MAFS star Melissa Rawson stunned by antics of M1 motorbike rider

A Married At First Sight contestant who has just moved to the Gold Coast has been stunned by the antics of a bike rider on the M1 in scenes condemned by police. See the video.

A reality TV star who has just relocated to the Gold Coast has expressed astonishment after witnessing the death-defying antics of a motorbike rider on the M1.

Melissa Rawson and husband Bryce Ruthven were travelling on the motorway near Yatala when they saw the rider performing stunts including standing with one foot on the bike’s seat, dangling his legs off the side, and riding with no hands on the bike.

The male rider was travelling at speed in the inside lane of the motorway at the time.

“Oh my God, what a flog”, Ms Rawson can be heard to say in a video she posted to social media with the title “Our welcome to the Gold Coast.”

Married At First Sight couple Bryce Ruthven and Melissa Rawson. Picture: Channel 9.

Ms Rawson and Mr Ruthven, who both appeared in the TV series Married At First Sight, announced on October 2 that they were moving to the Gold Coast from Melbourne.

“After the sudden death of my father, my surprising ADHD diagnosis, 300+ job rejections in Melbourne, and Bryce’s nan passing away, it’s time for a change,” Ms Rawson wrote in a post on her Her Second Shift blog.

Similar wild behaviour by motorcyclists was recently captured on video on Somerset Drive in Mudgeeraba.

The video shows a group of four young people on trail bikes performing ‘wheelies’ and standing on the seats of their vehicles. They are also seen going through a red light.

The person who filmed it said it was only one of a number of frightening incidents they have seen involving bikes on the Gold Coast recently – including one in the same area involving a 14-year-old who came off an electric bike.

“His handlebar went through his jaw and had a compound fracture in his arm. We pulled up and helped him. He was in a bad state. He went into shock pretty quick,” he said.

The man said he had also witnessed motorbike riders lane filtering at high speed on the M1.

“With these bike riders .... common sense isn’t common any more,” he said.

The scenes in both videos have been strongly condemned by police. Of 15 people killed on Gold Coast roads this year, six have been motorbike riders.

The most recent to lose their life was a 21-year-old man who lost control of his trail bike and crashed into the front of a tow truck on Franklin Drive in Mudgeeraba at about 5pm on Thursday.

“Motorcyclists at the moment are over-represented in our fatalities here on the Gold Coast,” Acting Superintendent Scott Knowles said.

“This sort of behaviour is just frustrating for police, because we’re out there trying to promote this message to be safe on these sorts of vehicles. The opportunity of protection on these sorts of vehicles is extremely limited.

Acting Superintendent Scott Knowles. Picture: Keith Woods.

“This sort of behaviour that will not be tolerated and we’ve got police out there looking for them and they will be held to account.”

Acting Supt Knowles said the behaviour depicted in the videos was not just a danger to the riders involved, but to other road users.

“(That includes) the impact it can have on other road users – if these people ended up being seriously injured or worse still killed – that ongoing impact on people who have witnessed this.”

Acting Supt Knowles urged anyone who witnessed similar dangerous behaviour on Gold Coast roads to call police.

“If we’ve got police in that vicinity we’ll have them there very very quickly to address that behaviour immediately,” he said.

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Originally published as MAFS star Melissa Rawson stunned by antics of M1 motorbike rider