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One day it is safe and legal. The next day you get a huge fine, and lose your licence for doing the same speed.
What reason to set up the “trap” on the straightest part of the road, with the best view, including the view of the sign announcing a change to a higher target. And I quote “unfortunately you hadn’t passed the sign when I clocked you”
Safety? My ass.
Meanwhile, a driver kills a middle aged cyclist and cops half the fine as a person exceeding the speed target. (No risk, no near miss, let alone a crash.)
Then a policeman (with his foot firmly on the accelerator) kills a passenger and nearly kills the rider whilst getting all excited at the chance to book a driver for 10 km/h over the target. He should be in jail for dangerous driving causing death.
I was going to suggest you were brain washed, or brain dead, but let’s leave it at: “you think about things differently to me.
Rules should be for the guidance of the wise, and for blind obedience by fools.
I rarely get speeding fines. At least the complete focus on revenue makes them fairly predictable.
Never speed where it is safe, bound to be a camera on the downhill overtaking lane.
I knew he was going to run his usual attire. Even said so.
Petition letter in order?
I’ve lived in Canada, spent a lot of time in the US, over a dozen trips to different parts of southern Africa, a few places in SE Asia, Europe and the UK. If you think there is a better place to live than Australia then please share it, or better yet go live there.
Yep we all think things aren’t as good as our childhood, but the funny thing is that our parents said the same thing, so did our grandparents, and our children probably will as well.
We live in a country that’s almost the size of the lower 48 states of the US with less than one tenth the population; we have high standards of education; an excellent universal healthcare system; our cities are modern and clean with good public infrastructure (although public transport could be better); generally low rates of crime and in relative terms our immigration issues are almost non-existent.
We’ve never been invaded, never had a civil war, and federated peacefully.
No it’s not perfect - there are people in poverty, we have crime, our record with our indigenous population is poor, our taxes are relatively high (but ask yourself where the money comes from to build and sustain all the public infrastructure and support systems).
Enjoy what we have, the vast majority of the world will never experience it.
The Shop
DeCal Works Huge Plastic Inventory of UFO and Polisport kits.
Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
$189.95 - $239.95
Seems he was running his usual setup.
I wonder if the promoters bribed MA?
All of us MA national competition license holders are subject to very strict rules...you'll never see anyone allowed to line up for a race with a cut down helmet,fingerless gloves ,overalls and a bike with cut down fenders.
Last 2 races I went to , we all had to bring our helmets through scrutineering....the MA dickhead didn't even inspect the helmets for defects....I was watching him closely....only inspecting that each one had the AS1698 sticker on the back.
Anyone dumb enough to bring a helmet through that was bought from overseas, had it rejected.
Me...I took my 16 year old fox helmet through and raced in my nice Troy Lee helmet I bought from the states for a third the cost of the same helmet here.
I think I could safely bet the farm that all of the USA riders at the OZ X open were wearing helmets that didn't have the AS 1698 sticker on them.
We hate MA down here with very good reason. Would be nice if someone took legal action against them for allowing this blatant disregard for their own rules....not that I give a shit about what Ronnie Mac or anyone else wears...only that it might open up an opportunity to get rid of MA so that our sport might recover....
Clearly I'm dreaming!
Our current governments and councils are useless and don't know how to say no to minorities. I'm voting against liberal labour and the greens.
All any smart (none left) politician has to do is have "Bringing back common sense" as there campaign slogan and they will gather some attention.
MA are just reacting to noise not proven facts
I’m struggling working out who to put last. Seeing Labour got rid of optional preferential voting (Which would have allowed me not to vote for them at all) I think that earns them last place, but its so difficult not to put the Greens last....
Hopefully One nation and independent candidates are options in my electorate.
Ando - I agree that Australia is a great place. No reason it needs all these stupid, poorly enforced rules though.
I believe many have the opposite effect from their original intention. “Speeding” apparently causes about 7% of road traffic accidents, but with the properganda campaign and enforcement regime, people think if they drive at the speed target (with most attention on the speedometer) they are as safe as can be.
The hospitals are not now, or ever been overflowing with push bike riders (wearing helmets or not), but diabetes is expected to overwhelm “destroy” our health system. So if anyone doesn’t cycle because of compulsory helmets this law is contributing to poor health. When the hospitals are full and bankrupt it will affect everyone. If I ride without a helmet, it affects me.
