14 April 2013

Rider down on the Cotter Road

| johnboy
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ACT Policing is seeking the help of the public after an incident last night (Saturday, April 13) in which a motorcyclist crashed on the Cotter Road.

He had been forced to take rapid evasive action to avoid a head-on collision with an oncoming vehicle.

Police were called to the crash location in Curtin about 7.20pm. The incident occurred about 200 metres west of the McCulloch Street intersection, within a roadworks speed-restricted zone.

The motorcyclist, a 34-year-old man from Weston, had been riding a black Honda eastbound on the Cotter Road when he was forced off the road to avoid an oncoming car travelling on the wrong side of the road directly toward him. He was unable to identify the type of vehicle involved.

The crash resulted in extensive, non life-threatening injuries to the rider, including multiple fractures. The driver of the car fled the scene and there were no apparent witnesses to the incident.

Police are urging anyone who may have seen or can identify a vehicle driving erratically in the Curtin area around the time of the incident and can assist with the investigation to contact CrimeStoppers on 1800 333 000 or via the website at act.crimestoppers.com.au.

[Courtesy ACT Policing]

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thebrownstreak698:32 am 16 Apr 13

milkman said :

Waaaaaaaah Speed Waaaaaaaaaah.

Calm down. When people are told speeding is the cause of most accidents, a few of them eventually believe it.

wildturkeycanoe5:52 am 16 Apr 13

If the person on the black Honda was slightly broad across the shoulders, the bike resembled a Harley Davidson and the person in the car has had dealings with motorcycle gangs, perhaps they fled in sheer panic and in fear for their lives!
I hope the rider recovers quickly, but the poor bike…think of the bike people.

Waaaaaaaah Speed Waaaaaaaaaah.

JimCharles said :

Innovation said :

JimCharles said :

It doesn’t mention speeding, it mentions that the car driver was on the wrong side of the road.
95% of the driving over here is fine and actually pretty slow with low speed limits. It’s the 5% of complete idiots who somehow have attained a driving license that make it dangerous.
Instead of bringing the standard up with better education, tougher tests and harder driving lessons, it’s easier just to make everyone go slower and use excessive speed or not wearing seatbelts as the reason for accidents. It’s an admission of failure if anything.

I agree that speeding in most places is possibly monitored/enforced at the expense of a lot of other offences. As well, I consider that regular retesting (of any sort initially) would help to improve driver behaviour.

However, the Cotter road works are quite bad. When the bollards are knocked over it would be very easy to unknowingly cross to the wrong side of the road. At times it even appears as though the oncoming lane is on the other side of the concrete dividers. The week before last I saw a young woman stop on the road because, after turning right off Lady Denman, she obviously thought the poorly placed red light then facing her was for other reasons. Anything over 40km/h at all times in these areas makes a serious accident all the more likely.

You’re completely tight…I mentioned about the motorcyclist to my missus this morning and she said the Cotter roadworks are awful, not well signposted or marked so it’s not surprising if somebody has got disorientated.
Doesn’t explain why they didn’t stop though, that’s cowardly behaviour when somebody is badly hurt due to their actions.

Agreed. Not sure how he/she could have not noticed unless they were going too fast. The statement that the driver “fled the scene” suggests that they actually collected the motorcyclist before driving off.

NoImRight said :

what_the said :

NoImRight said :

JimCharles said :

It doesn’t mention speeding, it mentions that the car driver was on the wrong side of the road.
95% of the driving over here is fine and actually pretty slow with low speed limits. It’s the 5% of complete idiots who somehow have attained a driving license that make it dangerous.
Instead of bringing the standard up with better education, tougher tests and harder driving lessons, it’s easier just to make everyone go slower and use excessive speed or not wearing seatbelts as the reason for accidents. It’s an admission of failure if anything.

So you think its likely this guy “respected” the speed limit requirements but felt being restricted to one side of the road was just Govt interference?

If he was on the wrong side of the road he was driving at a speed that was too fast for him, whether it exceeded a speed limit or not.

This post makes no sense.

Im not your mother nor your teacher. Your problems with comprehension are for someone else.

I’m struggling with what you’re trying to say as well.

Noyou’rewrongyouporkhunthowcanberran.

Innovation said :

JimCharles said :

It doesn’t mention speeding, it mentions that the car driver was on the wrong side of the road.
95% of the driving over here is fine and actually pretty slow with low speed limits. It’s the 5% of complete idiots who somehow have attained a driving license that make it dangerous.
Instead of bringing the standard up with better education, tougher tests and harder driving lessons, it’s easier just to make everyone go slower and use excessive speed or not wearing seatbelts as the reason for accidents. It’s an admission of failure if anything.

