Government committee vows to improve motorcyclist safety

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This article was published 04/05/2024 (853 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba government has formed a new committee focused on motorcyclist safety, created after a Manitoba man died in a 2022 crash.

Justice Minister Matt Wiebe outlined the committee’s objectives to gathering of approximately 60 motorcyclists Saturday. The crowd was marking the beginning of motorcycle safety awareness month.

“We’re going to start taking action, and we’re going to start making a difference,” said Wiebe.

Government and the Coalition of Manitoba Motorcycle Groups, along with representatives from agriculture and law enforcement sectors, held their first meeting May 2.

The working group will develop a road safety strategy and create various initiatives to reduce collision frequency and severity on Manitoba highways, Wiebe added.

Committee members will review fatal and serious injury collisions involving motorcycles, he continued.

“It’s always amazing to me when out of tragedy, we can talk about solutions,” said Wiebe in a speech. “We can talk about ways to improve the safety for others.”

Lise Léveillé was in the crowd, holding a poster of her late husband, Denis L’Heureux.

In 2022, L’Heureux was thrown off his motorcycle after sliding on wet mud covering a section of Provincial Road 311, northeast of Steinbach. L’Heureux then hit an oncoming pickup truck.

Last month, Manitoba Public Insurance filed a lawsuit against a dairy producer, alleging it’s responsible for damages in L’Heureux’s collision (which also damaged five motorcycles riding with him). Pennwood Dairy’s owner or employee left mud by driving farm machinery on the highway, the lawsuit asserts.

Since L’Heureux’s death, Léveillé and other members of the motorcycle community have been advocating for safety improvements on Manitoba roads.

“The loss is still so great,” said Léveillé. “We just want to make change for other people so they don’t have to experience the same grief.”

She expressed excitement for the new committee and hoped to be involved “in any way.”

Léveillé is hoping farmers erect signage marking dirty roads and clean their debris on highways this summer.

“Some people are really aware… some people have to be mandated for that,” Léveillé stated, underscoring it’s “not bikers against farmers.”

The new committee will reconvene in June, according to Doug Houghton, a director of the Coalition of Manitoba Motorcycle Groups.

“We had a good start,” said Houghton. “Basically, we’re looking at prevention and mitigation rather than prosecution.”

Houghton said members will first decide what they can change under current legislation and then decide if laws need to be altered.

He’s hoping for more signage to alert motorists of mud and other debris.

“People don’t realize how easy it is to create obstructions that are more dangerous to motorcyclists than they are for cars,” said Houghton. “It could be a piece of two by four laying on the highway that could throw you off the road.”

Claude Plante and James Chychota attended the gathering outside the Manitoba Legislative Building Saturday. The bikers their relayed experiences of being rear-ended and side-swiped by vehicles.

“People just aren’t paying attention,” said Plante with a shrug.

Still, motorcycle collisions aren’t the norm, the pair noted. They love the “free spirit” of riding.

Riding safely and predictably is key, Chychota said.

Representatives of the Winnipeg Police Service, Manitoba Public Insurance and Safety Services Manitoba also spoke at the Saturday event.

gabrielle.piche@freepress.mb.ca