At the campaign launch, South East Australian Transport Strategy chair Patricia White said there had been 10 fatalities on the Princes Highway in 18 months.

David Tynan, of Survive the Ride, says wire dividers are “the best compromise” for road safety, even if they’re unpopular with some motorcyclists.

“Road dividers, even pedestrian-style fencing, is very effective for reducing the level of damage, reducing the carnage to just the driver who had the problem,” Mr Tynan said. 

Read more: ‘You wonder if you will come home’: Driver’s highway safety concern

“Technically, yes the upright barriers are a fixed barrier to someone who is sliding across the road.

“But we’re (motorcyclists) not the only road users – we’re in the minority, so we have to accommodate everyone else on the road – and infrastructure is a safe solution for the majority of road users.”

Mr Tynan said there were ways to install barriers that were safe for cyclists and drivers – and although some riders worried about wire dividers, limb amputations were rare.

“There are some areas where the RMS and councils have put extra little barriers and fencing so, if a rider does slide off, they don’t hit the upright – they hit a horizontal barrier and it causes less damage,” he said.

“The wire rope is the best compromise. Across Australia, there have been a few examples of riders having limbs amputated, but they’ve been travelling at quite high speeds, 100km per hour, or over.”

Mr Tynan said many stretches of NSW roads needed upgrading, but until then, drivers needed to adjust to the conditions.

“The roads in NSW in general need a fair bit of work,” he said.

“There are some very good stretches, and likewise there are some very poor stretches of road. One of the messages we have is that it doesn’t matter how good or bad the road is, you’re the person controlling the vehicle, you’re accountable for the decisions you make.”