I agree that speeding in most places is possibly monitored/enforced at the expense of a lot of other offences. As well, I consider that regular retesting (of any sort initially) would help to improve driver behaviour.

However, the Cotter road works are quite bad. When the bollards are knocked over it would be very easy to unknowingly cross to the wrong side of the road. At times it even appears as though the oncoming lane is on the other side of the concrete dividers. The week before last I saw a young woman stop on the road because, after turning right off Lady Denman, she obviously thought the poorly placed red light then facing her was for other reasons. Anything over 40km/h at all times in these areas makes a serious accident all the more likely.

You’re completely tight…I mentioned about the motorcyclist to my missus this morning and she said the Cotter roadworks are awful, not well signposted or marked so it’s not surprising if somebody has got disorientated.
Doesn’t explain why they didn’t stop though, that’s cowardly behaviour when somebody is badly hurt due to their actions.

I have been avoiding that stretch for months. Too many frightening things are happening. The guy on the bike was seriously unlucky. I hope he gets well soon, without any permanent damage. Hope the miscreant is hunted down like the feral dog they are.

what_the said :

NoImRight said :

JimCharles said :

It doesn’t mention speeding, it mentions that the car driver was on the wrong side of the road.
95% of the driving over here is fine and actually pretty slow with low speed limits. It’s the 5% of complete idiots who somehow have attained a driving license that make it dangerous.
Instead of bringing the standard up with better education, tougher tests and harder driving lessons, it’s easier just to make everyone go slower and use excessive speed or not wearing seatbelts as the reason for accidents. It’s an admission of failure if anything.

So you think its likely this guy “respected” the speed limit requirements but felt being restricted to one side of the road was just Govt interference?

If he was on the wrong side of the road he was driving at a speed that was too fast for him, whether it exceeded a speed limit or not.

This post makes no sense.

Im not your mother nor your teacher. Your problems with comprehension are for someone else.

tim_c said :

Rollersk8r said :

We came across the scene of this accident on the way home from the footy on Saturday night. It’s been years since I’ve driven along there – and the accident is not surprising considering the state of the road/roadworks. The road diversions are very confusing and it should be lit up at night.

I agree – I drove through there for the first time on Friday evening and it appears they’re trying to get people to have head on collisions. Heading eastbound, you’re supposed to be diverted off onto the shoulder, but there is no signage to indicate this until you’ve actually successfully made it onto the diversion. The original linemarking directing you straight ahead (ie. not off onto the diversion) are more prominent (particularly at night) than the lines marking the diversion. If you miss the diversion, you’ll end up in the oncoming traffic, and the temporary concrete barriers would prevent westbound traffic from avoiding a collision.

IMHO, the contractor has been quite negligent in the signage of the west end of the roadworks (even though during working hours, you’re slowed to 40km/h for nearly half a km before even entering the roadworks zone), and the ACT Gov’t is quite negligent in failing to ensure that contractors (here and elsewhere in ACT) do not signpost roadworks adequately.

Well the buck stops with Lord Ratten for TAMS is his portfolio.

NoImRight said :

JimCharles said :

It doesn’t mention speeding, it mentions that the car driver was on the wrong side of the road.
95% of the driving over here is fine and actually pretty slow with low speed limits. It’s the 5% of complete idiots who somehow have attained a driving license that make it dangerous.
Instead of bringing the standard up with better education, tougher tests and harder driving lessons, it’s easier just to make everyone go slower and use excessive speed or not wearing seatbelts as the reason for accidents. It’s an admission of failure if anything.

So you think its likely this guy “respected” the speed limit requirements but felt being restricted to one side of the road was just Govt interference?

If he was on the wrong side of the road he was driving at a speed that was too fast for him, whether it exceeded a speed limit or not.

This post makes no sense.

JimCharles said :

It doesn’t mention speeding, it mentions that the car driver was on the wrong side of the road.
95% of the driving over here is fine and actually pretty slow with low speed limits. It’s the 5% of complete idiots who somehow have attained a driving license that make it dangerous.
Instead of bringing the standard up with better education, tougher tests and harder driving lessons, it’s easier just to make everyone go slower and use excessive speed or not wearing seatbelts as the reason for accidents. It’s an admission of failure if anything.

So you think its likely this guy “respected” the speed limit requirements but felt being restricted to one side of the road was just Govt interference?

If he was on the wrong side of the road he was driving at a speed that was too fast for him, whether it exceeded a speed limit or not.

Rollersk8r said :

We came across the scene of this accident on the way home from the footy on Saturday night. It’s been years since I’ve driven along there – and the accident is not surprising considering the state of the road/roadworks. The road diversions are very confusing and it should be lit up at night.

