Photo: flickr.com
It looks like Australian folks are more sensible when it comes to real, efficient road safety measures than many other government guys: lane-splitting finally became legal in the New South Wales state, though with the top speed regulated at 30 km/h (19mph).
Still, the victory is a huge one, as it creates a solid base for further development of similar road safety rules which can make traffic both less cluttered and obviously, safer. It took two months for the legislators to trial out this conclusion, but the fruition of such a regulation was well worth the wait and the effort put in by the supporters of “filtering”.
The law-making body of New South Wales acknowledged that filtering indeed helps easing traffic congestions and represents a good improvement in the rider’s safety. Lane-splitting is allowed in areas with stopped traffic, but not in school zones, beside kerbs or next to trucks and buses, as drive.com.au reports.
NSW injury risk management research center road safety chairman Raphael Grzebieta adds: “In a 30km/h impact with a pedestrian, for instance, research has shown there’s a 10 per cent risk of a fatality or serious injury; at about 60km/h it’s around the 90 per cent mark.” The scheme will be evaluated during the next 12 months, and police officers are advised to monitor the bikers’ speed during filtering.
There is still a long way to reach the glorious example set by the California Highway Patrol, with filtering being allowed even between moving vehicles, as long as the passing speed is no exceeding 15% that of the surrounding traffic, but by all means, a big hand goes to all those in Oz who helped things out.
The law-making body of New South Wales acknowledged that filtering indeed helps easing traffic congestions and represents a good improvement in the rider’s safety. Lane-splitting is allowed in areas with stopped traffic, but not in school zones, beside kerbs or next to trucks and buses, as drive.com.au reports.
NSW injury risk management research center road safety chairman Raphael Grzebieta adds: “In a 30km/h impact with a pedestrian, for instance, research has shown there’s a 10 per cent risk of a fatality or serious injury; at about 60km/h it’s around the 90 per cent mark.” The scheme will be evaluated during the next 12 months, and police officers are advised to monitor the bikers’ speed during filtering.
There is still a long way to reach the glorious example set by the California Highway Patrol, with filtering being allowed even between moving vehicles, as long as the passing speed is no exceeding 15% that of the surrounding traffic, but by all means, a big hand goes to all those in Oz who helped things out.
Google News