Isn't it illegal to leave your rack on when you are not carrying bikes? I think it was in another thread on here somewhere, someone said that it's a safety thing apparently?
Don't get busted with a rear rack over your plate...NSW law...
- Thread starter Chrispy
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Nautonier
Eats Squid
Why on earth would it be illegal as long as there is a visible number plate on it?
skwiz05
Likes Bikes and Dirt
All the brochures, handouts, websites etc that tell us the road rules etc mean shit. Read the actual Legislation (AustLii site) and go by that. About 5% of cops have actually read it, the rest go by dodgy interpretation and what their bosses tell them.
What matters when you go to court is the Legislation, not peoples opinions, or what they saw on a Vic Roads or RTA brochure......
What matters when you go to court is the Legislation, not peoples opinions, or what they saw on a Vic Roads or RTA brochure......
gcouyant
Farkin Advertiser
The law can be unintuitive at times and this is often made more confusing because the policing can be inconsistent. I think that we are all comfortable with the fact that if your number plate is obscured, then you will be booked. The penalties vary from state to state but I suspect that SA is the most harsh.
The penalty there is $460 for an obscured number plate. To make matters worse, there is an additional penalty of $600 if a number plate that is not SA issue is fitted. In other words, if you have a hand made plate on the bike carrier, you will be charged with an obscured plate (because the original is obscured) AND and also charged with displaying a hand made plate - total fine of $1060.
The only time you may be granted an exemption is if you have a copy of the receipt for the bike plates and are waiting for delivery.
Now the issue is one where unless policed, the law is ignored. The relevant authorities are now policing the plate issue vigorously so they do want us to abide.
Tail lights are a different issue altogether. Unlike a rego plate, if a small part of the lamp is obscured and the majority of the lamp is visible then it is not deemed to be obscured. This how this issue is policed. The only time we need rear illumination is for the bike plate. In those circumstances I use a small LED bike light (like a little Knog). Dead reliable. Most of our bike carrier customers are avid adventurers who cover great distances off-road and we all shy away from carrier mounted lamps that plug into the tow bar electrical plug.
On the issue of driving with a bike carrier installed but with no bicycles loaded, then yes that is indeed illegal and it is policed vigorously as well. If you do find that you need to leave the carrier on, then it's a matter of keeping an eye out at hard rubbish collection for a kiddies bike - preferably a tiny 12" one. Paint it pink and leave it on your carrier. Problem solved!
The penalty there is $460 for an obscured number plate. To make matters worse, there is an additional penalty of $600 if a number plate that is not SA issue is fitted. In other words, if you have a hand made plate on the bike carrier, you will be charged with an obscured plate (because the original is obscured) AND and also charged with displaying a hand made plate - total fine of $1060.
The only time you may be granted an exemption is if you have a copy of the receipt for the bike plates and are waiting for delivery.
Now the issue is one where unless policed, the law is ignored. The relevant authorities are now policing the plate issue vigorously so they do want us to abide.
Tail lights are a different issue altogether. Unlike a rego plate, if a small part of the lamp is obscured and the majority of the lamp is visible then it is not deemed to be obscured. This how this issue is policed. The only time we need rear illumination is for the bike plate. In those circumstances I use a small LED bike light (like a little Knog). Dead reliable. Most of our bike carrier customers are avid adventurers who cover great distances off-road and we all shy away from carrier mounted lamps that plug into the tow bar electrical plug.
On the issue of driving with a bike carrier installed but with no bicycles loaded, then yes that is indeed illegal and it is policed vigorously as well. If you do find that you need to leave the carrier on, then it's a matter of keeping an eye out at hard rubbish collection for a kiddies bike - preferably a tiny 12" one. Paint it pink and leave it on your carrier. Problem solved!
Nautonier
Eats Squid
I love it! Problem solved. It would be funny to have a 12" kids bike that wasn't even rideable - ie missing cranks or something... Maybe I'll just hang a spare wheel on my rack and call it a unicycle.
