RIP Patrick Warren

[Stoneville]

We still haven't had a reply to our emails or letters yet

I have received this from a friend, that is interesting

I was speaking to the Mayor of a Town in Bicheno named Bertrand Cadert. He is the 1st Mayor in Australia to have a motorcycle as an offical Mayoral car.

Anyway... I was talking to him about the practice of leaving blue metal on the road. He says that its an unavoidable way of doing it. However he makes certain that when a new section of road is laid he has normal roadworks signs up as well as motorcycle specific signs up. He leaves those signs up for as long as it takes for all of the blue metal to be swept off the road.

He also does this for whenever a road has the edges graded.

[Graelin]

I have recieved no reply either to my Email.

I recently did a traffic management course and we were instructed that the signs must remain until the blue metal is swept off the road by cars.

[redtaipan63]

Godspeed fallen rider.

Go get them Joe.

I missed the original ride but would be keen on a follow up.

[horny675]

The meeting with WALGA did not go entirely as expected. Initially they agreed to write a letter to the 140 Shires highlighting the danger of unmarked loose blue metal. However, when we received the draft of the letter, it was very general in nature and did not actually mention the blue metal issue!! This, they said, is because the matter was under investigation and they did not want to predudice thie situation!

We have subsequently obtained the email address of all 140 shires and are drafting our own letter. We hope to get this sent by the MRA - because that will probably be taken more seriously. It would have been better coming from WALGA or Main Roads - but its nigh on impossible to get these guys to actually do anything positive.

Joe Clive1 Clive 2 and Gary

[Joe Arena]

Here is the draft of the letter that we'll be sending to all local government authorities. Please feel free to make comments:

We, on the behalf of all motorcyclists in Western Australia, are sending this safety notice to all Local Government Authorities in Western Australia. Our explicit aim is to make very clear that the practice of leaving loose blue metal on road surfaces constitutes a serious road hazard to all road users, particularly to motorcyclists. We initially approached WALGA directly to send this safety notice but they refused stating that they do not have a legislative or regulatory role with Local Government Authorities.

Please view the attached photos (2 photos to be provided). These photos were taken at the scene of a motorcyclist fatality that occurred 30th May 2010 on a regional road just south of Dwellingup in Waroona Shire. What is clearly evident in the photos is the extent of loose blue metal that was strewn across most of this road. There was no warning signage of the pending danger. The loose blue metal is of the same coloration as the road surface and therefore invisible. These undetectable hazards are the worse kind for motorcyclists. The unfortunate motorcyclist hit this loose blue metal, lost control of his motorcycle and crashed causing his death.

In the interest of road safety, we strongly recommend that you review your road repair practices against the current Guidelines and Standards namely:
1. AustRoads AGPT07/09.
2. Traffic Management for Works on Roads – Code of Practice, Main Roads WA, May 2010.
3. AS1742.3

The above guidelines and standards are very clear on the following:
• All loose gravel left on a road surface after maintenance shall be swept clear.
• If for a very good reason the above cannot be done then appropriate warning signs must be provided.
Local councils and shires have a general duty of care to ensure that roads are safe to use. Failure to provide a safe road surface or if otherwise provide warning signs may expose local shires to litigation.

Please do your upmost to ensure that such tragic circumstances are never repeated in your area of jurisdiction. A simple warning sign would have most certainly saved this motorcyclist life. Better still; do not leave deadly loose blue metal on our roads.

[Spock]

Good letter. I would suggest being a bit more specific in the following sentences:

"These photos were taken at the scene of a motorcyclist fatality that occurred 30th May 2010 on Nanga road..."

"A simple warning sign on Nanga road would have almost certainly saved the life of a motorcyclist...."

Also, you might wish to consider using Patrick Warren's name rather than 'this motorcyclist'.
ie.
"These photos were taken at the scene of a motorcyclist accident that occurred 30th May 2010 on Nanga road where our friend Patrick Warren lost his life..."

"A simple warning sign on Nanga road would have almost most certainly saved Patrick's life...."

My 2c worth

[Joe Arena]

Thanks Spock for the very good suggestions - definately puts a very personal side to the fatality.

[St Ives]

And change the word "worse" to "worst".

[eldavo]

If this hasn't gone out yet, one suggestion along the lines of personalisation with Patrick's name, is to include a copy of all the press material and a reference to each piece, with conclusion to the references making the point:
- this is not just another road maintenance matter, it's a matter of life and death affecting family, friends and a community who all care about Patrick and fellow victims of preventable road accidents.

After just watching a couple Yes Men documentaries this weekend (something I would have talked to Patrick about over a coffee), the way our society is geared to financial value above human value is I think is evidenced on this small scale in how ineffective local council's response has been.
1. Don't take responsibility, as it risks financial liability. Do sweep the road of evidence to mitigate your liability though.
2. Don't do the right thing if it risks taking responsibility.

[yaabaa]

I have been told that the sign recently appeared on Mundaring Weir Road and Nanga Road in Dwellingup.

It is a step in the right direction to help stop this type of accident, and I guess better than nothing

Thanks for the photo Alfie.

[eldavo]

Is that sign telling me there's 4km of blue metal road works illegally being left on the road and unsigned as road works?

To me it looks like a red herring intended to absolve people responsible and lay it on the rider.

A little sickening to see after the recent WALGA warm and fuzzy PR campaign for local governments helping everyone.

[Desmo]

To me it looks like a red herring intended to absolve people responsible and lay it on the rider.

I don't really want to bring this up in a RIP thread, but seeing as how this thread has evolved on from that slightly I will.
We should all be aware of the possibility of blue metal, honky nuts, roos and all manner of debris on the road during country runs. It is our responsibility as riders and no signage is ever going to make a difference in this instance.
Although I applaud the people trying to make a difference in harsh circumstances all this sign does is tell us what we should already be aware of and riding accordingly.

[Nickerz]

I think that sign is fair enough. They have similar on particularly twisty and notorious sections of UK 'bike' roads. Any visual reminder that there's hazards ahead is a good thing - at least it shows someone's thinking.

Now what they need to do is sort road markings and corner signage properly, and mark up well before tight corners. It's not hard to do - it just costs money.

[Älen]

Condolences to you and the family.