Review Dr Soames Job and his role in Motorcycling & the RTA

I would also like to request a reply as to how Dr Job can and does hold his position of vital importance within the RTA with the following views and request that the Roads Minister immediately review his position of great importance and influence over the motorcycling public.

http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/Prod/parlment/committee.nsf/0/3A274FA70612D081CA2577910022C54F

As per Survive the rides submission.... Much of the feet dragging in NSW can be attributed to the influence of people in the RTA. For example, the Director for The Centre For Road Safety, Soames Job, has stated on many occasions and at many seminars and meetings that the he “will not doing anything to encourage people to ride motorbikes”. This would actually appear to be a policy of his doing as he has stated to many people that if he had his way he would ban motorcycles altogether. STRA NSW - Staysafe Committee Enquiry Submission – Page 13 This RTA policy has led to an array of directives to stop motorcycle safety initiatives that are based on sound research. For example, many local government motorcycle safety projects such as producing rider safety maps for rural regions and rider safety programs for commuters from Western Sydney have been cancelled after a directive from Soames Job with the justification given that they may encourage more people to ride.

In his early years as the head of road safety in the RTA, crash data was demonstrating a clear reduction in the crash rate for riders particularly for Learners and Provisional licenced riders. While this information was issued to the rider training companies to show their work appeared to be having a good effect, the RTA instructions were that the companies were not allowed to release the information to the public as this may suggest that riding was safer and therefore encourage more people to ride. This approach by Soames Job to try and stop people from riding motorcycles has continued to this day.

We have confirmed that in the past few weeks a memo has been issued to all staff at the RTA Parramatta office that motorcycles (not pedal cycles) are now banned from parking in the underground car park despite the capacity for the machines to be parked in numerous locations without hindering other vehicles and despite the obvious advantages that motorcycles have for reducing congestion, managing the carbon footprint and offering employees cheaper alternatives for commuting. As the head of a directorate within a major NSW government department this would suggest that Soames Job is actively working against the State Plan objectives of environmental and economic sustainability. Rather than trying to help motorcycle riders to improve their safety, Soames Job ignores the need for rider safety and wants to simply reduce the number of motorcycle riders. This would naturally reduce the road toll due to lower exposure and therefore demonstrate he is meeting his performance targets.

His simplistic approach exhibits a “head in the sand” mentality to the reality of Sydney’s congestion problems, the RTA’s own data that shows the number of registered motorcycles is increasing, the rights of individuals to choose their own mode of transport and his own training in human behaviour. It appears that Soames Job and his colleagues have adopted the policy to “will not doing anything to encourage people to ride motorbikes” simply because they have a personal dislike for motorcycles and riders. If the true aim and justification was to reduce the road toll then they would also have to be discouraging the use of pedal cycles with an equal level of zeal and passion. The recent announcement of $158 million funding over 10 years for pedal cycles demonstrates this is not the case.

Soames Job and his colleagues will attempt to explain that they are actually working on motorcycle safety with discussion of the billboard and poster campaigns for motorcycles that began in 2007-2008 and the Motorcycle Rider Training Scheme. It needs to be remembered that the Motorcycle Rider Training Scheme commenced in 1991 and demonstrated success in fatality reductions long before these people rose to the executive ranks. In addition, the billboard and poster campaign was conducted only after receiving a directive from the then Minister for Roads following a review of the more pro-active approaches taken by the Vic government and an admission that the RTA was not doing anything.

The fact that Soames Job’s personal policy has been tolerated for many years is also a concern for motorcyclists who represent 10% of the NSW voting population.