Postby Mysta » Wed Oct 15, 2014 6:05 pm

Important Announcement:Things have moved faster than we were expecting, so we may as well tell you what the RACQ, NSW government, Sydney Cycleways the Cycling Promotion Fund and a few Dutch cycling delegates have now been made aware of at the "Reinventing The Wheel" Conference held in partnership with the Consulate General Willem Cosijn of the Netherlands on Monday the 13th of October.Safe Cycling Australia is now petitioning the Queensland Government for the introduction of Presumed Liability into civil law. Graham George has spoken to Aletta Koster - Director of the Dutch Cycling Embassy - personally. Aletta told Graham that the introduction of similar legislation in the Netherlands was one of the greatest achievements for the betterment of bicycling in her country, and over 90% of you agree that such legislation is necessary according to our current SCA 2014-15 Survey found here: http://fluidsurveys.com/surveys/sca-56X ... -for-2015/ As with our Minimum Safe Passing Distance e-petition last year, the new Qld Parliamentary petition is being sponsored by Dr Bruce Flegg MP - member for Moggil. Bruce, as you all know, is a highly regarded politician, keen cyclist, and very passionate road safety advocate. If not for his incredible efforts last year, regardless of our highly successful #survive1point5 campaign, there is no doubt in our minds that we would not have seen the subsequent inquiry into Cycling issues from which the Split Rule resulted.The petition will only be open to Qld residents as per Parliamentary guidelines, but we believe that success in the Sunshine State will again lead to similar calls for legislative change nationally as we saw with the introduction of the Split Rule.We are expecting the finalised petition to go before the Clerk of the Parliament later this week and made live on the Qld Parliamentary website before the weekend.SCA will also be posting audio & text information on what a PLL is & how it works in the near future.We look forward to seeing your signature in the next six months. RSD!The SCA team.Queensland Presumed Liability - Parliamentary e-petition: https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/work- ... /petitions This petition is open to Queensland residents only. False applications are liable for prosecution under State Parliamentary Laws."Queensland citizens draw to the attention of the House the concern that our civil compensation system for personal injury is fault based when incidents occur between motorists and vulnerable road users. Thus in a collision, driver error must be proven. Because the default assumption is that the driver has not contributed to the crash, their insurance company is not automatically liable for compensation.Your petitioners, therefore, request the House to legislate for the reversal of the burden of proof in collisions between motorists and vulnerable road users. The onus should be on the driver’s insurance company to prove that the vulnerable road user caused the collision. Presumed Liability would only affect civil compensation charging standards, not those of criminal prosecution, where the principle of "innocent until proven guilty" would continue to apply. Vulnerable road users involved in a collision - who have the least potential to cause death or injury, are usually the only casualty and often the only witness other than the driver - will often be unable to give evidence due to the injuries sustained. We also believe that, vulnerable road users such as children, older people or those with disabilities, should receive full compensation, regardless of the circumstances. This would align us with many European nations. We believe that the introduction of Presumed Liability into Queensland civil law has the potential to improve outcomes for vulnerable road users, as well as contributing towards the Government's current Cycling Strategy, helping more Queenslanders enjoy a healthier, safer future."Video of 7 News coverage: