Riders show no fear after almost 100 incidents on Old Pacific Highway at Cowan

ANOTHER fatality on a stretch of the Old Pacific Highway in Cowan has prompted residents to call for urgent action to avert more tragedies.

Local John Milne at the scene where a motorcyclist was killed on Saturday after coming off his bike on the Old Pacific Highway at Cowan. Pic: AAP Image/Joel Carrett

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ANOTHER fatality on a stretch of the Old Pacific Highway in Cowan has prompted residents to call for urgent action to avert more tragedies.

Ku-ring-gai police are investigating a fatal motorcycle crash just before noon on Saturday, January 20, after a 19-year-old man suffered critical injuries and died at the scene. It prompted Cowan residents and witnesses to call on the State Government to enforce tough new strategies to save lives on the deadly road.

The scene where a motorcyclist was killed on Saturday after coming off his bike on the Old Pacific Highway at Cowan. Pic: AAP Image/Joel Carrett

Dianne Bowles said she was convinced the stretch of road was Sydney’s most dangerous.

RMS data said 96 crashes were recorded between Cowan and the Brooklyn Bridge, resulting in 44 people left in a serious condition and five fatalities in five years.

“We were all convinced it was going to take a death to fix the issue but people have died time and time again,” she said. “I have personally seen two fatalities on that stretch of road, including the one this week, and that is something that will never leave me.”

Ms Bowles said photographers who converged along the road were partly to blame for the “cowboy nature of riders”, who worked to get impressive action shots.

“The yellow (arrow) signs installed don’t help and they certainly don’t save lives,” she said.

“We need CCTV or speed cameras to be installed but most of all the government needs to lower the speed.”

A tribute at the scene where a motorcyclist was killed on Saturday after coming off his bike on the Old Pacific Highway at Cowan. Pic: AAP Image/Joel Carrett

Residents want a 55km/h limit enforced. It is now 80km/h.

Brooklyn resident John Milne supported the call to lower speed limits and the installation of cameras.

“Residents are just sick of the carnage, we can’t have any more lives lost,” he said.

“It is a dangerous tradition of riders to race up and down the Old Highway each and every weekend.

“I hear it almost every day but there is nothing we can do, as by the time we have called the police these hoons are gone.”

A rider performs for photographers on the Old Pacific Highway at Cowan.

A RMS spokesman said it supported a police investigation into the fatal crash.

He said the federal and state governments committed $1.26 million across three years to improve safety on the Highway.

“Work included installing advanced warning signs to provide greater guidance for motorists driving around bends and installing motorcycle rub-rails under existing guardrails to reduce the severity of crashes,” he said.

Ku-ring-gai police crime manager Inspector Neil Higgins said police would continue to enforce rules on the highway.

“Riders should go do these things at a safe and secure environment such as Eastern Creek, where it is also legal,” he said. “When you are left regretting the loss of a mate’s life, it is way too late.”

A rider crashes his bike on the Old Pacific Highway at Cowan.

The rider crashed near the site of the fatality this week.

Incidents like this are commonly caught on camera by photographers.

Hornsby state Liberal MP Matt Kean commended police.

“Guard rails have been installed along that stretch of road, but if road safety experts believe there is more to be done – it will be,” he said.

Berowra federal Liberal MP Julian Leeser expressed his simpathies to the family of the young man.

“Every death on our roads is one too many,” he said. “While the Old Pacific Highway may be quieter than the M1, motorists must still exercise caution and care.

“We owe it both to our families and our fellow motorists to drive responsibly and get home safely.”

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A 19 year old man is air lifted to hospital by CareFlight helicopter personnel, after colliding with a vehicle on the Pacific Highway, Cowan. Picture: Peter Clark

Centre for Road Safety, executive director Bernard Carlon said motorcycle riders are some of our most vulnerable road users and face more dangers on the road than drivers.

“Motorcycles are smaller, require more balance to operate and can be affected by changes in the road surface,” Mr Carlon said.

“Riders are also less protected in the event of a crash, which is why it is so important they ride to the conditions, travel at a safe speed and at a safe distance at all times.”

Centre for Road Safety statistics revealed that more than 70 per cent of all incidents on the Old Pacific Highway in the past five years involved a motorcycle.

“It is also vital riders wear an approved helmet and quality safety clothing as it could prove the difference between life and death in a crash,” Mr Carlon said.

“Drivers need to play their part too by keeping a look out for motorcyclists at all times, check mirrors and blind spots regularly and give riders appropriate room in traffic.”

A rider passes the scene where a motorcyclist was killed on Saturday after coming off his bike on the Old Pacific Highway at Cowan. Pic: AAP Image/Joel Carrett

Shooters fueling riders

HE MAY be a photographer by trade but one motorcycle enthusiast refuses to shoot photos of riders on the Old Pacific Highway at Cowan.

“I didn’t want to be associated with the number of incidents and deaths that occur up there,” the photographer, who did not wish to be named, told the Advocate.

“Every rider that frequents the spot on the weekend wants to get impressive shots of themselves on that stretch of road — there is no other reason someone would ride the same stretch of 3kms 15 to 20 times.”

The professional shooter revealed more than 10 photographers lined the dangerous bends of the highway to capture stunts, crashes and even fatalities.

“I can guarantee someone has the shots of what happened on the weekend,” he said. “Photographers are contributing to the boy riders being there and the accidents as well.

“I avoid the area on my bike because you come down the road and boy racers come roaring past you. They aren’t just putting their own lives in their hands, but other riders as well.

“You would be lucky if a weekend goes past where you don’t hear about an accident and unfortunately the fatalities no longer surprise us.”

Go-Pro footage of a Highway Patrol chasing a motorcyclist on the Old Pacific Highway.

Philip Johnston, who has led a road cycle group for the past 21 years, said his riders refused to return to the Pie in the Sky restaurant, where they met before shooting on the Old Pacific Highway. “I now deliberately schedule weekend road rides that avoid The Pie in the Sky after 9am, because cyclists that (I) ride with are fearful of being hit by a motor cycle,” he said.

L to R , Colin and Carol Lee have successfully campaigned for the first memorial dedicated solely to motorcyclists who have lost their lives in Australia. They lost their son Kristian, 28, in a crash. Motorcyclist Brian Senata, of Bossley Park, inspects the memorial which also serves as a reminder to stay safe.