ACT Policing’s road policing motorcycle officers. Photo: Supplied.
The deaths of two bikers on ACT roads in recent weeks has prompted ACT Policing to urge road users to pay extra attention to motorcyclists as part of its latest road safety campaign.
ACT Policing’s road policing motorcycle officer Senior Constable Drew McKellar said motorcyclists are over-represented in the ACT’s fatality statistics accounting for 1 in 5 of road deaths since 2016.
The appeal follows the death of a motorcyclist killed on Monday 1 March in a collision with a truck and a utility on the Monaro Highway north of Michelago and comes after the death of a 47-year-old motorcyclist who was killed in a single-vehicle accident in Hennessy St in Belconnen on 1 February.
A young motorcyclist died on Paddy’s River Road on 17 January.
On 27 November last year, a Sutton man was fined $1841 and received six demerit points after his motorbike was detected travelling at 132 km/h in an 80 km/h stretch of the Barton Highway at about 9:00 pm on a Friday night.
Snr Const McKellar said motorcyclist deaths accounted for more than 20 per cent of lives lost on ACT roads since 2016.
“Since 2016, 40 people have lost their lives on the Territory’s roads, and nine of them, that’s more than 20 per cent, have been motorcyclists,” he said.
“As motorcyclists are only about five per cent of registered vehicles, that’s a startling statistic.
“This month we’re asking all road users to be aware of motorcyclists and for motorcyclists to remember how vulnerable they are.”
The latest road safety campaign also focuses on vulnerable road users and forms part of the ACT Road Safety Strategy which prioritises a ‘vision zero’ approach to road safety.
Vulnerable road users also includes children, pedestrians and motorcyclists who do not have the same protection as a car in a collision.
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