On the way back from Cessnock the weekend before last, we dropped in at our favourite cafe on the Putty road. The owners, John and Kim Grace, are great friends of ours and, unless it’s crazy busy (it was on the way up) either or both of them will come and sit down with us at the table and chat while we eat or have a coffee.
On the return trip we were having our coffee when Kim came and sat down with us and she was visibly upset. It seems that the previous Sunday afternoon, not long after the Illawarra Riders Putty Ride had headed out on the final leg of their ride, there was an accident at the entrance to the cafe. A rider taking part in a group ride had slowed unexpectedly just at the slip lane and another rider in the group, travelling too close to the rider in front, had ploughed into him and knocked him off his bike. He had no significant injuries but he was concussed and this is where the story really starts.
His riding mates proceeded to disobey pretty much every accident scene protocol it was possible to disobey. They got the rider up and started walking him around; they took off his helmet; they offered him alcohol and a lift home on the back of the motorcycle belonging to another rider in the group. And that’s just the start. Thankfully Kim was there and she read the riot act and ensured that proper procedures were followed. The rider was subsequently airlifted to Windsor Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. But it could have been so much worse.
Kim was horrified that none of the riders in the group seemed to have even the most basic grasp of accident scene management or of first aid. Most of the riders were middle-aged, not young tear-aways, but their maturity didn’t seem to have included what to do at an accident scene.
This led to further discussions about what Kim called, “Death by Stupidity”; needless consequences of actions that were not just careless but downright stupid. Living in the country as she does, she then went on to recount some examples of the concept from the nearby district. Apparently a farmer in the area had a Jersey bull. He kept it in a paddock by itself without the company of other cattle, something which you should, apparently, not do. Despite being advised that this would make the bull aggressive and despite being told that Jersey bulls are some of the most dangerous varieties there are, the farmer disregarded the sage advice and did nothing. Tragically he was found in the yard with the bull when someone came to visit, not only gored to death but dismembered as well.
Many years ago, returning from a race meeting at Hume Weir, we came upon an accident scene. This was on the old road before the freeway went in and was just north of Coolac, a notoriously dangerous piece of road. The traffic was stopped and, in the dark, we could see down the hill to where the accident had obviously taken place. Despite being told not to go and look, we got out of the car and walked down to the accident scene. It was far worse than we had been led to believe and it was hours before police opened the road again and we were able to proceed on our way. It seemed that a rider and his pillion passenger had been heading north on a Honda 750/4. Coming upon a cattle float at high speed, the rider immediately pulled out to overtake without checking first to see if anyone was coming the other way. Tragically, there was another cattle truck just cresting the rise. Up until that time I had never seen the inside of a Honda gearbox, but smashed cogs from the bike’s gearbox were all across the road as well as other, more gruesome reminders of the ferocity of the impact. Both rider and passenger perished at the scene. Death by stupidity.
With this as a background, Kim has liaised with her local St John’s Ambulance people and together they are offering a First Aid course specifically directed towards motorcyclists. So determined is she to get the word out that she is offering a “sweetener” to encourage riders to enrol. For every 9 riders from any specific motorcycle group or club who enrol in the course, Grey Gum Cafe will pay the fees for the 10th member.
Details are available on the Grey Gum Cafe Facebook site. I encourage you to not join the stats but to get some sort of qualification at least.