News Bytes
ALLSTATE DONATES WARNING SIGNS
AT DANGEROUS INTERSECTIONS
Allstate insurance company and its engineering partners are
working closely with local traffic authorities to review available
crash data and to identify intersections with a high number
of multi-vehicle crashes involving motorcycles. Allstate then
donates warning signs to be installed at the site with the
intent of elevating awareness of motorcycle incidents that
would not be readily apparent to a driver.
The warning signs used in the campaign are yellow diamond
warning signs that read “Watch For Motorcycles.” Allstate
worked in conjunction with the Federal Highway Administration
to design the current sign to ensure compliance with section
2A.06 paragraph 13 of the M.U.T.C.D.
The NHTSA (National Highway Safety Administration), in their
Fatality Analysis Reporting System, supports the Hurt Report’s
findings, showing 46% of all multi-vehicle motorcycle crash
fatalities (8,107 out of 17,470 fatalities from 2006-2012)
occurred at intersections. This data shows that, on average,
three motor cyclists are killed every day from multi-vehicle
crashes at intersections in the US.
MOTORCYCLE HELMET CAMERAS “ILLEGAL” DOWN
UNDER
A motorcycle rider “down under” unsuccessfully challenged
a citation for using a camera attached to his helmet, setting
an important legal precedent for riders in the Australian state
of Victoria.
Victorian police cited a technicality within the rules to
argue the camera was an “unauthorised alteration” to an
otherwise Australian Standards-approved helmet. Items
that protrude more than 5mm from the helmet surface
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are deemed illegal attachments, the police argue, and
therefore render the helmet non-compliant with the
Australian Standards.
In other words, as far as Victoria Police were concerned, it’s as
if the rider wasn’t wearing an Australian Standards-approved
helmet at all. In all Australian states and territories, motorcycle
riders must wear a helmet approved by Australian Standards
while riding.
As a landmark ruling by a Victorian court, the decision
effectively bans motorcycle riders in that state from wearing
helmets with cameras attached, but meanwhile police in
other states enforce the laws much differently.
So while riders in Victoria are now fair game and have even
reportedly been fined for attaching tinted visors to their
helmets, and New South Wales police have already been
targeting riders for wearing cameras, police in Western
Australia and Queensland wear helmet cameras themselves
-- the very act that has seen motorcyclists fined in NSW and,
now, Victoria.
“Riders tell us they wear helmet cameras to improve their
safety while on the roads and that drivers and other road
users show more care when there is a camera in use,” said
the rider’s lawyer, who is considering an appeal. “Riders
should not be penalized for trying to improve the safety of
their riding,” he said, adding that cameras are also ideal for
capturing evidence during a collision.
QUOTABLE QUOTE: “If you do not take an interest in the
affairs of your government, then you are doomed to live
under the rule of fools.”
~ Plato (428-347 BC) Greek philosopher, student of Socrates
and teacher of Aristotle
October 2015
Thunder Roads Magazine® Colorado 31