I’ve been racing in an overseas purchased helmet for a few years. MA have decided to recognise a number of overseas standards. I believe they are even legal on the street. The curse of AS1698 might be over.
I’m glad they let R. Mac ride in his choice of helmet. A shame they wont let me run a GoPro.
What's their reasoning behind it? Plenty of people wear them.
As for the M.A official checking the helmets, were they an actualy M.A paid official or just a local club volunteer who was doing the helmet checks.
I often help out at our local club with scrutineering (Spelling) I generally do the helmet checks. Give the helmet a quick once over, check to make sure it has one of the allowed standard stickers or labels and send them on their way.
On another note, as we know we can't run helmet cams on our helmets in Aus, including having a mount on the helmet.
Recently one of the guys I know was checking helmets, a kid (well of sorts, he was racing C open so would have been 17 or 18) came through with a camera mount on his helmet. The guy volunteering his time checking helemts instead of doing a flag shift, took the mount off, as it was either that or send the rider back to his van to do it himself, or tell him he can;t ride.
when taking the mount off, it scratch the helmet.
Mum and dad had were not happy and the club or MSA ended up hafting to replace the helmet!
Certainly surprised me that Ronnie Mac got away with his set up.
Also Reardon running a Go-Pro
Ronnie Ghost riding his bike on Purpose
And Robbie Marshal backfliping at the end of the race.
Don't get me wrong, personally have no issue with any of these things, all adds to the entertainment that is part of a great event. But certainly looks as M.A has zero control or of the event but are just their as name as the governing organisation.
The sport is in a weird position in this country at the moment, insurance costs keep going through the roof, 5 or 6 years ago when we rode or raced we payed for our yearly licence which covered insurance then just payed the clubs to race.
Now we pay out yearly licence which covers one form of insurance, then pay a levy to the local governing body to cover another form of insurance. in SA that levy is $12 I think for practice days and $23 for race days! then add the club practice or race fees on top of that.
With the price going up an up, I decided this summer it would be cheaper to go BMX racing with my son, seeing just as many crashes and injuries in a much shorter race format and time, yet it cost $3 to practice and $10 max to race local races.
Me and the boy have just finished a 3 race series over the course of one week, cost us $54 total for both of us to race.
Seen as much carnage as I would have at three local MX races. Stuggling to see why the is such a HUGE varience in insurance costs.
Understand one is a motorsport, but the difference is just insane.
This is one of the cruxes of my problem with the direction MA, and Australia is going.
Something bad happens, something must be done, even if it causes other problems and doesn’t fix the original issue. Then “safety” rules can never be removed, just added to.
Australia: Not fixing a problem that doesn’t exist.
Some freak accident involving a lightweight ski helmet - ban helmet cams, and even the tiny mount! On MX helmets.
Good grief.
MX is dangerous as soon as you swing a leg over the seat. I don't see how a helmet cam or even the camera mount makes it that much more dangerous that they have to be banned in the name of safety.
Not sure who makes all them decision but they need to go/be replaced.
Can a bunch of riders get together and start a new group/association or is there absolutely no way around it and they'll always be the one's who make the rules. Do they regulate everything 2 wheels/racing? I live in Canada so I have no clue what the MA is or what it does.
Not a fan of the rules, but is what it is.
You either choose to ride MA affiliated tracks over here and pay their fees and play by their rules, or ride one of the private ride parks, or find private tracks to ride.
Can't see anyone taking the time or effort to start a new body or organisation to change things, so we live with what we have.
I had to buy a different, much cheaper licence to race at Lakeside, and QR. I don’t believe an MA licence is required for most events there.
I don’t doubt many of these (suffocating) rules are well meaning, but many are unnecessary, and/or outdated.
The perfect example of what is killing the country and causing depression is:
The current political crises caused by the “Dual Citizenship Crises”.
A document that was written in the 1890s designed to stop people with an allegiance to “foreign powers” being elected in to Australian Parliament. This rule is now getting people, whom happen to have a parent born in a previously Commonwealth country, to be kicked out. At great financial and democratic cost.
