23/10/2026
This should be a reminder every time you’re out riding! T-shirts, tank tops, runners, shorts or active wear….might as well wear nothing. If you refuse to dress for the slide, emergency services should be permitted to refuse you treatment.
https://www.facebook.com/share/1FVS4eJK5o/?mibextid=wwXIfr
🚨REMIND A RIDER YOU KNOW TO WEAR THEIR GEAR 🚨
A SIGNIFICANT number of motorcyclists across the island and region have been spotted in the last two days wearing little more than jeans and t-shirts.
One health worker said treating gravel rash requires significant debridement – which involves scrubbing and picking at the layers of affected skin. It is a tedious, time consuming process, and can be incredibly painful to the patient, they said.
The excruciating pain of treating gravel rash is well known to many motorcyclists, and one Reddit user said: "coming off your bike over 70km/h on a warm day is like a cheese grater to your flesh."
Motorcyclists accounted for 20 per cent of deaths on Victorian roads over the past five years, according statistics quoted by Bayside Health, and 17 per cent of all serious road injuries.
Earlier this year in a safety campaign, Dr Sarah Whitelaw from the Royal Melbourne Hospital emergency department - where many patients arrive after a road incident - urged riders to take fundamental safety precautions seriously.
"We see 1000s of patients every year that are injured in road traffic accidents," Dr Whitelaw said.
"It doesn't matter how good a rider you are... anything you can do to give yourself the best chance of being safe on the roads and not needing to come to an emergency department is 100 per cent worth it."
Victoria Police's Dave Byrt said devastating accidents can happen to anyone, anywhere.
"It is only one single moment of inattention that can actually result in very tragic outcomes," he said.
Please share this post. No one wants an incredible weekend on the island to end in weeks of agony, or worse.
Note: The Advertiser did not wish to 'name and shame', and the photo included with this post is from the archives of Le Dauphine.
🗞️ Read more in the paper or online now — link in bio
💬 Got a story? Contact us — link in bio
