MSTRS
13th July 2010, 15:46
Back in April I posted this (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php/59539-Cheesecutter-campaign?p=1129715661#post1129715661).
I also wrote to Stephen Joyce...
Dear Stephen
I can not believe what I am seeing with the 'new, improved and approved' post design. The wooden posts were bad enough and have killed numerous people, several being people I personally knew.
With reference to photo #1 on this website page http://www.csppacific.co.nz/Gallery.php?productid=nuguard31 I have to ask...Is there a deliberate plot to create more killing and dismembering road furniture and fittings? As if the cheesecutter posts and wires aren't enough, motorcyclists are now faced with what I have drawn and attached.
As a rider of long standing, I am well aware of the need for safety equipment, but I am horrified with what is being employed these days in the name of 'safety'. To hit any type of post is bad news to a crashing rider, but to have an exposed edge like these new posts defies any rational explanation.
As ever, the fix is simple. Will the calls for a bottom rail of some description, such as 'Mototub' used in Europe and Britain to cover the posts, continue to fall on deaf ears? And yes, I understand things like 'cost/benefit ratios' - however, I can only guess at how many kilometers of safety fence/rail posts could be made safer by the amount that one human life is valued at.
I look forward to your response
I just got the attached PDF back
212747
Not impressed, I have written again...
Dear Stephen
Thank you for your reply, but I am sorry - it does not address my concerns as noted in my initial email (as below).
I note you say that research is being undertaken, but I fail to see why any research is necessary, when it is plain that an exposed thin metal edge will work like a blade on anything soft hitting it. I also note that, with Mototub fitted, there may be a slight potential to alter the effect of a car striking the Armco. However, unless that altered potential meant that (more) car drivers were being killed through barrier strikes, the greater potential for such a protective product to save the life of a motorcyclist would more than recommend its use.
I perhaps do have a 'bee in my bonnet' about some types of road furniture - so would you, if it was killing or maiming your friends. I urge that you view a physical installation of this new type of Armco post, and I believe that you will then fully appreciate the danger they pose to motorcyclists. A danger that is far greater even than the old wooden posts.
I ask you this - if there is little or no research available to prove a piece of road furniture is 'safe' for all potential users, or alternatively none to prove it is not safe, then why are certain types used until such research is available? The NZ public are not guinea pigs, surely? Yet our roading authorities go right ahead installing this stuff all over the country at an ever-increasing rate, and complainants such as myself are fobbed off with comments like 'I hear your concerns, but there's no research etc". Am I being naive in thinking that a single word from yourself could mean that new products are put through complete and proper testing before use?
Regards
Still trying, guys.
I also wrote to Stephen Joyce...
Dear Stephen
I can not believe what I am seeing with the 'new, improved and approved' post design. The wooden posts were bad enough and have killed numerous people, several being people I personally knew.
With reference to photo #1 on this website page http://www.csppacific.co.nz/Gallery.php?productid=nuguard31 I have to ask...Is there a deliberate plot to create more killing and dismembering road furniture and fittings? As if the cheesecutter posts and wires aren't enough, motorcyclists are now faced with what I have drawn and attached.
As a rider of long standing, I am well aware of the need for safety equipment, but I am horrified with what is being employed these days in the name of 'safety'. To hit any type of post is bad news to a crashing rider, but to have an exposed edge like these new posts defies any rational explanation.
As ever, the fix is simple. Will the calls for a bottom rail of some description, such as 'Mototub' used in Europe and Britain to cover the posts, continue to fall on deaf ears? And yes, I understand things like 'cost/benefit ratios' - however, I can only guess at how many kilometers of safety fence/rail posts could be made safer by the amount that one human life is valued at.
I look forward to your response
I just got the attached PDF back
212747
Not impressed, I have written again...
Dear Stephen
Thank you for your reply, but I am sorry - it does not address my concerns as noted in my initial email (as below).
I note you say that research is being undertaken, but I fail to see why any research is necessary, when it is plain that an exposed thin metal edge will work like a blade on anything soft hitting it. I also note that, with Mototub fitted, there may be a slight potential to alter the effect of a car striking the Armco. However, unless that altered potential meant that (more) car drivers were being killed through barrier strikes, the greater potential for such a protective product to save the life of a motorcyclist would more than recommend its use.
I perhaps do have a 'bee in my bonnet' about some types of road furniture - so would you, if it was killing or maiming your friends. I urge that you view a physical installation of this new type of Armco post, and I believe that you will then fully appreciate the danger they pose to motorcyclists. A danger that is far greater even than the old wooden posts.
I ask you this - if there is little or no research available to prove a piece of road furniture is 'safe' for all potential users, or alternatively none to prove it is not safe, then why are certain types used until such research is available? The NZ public are not guinea pigs, surely? Yet our roading authorities go right ahead installing this stuff all over the country at an ever-increasing rate, and complainants such as myself are fobbed off with comments like 'I hear your concerns, but there's no research etc". Am I being naive in thinking that a single word from yourself could mean that new products are put through complete and proper testing before use?
Regards
Still trying, guys.