Does anyone care about the original intent of the ancient rule? No. Lets just blindly enforce it the letter of the ancient law. And hopefully gain political advantage. It’s sickening and insulting.
Also re gettin done for speeding I still run the 10k's over ya safe and haven't been booked in 15 years
Pit Row
You do know the meaning of the word “bigot” I take it? (Or do you display your ignorance, and use it incorrectly as some sort of catchphrase, as has become popular with bigots.)
Using “retard” in the same sentence seems a little ironic also.
I’m well aware of some of the preference deals that are going on between partys. Still we have the choice to vote for who we think is the least worst, or waste our vote by voting informally. Something, that while tempting, I’m loath to do.
I might not be the “sharpest knife in the draw”, but have proven to be well above average at preforming IQ tests. I’d suggest “retarded”, isn’t among my many, and obvious flaws.
For all the people complaining about speeding fines, it's simple....
DON'T SPEED!!! The speed limits are there for a reason, whether you think they're fair or not.
No use looking for someone else to blame when you get a speeding fine. The police officer wasn't the one with his foot on your accelerator.
Lippy 111 its pissflaps like you who are the reason Australias such an over policed nanny nation. Ive seen highway patrol cars chase people doing 10 ks over the limit and have to do a u turn , go thru a red light and cut traffic off in the wet just to catch them . the idiot cop put the public in far more danger than old mate in his hilux .and also is it any wonder a few yanks can come over and wipe the floor with our best riders ya know why , because we grow up riding on dogshit tracks because ma control what we do with them and they are pissflaps like you .
Re- SX2 incident in the whoops.
I have had a job which saw me in attendance at many of the worst road crashes. I have witnessed some awful results. I have seen children die in my Helicopter on the way to hospital, with Paramedics working furiously to save them. I dont need convincing of how bad road crashes can be.
Most of the crashes I attended were normal people, doing a normal trip, when someone made a mistake.
A car hitting the door area of another car at 40km/h can easily be fatal, especially without curtain airbags. Pushbike helmets in cars would likely save more lives than bike helmets on bikes. It’s been reported that some brain surgeons and their families wear bike helmets when driving (probably all drive high end cars with 10 airbags these days.)
Hitting a child at 40km/h doesn’t make them less dead than hitting them at 44km/h. Looking for the children, and potential “hiding places” might be a safer strategy than staring at your speedo.
I’ve also had a job that was focused on driver education and avoiding crashes.
I’m all for road safety.
Booking someone for 84km/h on a divided road in the desert, has NOTHING to do with safety. Booking someone for exceeding the “school zone” speed limit at 1 min past the start time with no children in sight has nothing to do with safety.
The official QLD statistics claim 7% of crashes, and 15% of fatal crashes are caused by excessive speed.
Do you think speed enforcement makes up 7 or 15% of fine revenue?
Why should someone that causes an accident, which results in an innocent persons death, be fined less than someone caught exceeding the speed target? For safety? Or for some other reason?
(Hint: most Australian states raise around $1M/day in revenue from traffic fines)
Oh wait yes it does... the government just released that they made 1.1 billion in speeding revenue from approx 10 million ACTIVE drivers.
In my opinion, every cent should be committed to road trauma victim help foundations.
Oh, and Pissflaps? You stay classy now!!
I could be wrong, so please, correct me if I am.
Can't believe I said that, I'm going to have a sit down and a cup of tea.
As for the speeding no one agrees with speed traps at the bottom of the hills, but speeding DOES increase the likelihood and the consequences of an incident. Speed a lot/by a lot you will get caught, speed by mistake/occasionally you will probably get away with it.
As for the question why does the most minor speeding ticket begin at 1 km/hr over the limit my question is how many times have you been busted doing 1 km/hr over?
Don't get me started on drink driving though, it is bullshit that I can't drive home pissed from the pub cause you used to be able to do it. I have never killed anyone so it must be alright. I spend all my time trying not to be pissed while I'm driving and it makes me more unsafe.....
An interesting note, point 10 of the supplementary regulations states, in red underline, that helmets must be presented at sign on for safety check,,,
And
My rant is over.
Lets all enjoy or dirt bikes while we can. Every chance we get.
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