Victoria Inquires into Vulnerable Road Users doing it tougher post pandemic

Lately there’s been a bit of a theme coming out in general conversation with Victorian riders both on-line and in the real world. Riders have commonly expressed that post pandemic life on two wheels seems to be less safe.

Traffic seems denser, more “agitated”, more aggressive, more distracted, more likely to run red lights, while roads seem to be in poorer overall condition, with more surface damage, frequent potholes, and when repairs are done, they often aren’t up to scratch. That’s not to say that the roads were safe for riders pre-pandemic, but they seem to have gotten more hazardous.

Riders mustn’t have been the only ones making this observation because the Victorian Parliament decided to hold an Inquiry into the impact of road safety behaviours on vulnerable road users. You can check out the official info here:

https://new.parliament.vic.gov.au/get-involved/inquiries/roadsafetybehaviours

Submission were due 19^th May 2023. Check back frequently to see the submissions that were made.

Here is a link to the VMC's submission to that inquiry.

While there was only one broad term of reference, it was narrowly focused on vulnerable road users and how they seemed to be getting the short end of the stick due to the behaviour of other road users. And sure, while riders feel that drivers are making the roads less safe today, motorcyclists face hazards and manage risk from multiple directions, so our submission reflects that reality.

Please take the time to have a read of the submission and let us know below what your thoughts are on this topic.  (Due to spam volumes, you won’t see your comment right away, but they’ll be queued for moderator approval)