladder, so a good one to get on our side!

[Spock]

Good letter. If you want to get the message to more people also send it by email to:

[email protected] - the talkback radio show that featured Grant Dorrington the other day

[email protected] - minister in charge of road safety

[email protected] - WA opposition leader

[Rebecca]

Paul Omodei is busy pulling knives out his back at the moment!!

[Scoundrel]

lol, yes, right now is probably not the best time to write to Paul Omodei!

Other pollies that ride are:

Dan Sullivan
Jon Ford
Tony Simpson
John Quigley