Hang an old penny farthing on there or your old repco radical. That would be a crackup.
muvro
Likes Dirt
Great post. I didn't know leaving an empty rack on was illegal. I'll
have to keep that in mind.
pharmaboy
Eats Squid
In which state is this illegal?
edit - hah found the answer - VICTORIA - jeez you guys should rize up and belt your nanny.
I just searched auslii and couldnt come up with anything about bike racks having to be loaded - it strikes me as a completely ludicrous law - it would in effect be illegal to go and pick someone up on a bike, or drop them off - (EDIT something that doesnt seem to bother the borderline fools who write legislation in the grand state of victoria)
I drive thousands of kays with an empty bike rack with a plate on and have never been bothered - i have however heard of people driving with a n empty rack and without plates being pulled over.
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gcouyant
Farkin Advertiser
Blackie, your experience really is an example of erratic policing and it's affect upon perception of the law. If a law is policed then you become aware of it and are inclined to abide by that law. If on the other hand your experience is that law or regulation is overlooked, then you are not inlined to abide.
Let me highlight an even more obscure regulation on this topic. A tow bar tongue left on the vehicle whilst not towing is actually illegal because it does not comply with the rear protrusion regulations.This regulation is ignored by the relevant authorities for a number of reasons. It doesn't really pass the test of common sense and more importantly will be met with a good level of civil backlash.
Most if not all the population in modern society abides by laws that are enforced.
pharmaboy
Eats Squid
actually not - his experience is an example of living in a state where said law does not apply - it isnt policed because it cant be not because the police cant be bothered.
The concept of standardized australian road law was an idea that never got to actual fruition, and no doubt the list of dumb laws you cite is testament to why that is the case
gcouyant
Farkin Advertiser
Oh then the law must have changed or you're looking for specific mention of a bicycle carrier (which there may not be).
I was booked in NSW for rear protrusion or words to that effect some years ago (1980s? in a then brand new VN Commodore) with one of those beak carriers on the back. To the Policeman's credit he took the time to explain why it was illegal and the serious hazard it presented to a motorcyclist (the officer was on a motorbike). Actually there's more to the story because he had pulled me over earlier in the day and issued a warning. I promised that I'd remove the carrier but hadn't.....and we just happened to be on the same road at the end of his shift.
Please indulge me for a moment here on standardized road laws.....
Not that long ago, SA stopped issuing rego stickers. The idea was that your vehicle's registration status could be checked by computer access to the road transport database. Sounds reasonable because of the great cost savings to the SA community.
Problems arose whenever a SA registered vehicle crossed the border into Victoria. You see Victoria demanded that a rego sticker be displayed and there was no provision in the act for the SA situation. Drivers would produce a receipt to show that they had paid their registration however Vic police had no access to the SA database to check. This was a huge problem and for a period of time, SA plated vehicles seemed to be targeted for this infringement by the relevant authorities just East of the SA/Vic border.
If this were an episode of "Yes Minister" you'd dismiss it as being just too ridiculous and condem the writing team....
gcouyant
Farkin Advertiser
Actually I should just add that this is a rare example of enforcing a law that does not pass the test of common sense. Indeed, it's an infringment that exists solely because of an irregularity between the laws of two different states, however by enforcing it, the relevant authorities and the general public highlighted the irregularity - and I hope by now rectified it. If this irregularity was not enforced, it would have just sat there unchanged in the relevant acts forever.
Back on topic..... I just drove past a ripper 12" child's bike on the nature strip in Foote St Templestowe. It had tassles and was just begging for a carrier to sit in.....
I'm just wondering how it is a serious hazard to motorcyclists, as opposed to a car or other 4 wheeled vehicle? I'm not trying to sound like an idiot - I'm genuinely curious.
scblack
Leucocholic
I assume its because the beak itself is exactly at head height of a motorcyclist. If they run up the back of a car with a beak rack on, it could very well hit them straight in the face, and stab right through their head. Rather than hitting the back of the car.
Which we all know doesn't hurt at all. Sorry just being cynical, can't help it.
gcouyant
Farkin Advertiser
Yes pretty much it. In a slow speed shunt, the officer demonstrated that the carrier went straight into the throat. I wasn't going to argue because I agreed with him.
