From:
Philip Johnston [mailto:scribepj@bigpond.com]
Sent: Monday, 22 May 2023 2:09 PM
To: 'info@environment.nsw.gov.au'
Subject: What NSW Govt. regulatory authority requires registered
motorcycles to be regularly compliance tested for the muffler exhaust noise
limit of 94 decibels? Loud throttling exhaust stimulates some riders to 'over
stretch' sometimes with fatal consequences
When will Environment NSW respond to my below email sent six weeks ago?
My below email is intent upon reducing motor bike trauma accidents and the associated cost of the NSW Health Care System by eliminating one of the few reasons that attract some folk to take dangerous risks on a two wheel vehicle designed for transportation.
Phil Johnston aka Bank
Teller
0434 715.861
From:
Philip Johnston [mailto:scribepj@bigpond.com]
Sent: Monday, May 15, 2023 9:19 AM
To: 'info@environment.nsw.gov.au' <info@environment.nsw.gov.au>
Subject: FW: What NSW Govt. regulatory authority requires registered
motorcycles to be regularly compliance tested for the muffler exhaust noise
limit of 94 decibels? Loud throttling exhaust stimulates some riders to 'over
stretch' sometimes with fatal consequenc
I welcome a response to my below email sent to this address five weeks ago that asks “What NSW Govt. regulatory authority requires registered motorcycles to be regularly compliance tested for the muffler exhaust noise limit of 94 decibels?”
Final attachment is an acknowledgement email of my below email that informs that “Environment Line will process your request within 5 working days.”
Phil Johnston aka Bank
Teller
0434 715.861
From:
Philip Johnston [mailto:scribepj@bigpond.com]
Sent: Wednesday, April 12, 2023 5:00 PM
To: 'info@environment.nsw.gov.au' <info@environment.nsw.gov.au>
Subject: What NSW Govt. regulatory authority requires registered
motorcycles to be regularly compliance tested for the muffler exhaust noise
limit of 94 decibels? Loud throttling exhaust stimulates some riders to 'over
stretch' sometimes with fatal consequences
The below YouTube evidences that some motorcycle riders are stimulated by loud exhaust muffler noise:
The below YouTube explains how discreet (undetectable) an adjustment to a motorcycle muffler’s noise can be achieved:
Below is an extract from page 5 of the attached PDF titled issued by ‘Managing Vehicle Noise’ issued by the Dept of Environment and Conservation (NSW).
“For most cars, the relevant exhaust noise limit is 90 decibels and for motorcycles, 94 decibels.”
I am a road cyclist and regularly hear exceedingly loud exhaust noises on motorcycles on the Old Pacific Highway north of Cowan.
I have administered a road cycling group, Muggaccinos, for a tad over 26 years. The Pie in the Sky North Cowan and Mt White Road Warriors Café provide photos, mostly taken over 15 years ago during some Sunday ride visits that evidence that both of these cafes used to be well patronized by road cyclists on Sundays.
Alas, in recent years road cyclists have largely abandoned visits to The Pie in the Sky on Sundays due to the more recent popularity of motorcycle riders dashing up from Brooklyn Rd to The Pie in the Sky café (3.85km), bolting through one particularly sharp corner where these riders are videoed (by a dedicated motorcycle camera group) for publication on YouTube. Below are a few old public access YouTube movies:
Log into ShotByRoth for lots of action motorcycle riding photos that some motorcycle riders crave.
As evidenced in the below four YouTubes, in recent years a lot of motorcycle riders have frequented Pie in the Sky Cafe particularly on Sundays and driven loops down to Brooklyn Rd and then raced individually back up to Pie in the Sky Cafe, sometimes at break neck speeds with camera men taking Mp4 videos, usually positioned at the same sharp L/H corner, to then publish their cornering skills on YouTube:
1. Old Pacific Highway - Cheap Thrills edition. This 4 min 14 sec video shows a lot of dangerous high speed riding on an acute corner on the 3.85km road stretch between Brooklyn Rd and The Pie in the Sky. Some footage appeared on Channel 6 ‘A Current Affair’. The YouTube starts with news reader Peter Overton saying “Idiot bike riders using our roads for their cheap thrills.” At 11 min 15 sec a motor bike crashes into the wall.
2. Police Chase, Fast Riders and a crash. Old Pacific Highway – 6-11-16 This 11 min 38 sec video shows road cyclists sharing the same 3.85km section up to Pie in the Sky with a LOT of motorcycles, some taking dangerous risks on sharp corners to create sparks from their knee pads.
3. Riding with Subscribers: with a Crash and a Police Encounter
4. ‘Sunday Therapy’ - RAW Onboard - Old Pacific Highway
About 5 years ago I was standing on the side of the road at the same sharp L/H corner adjacent to a photographer when a motor bike rider ‘lost it’ on that corner, the same result as immediately below (videoed in 2. above at 9 min 25 sec). His bike and he slid across the road into the sandstone wall about 5m to my right. Fortunately that rider was not badly injured, nut his motor bike was.
The above blurred photo is a motor bike rider and his bike propelling sideways across the roadway into the rock wall, after the rider lost control on the infamous L/H corner that excites too many motorcyclists to take dangerous risks to capture their skill (or stupidity) on a YouTube.
Below is a newspaper article re the death of a motorcycle rider on Sat 23 Sept 2017 on the same section of road.
Below is a URL to the fatality of a 19 year old last Saturday on the same section of the Old Pacific Highway, north of Cowan.
18 year old male dies in motorcycle crash near Cowan NSW on Sat, 20 Jan 2018 - The Australian
Below is a URL to the fatality of a 48 year old rider on 28 March 2013 on the Old Pacific Highway, Cowan
Man dies after motorcycle crash on the Old Pacific Highway at Cowan
The below extract (from 2nd Attachment) acknowledges that part of the thrill of riding a motorcycle fast thru tight corners is “the popularity of loud exhausts”
“Noise standards have been increased to 110 dbA
The new noise standards result from an increase in the number of motorcycles on Australian roads, as well as an increase in the popularity of loud exhausts.”
3rd Attachment evidences that over 200 motor cyclists have died on Australian roads in each of the past three years. I believe that around half of those killed would not have become fatality statistics if –
A. their motor bike’s engine capacity was designed for Australian road speed limits and not to attain speeds well beyond Australian road speed limits; and
B. their exhaust noise emissions had been regularly tested for compliance, say every six months at no fee cost.
Ostensibly due to COVID, the impact on energy prices and sunflower meal and oil prices due to the Ukraine war and recent inland floodings, State and Territory Public Purses are presently exceedingly stretched. Wage increases for age care workers, state school teachers and nurses are a higher priority than nursing further suffers of 'spinal cord injury' and 'traumatic brain injury' from trauma motorcycle accidents, when the cause of these trauma accidents can be ‘treated’.
Question
What NSW Govt. regulatory authority requires registered motorcycles to be
regularly compliance tested for the muffler exhaust noise limit of 94 decibels?
Loud throttling exhaust stimulates some motorcyclists to 'over stretch'
sometimes with serious injuries or further road fatalities.
Phil Johnston aka Bank
Teller
0434 715.861