Scooters: The New Menace On Australian Roads? Motoring Channel Staff - 25/July/2007 | 
Scooters are the new menace on roads,
according to 33% of Australian drivers.
Should they be banned? (Picture: MCIA)
Who Is To Blame?As a regular car
driver and motorcycle rider, I often see both bikes and cars doing
stupid things on the road. I don't believe either camp is untainted in
this regard, but overall it's a few rotten eggs that spoil the batch.
Sadly for us though, we're much more likely to remember a loony in a
car or on a scooter doing something shocking, than the thousands who do
the right and reasonable thing. As a former motorcycle courier, I
myself used to be a bit of cowboy on the motorbike in my younger days,
splitting traffic and all the things that piss off car drivers.
But being on the road 10 hours a day, five days a week I also witnessed
an inordinate amount of incredibly stupid car drivers. The door
swings both ways for drivers and riders, and as fuel prices rise and
congestion destroys the daily commute, two-wheeled alternatives are
only going to become more popular. The new survey released by
AAMI suggests that 1 in 3 drivers think that scooters are the 'new
menace' on Australian roads. I ride a 600cc CBR sports bike, and see
scooter riders as my fellow road users, just like cars and
trucks. I think calling scooters a menace is unreasonable at best,
and dangerous at worst. Arguably the most fuel and space efficient
vehicles on the road, scooters are an excellent alternative to cars and
are magnitudes more efficient than even the most frugal hybrid car
today. -
Feann Torr, Editor |
|
Melbourne, Australia —
As the new motorcycle market heads for a record year here in Australia,
buoyed by increased demand for scooters, a recent survey conducted
by insurance company AAMI asserts that "one-third (33 per cent) of
drivers nationally said that scooters were the new menace on
Australia's capital city roads." You have to wonder what was the old menace was... Now major motoring authorities such as the FCAI - the Federal Chamber of
Automotive Industries - have come out and rubbished AAMI's claims,
essentially calling the company's surveyors a pack a liars. "The industry totally rejects these claims," said FCAI chief executive, Andrew McKellar. "AAMI has sought to draw a
very long bow here. The claims are not supported by their own
research." The (FCAI) and the affiliated
Australian Scooter Federation (ASF) questioned the substance of
the suggestions based on the survey findings, and delivered their own media release that pours scorn on the AAMI survey.
"I
must say the industry is somewhat puzzled by the assertions contained
in that press release, and the motives behind them, but generally if a
question in a survey receives only 33 per cent support, then it
suggests that 67 per cent did not support that view," said Mr McKellar. "The
FCAI believes that the growing numbers of scooter riders are legitimate
road users, and like most other road users the majority of them are
responsible and sensible." Rather than branding one type of road
user as a menace, Mr McKellar called for co-operation between all road
users: "The FCAI believes that it is vital to unite all road users
through a mutual understanding of the different types of vehicles that
inhabit our roads, and we will continue to work with all stakeholders
to ensure that process continues. The FCAI wasn't the only group that weighed into the 'scooter scourge' debate. InsureMyRide, a
new Australian specialist online insurer of bikes and scooters, also
refutes the AAMI survey, suggesting that 'riders' usually have a better
perspective of shared road usage and its risks than car drivers. "From
our experience as an organisation that deals with and understands
riders' issues, it is motorists rather than riders who need education
on how to co-exist with other road users," said InsureMyRide's national marketing manager, Mark Behr. "The
fact is that motorcycles and scooters have become so popular amongst
urban Australian commuters over the past four to five years that they
now form a major component of our traffic and play a valuable role in
reducing vehicle densities and lowering overall fuel consumption. "According
to our research, 97 per cent of those who ride motorcycles and scooters
also have a car, so they are well aware of the risks. They clearly have
a two-way perspective. In contrast, car drivers who have never ridden
rarely appreciate the riders' perspective," opined Mr Behr. "Perhaps
if 97 per cent of motorists also rode a bike, this understanding may be
different and there would be a lot fewer collisions!" Education
seems to be at the core of both the FCAI and InsureMyRide's arguments,
but should it be car drivers who need education in how to look out for
two-wheeled vehicles? "Rather than apportion blame, we would rather take a positive approach to the issue," said Mr Behr. Motorcycle Sales BoomingPeople
are flocking to motorcycles like never before in Australia, and
according to official sales figures, the two-wheeled (and
ATV) market is on target for another record year. Thus
far in 2007, more than 60,000 two-wheeled vehicles have found
their way into car ports, garages and underground car parks, which represents an increase of 14.9 per cent over the same period in 2006. Road
bikes, such as the Yamaha YZF and Kawasaki Ninja range, grew by an
astonishing 27.2 per cent for the first half of 2007 when compared to
the same period of 2006, and off-road bikes also saw a rise
of 12.6 per cent. Overall, off-road bikes represent the largest
amount of sales of motorbikes, with 22,567 off-road bikes compared
to 21,651 road bikes sold for the first six months of this year. The
scooter market continues to grow, with sales rising 8.2 per cent to
7156 to the end of June. It's still a long way off road and off-road
bikes, but is expected to make large gains towards the end of the
decade as new emissions laws come into effect. Bolwell
scooters are the market leaders in Australia with 17.4% of
the market. Yamaha scooters is the second most popular, with 13.1%
of the scooter market and Bug scooters are in third
with 13%. Vespa is also a popular brand holding 10.8% of the market, and Honda has 10.5% of the scooter market. If 2007 is another record year for motorcycle and scooter sales, it will be the fifth year that the market has seen growth. "The
motorcycle, scooter and ATV markets are becoming increasingly diverse
and it is this very diversity which is helping the overall market to
produce such solid and consistent growth," said the FCAI's Andrew
McKellar.
"With the
second half of the year encompassing the traditional seasonal spike in
motorcycle sales through the September quarter, the annual market is
well on track to eclipse 130,000 units for the first time." Related articles:
Ducati Desmosedici RR (2007)
Laos: Two-Wheeled Adventure (2007)
Ducati 1098 (2007)
Honda CBR600RR (2007)
BMW
R 1000 R (2007)
Yamaha YZF-R1 (2006) |
