My letter to the clowns that run this state. May their mini suffer gearbox failure on the M4 during rush hour traffic.
To whom it may concern.
I am writing to you to protest this outlandish piece of legislation that you have passed through parliament, without consultation, to raise motorcycle CTP in some areas by up to 80 percent. This is not the first time the goverment has acted undemocratically, a case in point being VSI-50.
My wife and I are motorcyclists, who up until recently were also labour voters. I have been riding for a number of years, and my wife gained her full license a few years ago. My wife is a delegate for the NSW Motorcycle Council.. Neither of us have been involved in a motorcycle accident in Australia, neither have we ever been convicted of any wrongdoing whilst we have ridden a motorcycle in Australia. So I believe I have the credentials to write to you with some authority.
Firstly I would like to know what statistics are being used to justify this increase. I have been trolling the net for the last two days trying to find out information on CTP claims and premiums, to little avail. I would like to know, for the last 5 years, across all groups, how much has been collected in revenue from CTP premiums vs what has been paid out. I personally do not know anybody who has ever claimed on CTP, and I think that CTP is akin to having insurance against the sky falling on my head. Therefore I propose that motorcycle CTP be set at $100.00 This way it will be fair. This also takes into account the people who ride pocket bikes or dirt bikes around suburbs without licenses. These people are not motorcyclists, and should not count in our statistics. I would like to know how many of the fatalities and CTP claims last year were unregistered unlicensed pocket bike and trail bike riders, like I observed in postcode 2326 the other day while visiting, and it is also prevalent in 2770.
Due to mismanagement, our roads system is the poorest in the land, and many people are frustrated every day sitting in gridlock trying to get to work. They cant take the train or the bus becuase on time running now means the train or bus can be 20 minutes late, if it even bothers to stop at your station. Due to the foresight of this goverment, if you live in the Northwest of Sydney you cant catch a train at all. But there is hope, and the people have already found it. Buy a bike and ride to work, where the forward thinking City of Sydney have put in Motorcycle free parking in multiple locations. Furthermore you can tour on your bike, taking your hard earned cash to towns that rely on visitors for their existence. You can make it easier for people to ride to these places, or you can support the residents of smaller rural communities on centrelink payments. Up to you!
Motorcyclists, despite the media hype, are a caring bunch of people. There are many charity rides every year. My wife and I attend annually the Honda Snowy Ride, held in Thredbo, to raise money for Childhood Cancer research. This ride is targeting 5000 bikes into Thredbo this year, and is in it's 10th year. There is also the Pink Ribbon Ride for breast cancer, and the prostate cancer ride. We are also friends of Tex and Bundy, who also ride this land raising money for prostate cancer. If you drive motorcycles off the road by insisting on an overinflated insurance that adds no value except to insurance companies, then it is these charities that lose out. What are you going to tell the child, dying from cancer, that you cant help find a cure because we drove the people who provide the money off the road.
I hope that you see fit to repeal this legislation downwards. I see $100 as a fair CTP premuim. If you disagree, prove it to me. However the national average on motorcycle fatalities are falling, so I would suggest that if our fatalities are opposing the national trend then there are other factors like crap roads, dangerous non motorcycle median barriers, and lack of forward vision for our road system.
If you choose to continue on this path, I will not support your reelection at the next election.
Regards
Graham and Kathy.