‘This puts us in hospitals’: Victorian riders demand action on potholes

For longtime motorcyclist Michael White, his bike isn’t just transportation, it’s his way of life.

White recently finished up a 4000-kilometre ride through Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales and says he saw more potholes in the first 20 minutes coming back into Victoria than he did in all the other states combined.

He and Paul Povh began their biker podcast, Hogs, Cogs and Two Aussie Flogs, in 2020. They were only six months in when they began speaking out about the issue of Victorian roads.

According to the Victorian Auditor-General’s Office, almost half of Victoria’s roads are in poor or very poor condition – and White says motorcyclists are the ones paying for it.

“We know riding motorcycles is dangerous, more dangerous than driving a car,” White says. “But give us a fighting chance, for God’s sake. That’s what we’re asking for, a fighting chance to get home to our families.”

“If a car hits a big pothole, it’s annoying at most,” White says. “More often than not it might mean a bent rim or a flat tyre. This puts us in hospitals.”

Following the death of motorcyclist Peter “Tiki” Mason after he hit a pothole near Trawalla on September 13, the issue of the state’s broken roads has taken on a new urgency.

White briefly met Mason at the Redback Rally motorcycle gathering in February. He describes the 71-year-old rider as a gentleman, describing how he helped female motorcycle riders and even used to escort bullied kids to school.

“I only spoke to him for about 20 minutes, and he left an impression on me,” White said. “I’m just glad I was lucky enough to meet him.”

Rob Salvatore, the chair of the Victorian Motorcycle Council, the premier advocacy body working on behalf of motorcyclists, believes the issue comes down to a matter of resources, funding and the standards applied to the road repairs.

“The government has responded by trying to increase resources but clearly, as pointed out by the Victorian Auditor-General’s report, it is lagging behind,” Salvatore said.

Roads are one of the biggest issues on the table for the November 28 election. Premier Ben Carroll plans to have prisoners put on road maintenance in response to the problem, while the Coalition is pledging to fix 1 million potholes with a $5 billion funding increase.

“With this current government there’s a lot of mistrust,” said Ilona Szabo, a relatively new motorcyclist based in Melbourne’s western suburbs. “It’s been a long time since anything has been properly done for the roads.”

Szabo started riding only four years ago but has quickly become engaged in the community. About two years in, she created a women-only riding group for her and surrounding suburbs.

She met Irene Giannelli through her group, and both are disappointed with the way road issues aren’t being addressed.

“Somebody’s got to do something,” Giannelli said. “With most politicians as well, they say all these things, and they never follow through.”

According to a spokesman for the Office of the Premier, the government has invested more than $40 million as part of its Motorcycle Safety Infrastructure Program, which funds motorcycle safety improvements at high-risk sites across the state. Labor is promising further action if it wins the November election.

“A re-elected Labor government will also deliver a comprehensive plan to improve the quality of our roads and how we fix them,” said Roads Minister Paul Hamer.

Motorcyclists don’t plan to wait for the election.

White and Povh are organising a “broken roads rally” on October 4, calling on motorcyclists to head to Parliament to demand action on the roads and honour “fallen riders”. Szabo, Giannelli and plenty of other motorcyclists plan to attend.

“The whole idea of this day is to get our point across. Not only to this government, but to any future government,” White said.

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