I agree – I drove through there for the first time on Friday evening and it appears they’re trying to get people to have head on collisions. Heading eastbound, you’re supposed to be diverted off onto the shoulder, but there is no signage to indicate this until you’ve actually successfully made it onto the diversion. The original linemarking directing you straight ahead (ie. not off onto the diversion) are more prominent (particularly at night) than the lines marking the diversion. If you miss the diversion, you’ll end up in the oncoming traffic, and the temporary concrete barriers would prevent westbound traffic from avoiding a collision.

IMHO, the contractor has been quite negligent in the signage of the west end of the roadworks (even though during working hours, you’re slowed to 40km/h for nearly half a km before even entering the roadworks zone), and the ACT Gov’t is quite negligent in failing to ensure that contractors (here and elsewhere in ACT) do not signpost roadworks adequately.

We came across the scene of this accident on the way home from the footy on Saturday night. It’s been years since I’ve driven along there – and the accident is not surprising considering the state of the road/roadworks. The road diversions are very confusing and it should be lit up at night.

s-s-a said :

I hope he recovers ok.

Doesn’t surprise me though. The other week heading towards the city I stopped at the new lights at Lady Denman and Cotter Rd in broad daylight. A car going in the same direction pulled up to my right. The older driver was obviously completely oblivious to the fact that this section is now one lane each way!

Reminds me of the old lady I saw driving the wrong way around the Adelaide Ave / Yamba Drive / Melrose Drive roundabout a few years ago!

JimCharles said :

It doesn’t mention speeding, it mentions that the car driver was on the wrong side of the road.
95% of the driving over here is fine and actually pretty slow with low speed limits. It’s the 5% of complete idiots who somehow have attained a driving license that make it dangerous.
Instead of bringing the standard up with better education, tougher tests and harder driving lessons, it’s easier just to make everyone go slower and use excessive speed or not wearing seatbelts as the reason for accidents. It’s an admission of failure if anything.

I agree that speeding in most places is possibly monitored/enforced at the expense of a lot of other offences. As well, I consider that regular retesting (of any sort initially) would help to improve driver behaviour.

However, the Cotter road works are quite bad. When the bollards are knocked over it would be very easy to unknowingly cross to the wrong side of the road. At times it even appears as though the oncoming lane is on the other side of the concrete dividers. The week before last I saw a young woman stop on the road because, after turning right off Lady Denman, she obviously thought the poorly placed red light then facing her was for other reasons. Anything over 40km/h at all times in these areas makes a serious accident all the more likely.

I guess as dash cams increase, similar devices for motorcycles will start appearing to help identify people in accidents?

I hope the rider recovers quickly, and the person who caused the accident feels some sense of remorse for what they did.

It doesn’t mention speeding, it mentions that the car driver was on the wrong side of the road.
95% of the driving over here is fine and actually pretty slow with low speed limits. It’s the 5% of complete idiots who somehow have attained a driving license that make it dangerous.
Instead of bringing the standard up with better education, tougher tests and harder driving lessons, it’s easier just to make everyone go slower and use excessive speed or not wearing seatbelts as the reason for accidents. It’s an admission of failure if anything.

I hope he recovers ok.

Doesn’t surprise me though. The other week heading towards the city I stopped at the new lights at Lady Denman and Cotter Rd in broad daylight. A car going in the same direction pulled up to my right. The older driver was obviously completely oblivious to the fact that this section is now one lane each way!

This is the type of incident that an unfortunate few are tragically victims of on far too many occasions.The thing that infuriates me is that the idiot who was obviously not paying attention is,like so many others who are never identified,unlikely to ever be prosecuted.The only heartening thing is that the motorcyclist has survived this terrible scenario.

Innovation said :

The speed limits need to be enforced to calm drivers down and normal speeds need to be restored earlier or they just should shut down the whole road (which would speed the roadworks up significantly).

According to many on here, speeding “rarely” contributes to accidents. Slowing people down on the road is purely for revenue raising & to annoy motorists.

Hope the guy recovers quickly.

That road is a mess. Personally 60km/h after hours seems too quick through the twisty and rough surface sections and I regularly get tailgated through there during the day when it’s 40km/h .

It doesn’t help that the limit is 40km/h (or 60km/h after hours) for much further than the actual roadworks at both ends (last week a tailgating P plater finally overtook me in the cycle lane on the left and cut me off because he couldn’t wait until the road formed two lanes 20 metres further on.

The speed limits need to be enforced to calm drivers down and normal speeds need to be restored earlier or they just should shut down the whole road (which would speed the roadworks up significantly).

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