Police greatly reduced the number of motorcycle collisions through special operations in 2008. Picture: Kath Gannaway – Digitally alteredBy Monique Ebrington
THE Reefton Spur and the Black Spur tourist roads are heaven for motorcycle riders and hell for local police and emergency service workers.
Each year emergency service workers attend accidents involving motorcycles along high-speed, isolated and winding roadways that often result in serious injuries or death.
Yarra Ranges Traffic Management Unit and Warburton Police Traffic Operations have been working hard to reduce motorcycle accidents along the Reefton Spur and the Black Spur, and the latest statistics show they’ve had massive success.
Through operations Titan and Mercury in 2008 Warburton Police achieved an overall 85.7 per cent reduction in injury accidents along the Reefton Spur.
In 2006 Warburton Police recorded 15 motorcycle collisions resulting in injury and 13 single vehicle incidents involving motorcycles.
Equally high was 2007 with 14 motorcycle collisions resulting in injury and 12 single vehicle incidents.
After the introduction of operations Titan and Mercury, there were only two motorcycle collisions and two single vehicle motorcycle incidents along the Reefton Spur in 2008.
Yarra Ranges TMU used operations Surreptitious and Facade along the Black Spur, a 28km stretch of tourist road, to catch 148 speeding motorcyclists and to impound 17 motorbikes from February 2008 to January 2009.
Police presence continued to prove effective on the weekend with two motorcycles impounded last Sunday after their drivers were caught speeding along the Black Spur.
The first bike was clocked travelling at 134km and the second at 135km on the designated 80km road.
Warburton Police and Yarra Ranges TMU used a variety of radars, road blocks, covert road vehicles and increased police presence during their operations.
The Reefton Spur is more than 20km of single-lane roads surrounded by dense forest and with numerous tight bends that, says Warburton Sergeant Tony Pagels, entice motorcycle riders but provide a heavy burden for air ambulances and emergency service workers.
“There are only two landing spots along the Reefton Spur, which makes it very difficult and time consuming when you’re looking at trying to save a life, and time is of the essence,” Sgt Pagels said.
Warburton Police Sergeant Paul Bell says the quickest way for people to lose their driving licence and/or their motorcycle when visiting the Yarra Valley is to ride dangerously along the highway systems.
“If people want to come to the Yarra Valley to use the network of roads responsibly and enjoy themselves they will find it a very nice place to visit and the locals very friendly,” Sergeant Bell said.
“If they come here to be selfish and ride their motorcycles like idiots, then they can expect to lose both their licence and bikes and there will be no sympathy from us.”
A new year brings with it new plans to have more police presence and in more locations that will hopefully continue to save lives in the Yarra Ranges and bring some relief to the overstretched local emergency service resources. In 2009 Warburton Police plan to extend their operations to include the Marysville-Woods Point Road.
The officer in charge of the Yarra Ranges TMU, Sergeant John Morgan, says that police from Division 5 will be brought to the region over weekends to help local officers provide a constant police presence along the Black Spur.
