For years, Safe System Solutions has been working with the Victorian Government to improve safety for motorcyclists in Victoria through better road maintenance regimes – and it’s making an impact.
Generally, Victorian road maintenance strategies are set with cars and heavy vehicles in mind – yet the road users most susceptible to surface conditions, such as potholes and rutting, are motorcyclists.
This has never made sense to Safe System Solutions’ Principal Engineer, Kenn Beer.
“The definition of ‘hazard’ and corresponding responses categories used to determine the timing of remedial actions in Victoria have been based on traffic volumes and the road’s function, but it’s not considered motorcyclists,” he said.
“We have conducted in-depth investigations of motorcyclist fatalities on popular routes where road conditions were within the defined tolerances but we determined that the road surface condition played a contributing factor in the fatal incident.
“Our goal at Safe System Solutions is to make the roads safe for everyone – and protecting the safety of motorcyclists is a key part of achieving that.”
Safe System Solutions has undertaken road safety analysis, crash investigations, and road safety audits of some of Victoria’s most popular motorcycle routes, which showed that the Hazard Response Matrix that determines maintenance actions needs to change for these routes.
The findings were presented at the prestigious Australasian Road Safety Conference in Canberra back in 2016.
“On these routes, if motorcyclists become the designated ‘maintenance design vehicle’ instead of cars and heavy vehicles, then road repairs, maintenance and reinstatement works need to be carried out differently,” Kenn said.
“Our road safety audits, which included experienced motorcycle riders, found that pothole and deformation hazards were sufficiently serious that the frequency of daytime inspections needed to increase.”
New Motorcycle Enhanced Maintenance Scheme
Safe System Solutions has undertaken significant scoping and development work for the Victorian Government’s new Motorcycle Enhanced Maintenance Scheme to deliver a heightened maintenance schedule on popular motorcycling routes.
The Scheme is being trialled along a section of Dargo Rd, in Dargo, and Mt Baw Baw Rd, between Piedmont and Baw Baw Village.
“It’s fantastic to see the Victorian Government taking action and trialling this scheme to improve road maintenance standards on popular motorcycling routes,” Kenn said.
Safe System Solutions has also delivered training courses for road maintenance staff across Victoria to build their understanding of the needs of motorcyclists. The course covers how road maintenance or reinstatement works can be performed in ways that improve safety for motorcyclists.
“Improving road safety requires a holistic approach. We’re leading a suite of research, project development and training to make sure motorcyclists can ride safely on our most popular routes,” Kenn said.