I think I'm very lucky, some police are great!!

[mark247]

So i was coming through a round-about in Tauranga today on my Honda GB400 and a lady in a car failed to give way and i met with her front right. I was on a 400cc bike on my learners with no insurance and she was driving her friends car and didn't know if she had insurance or not. She pulled out because she though because i had turned my head around to look at my rear tyre really quickly to check if it was alright ( had just got it repaired ) that i was going to sit in the middle of the road for a while. Then i car got in the lane to the right of her ( one of those two lane round-abouts ) and then 5 seconds later she assumed that it was all clear and just drove out. But i had actually turned around and pulled out ( because it was clear, what was i ment to do? dah? ) I got half way into the round-about and she just pulled out and gave me about 3 meters to go from 40k to 0k, which didnt happen. I Bent my front forks but they are repairable, smashed my front light and dented my guard. Police came, i explained my licence situation and they said that was fine and they came to the conclusion that it was her fault. ( OH REALLY? ) They gave the bitch a ticket and off she went to find out if she had insurance. The police ( two very friendly woman ) offered to take me to polytech and leave the bike on the side of the road, but i said i would like to take it to the shop to see what could be done. So they followed me to the shop very slowly and waited there while the mechanics went over the bike. Then the offered to give me a ride home. ( a 20km drive ) I said that i would ride the bike home ( its still rideable. ) They said they will send a letter to the lady to make her pay up even if she doesn't have insurance. And i went home with a few dents and bends and a bruised leg. Bike should be back on all fixed up in a weeks time hopefully.

I think I am pretty lucky considering I had the wrong licence and no insurance. I police were fantastic. The bitch driving on the other hand tried to blame me and said i was speeding ( I didnt know my 18 year old GB400 could go 0 - 50km+ in about 5meters, V8 conversion maybe? )

Anyway, all up a few hundred bucks should fix it and hopefully the driver will pay.

I just think the police were fantastic. I hear stories of them being horrible, but they were fantastic! Anyone have a simular story about the police?

I'm also happy i still have a moving body and a semi-okay motorbike.:Punk:

[98tls]

Glad your ok.........yea theres heaps of good coppers out there.....dont fancy your chances though if her insurance company finds out you were on the wrong licence.....................

[crazybigal]

did you find out their names? send them each a box of chocolates!
we need as many cops like that as we can get!! most of them dont last cos of all the cunts in the force!
well done lady cops!:yes:

[Duc]

What were you doing on a 400 on a learners licence? It is unlikely that you will win this one no matter how cool the cops were to you. (although the law can be an ass at times).

My daughter lost a court case in the small claims court to a biker riding an un regoed, un warranted bike. The cops thought it was ok that he was riding this bike and it could not have been a factor. (eg brakes)

Good luck.

[Toaster]

I know many fine policemen and women. While I was in the job myself, I met the odd poor one too, but that is the same as any large employer with both the good and the bad - we are all human.

[mark247]

What were you doing on a 400 on a learners licence? It is unlikely that you will win this one no matter how cool the cops were to you. (although the law can be an ass at times).

My daughter lost a court case in the small claims court to a biker riding an un regoed, un warranted bike. The cops thought it was ok that he was riding this bike and it could not have been a factor. (eg brakes)

Good luck.

The reason why the police said it was alright i was riding a 400cc on my learners was because i explained why i was riding it, I have owned two 250cc bikes and they are too small for me ( im 6ft 3" ) and the 400cc bike i was riding isnt even as fast as one of the 250cc's i owned. I am riding it because my height fits it better and I am much more stable on it. I have applied for an exemption so i can ride it but it hasn't come through yet. I explained that to the police and they said that was okay. They also said in the small claims court i have a good case because it doesn't make any difference what licence i am on, it had nothing to do with the accident, it would of happened if i had my full licence and i was riding a 250cc anyway. They also said if i do get asked about it they said that the police are dealing with it. I think i will call the the officers and thank them, they were fantastic.

[onearmedbandit]

Sounds like they dealt with it exactly the way they should've, with commonsense. Good to see it is still being used out there.

[mark247]

Yeah man, i thought i was a goner. Guess not! :rockon:

[samo]

prity lucky to come through unscaved! I dont no how many times people have pulled out on mea and iv only been riding for a couple of months! good to hear that the cops might be on my side if i get swiped

[Duc]

Let us know how it all works out.

Question : why not just get a full licence instead of the exemption?

[mark247]

Let us know how it all works out.

Question : why not just get a full licence instead of the exemption?

I have only been riding for 3 months. I cant get my full. That's why. But when i say riding for 3 months that means on the road, i owned a dirtbike before that. The exemption was my only option.

[Hans]

Yeah, it's good to know there's people out there doing a good job for the wages we pay them. Touch wood I've only come across pretty reasonable cops in NZ so far. I think a lot of it depends on how you behave towards them as well. My rule of thumb is: If you've done something "wrong" then behave VERY politely and you may just get away with a warning or some such. When they are clearly in the wrong be firm, but still polite. No point "losing it" in a situation that involves the cops. They'll take you much more seriously if you maintain a level head.

[Squeak the Rat]

You should have invited them inside! Oh, and bring your battons....

Glad you are in one piece.....

[crazybigal]

what did she fail to give way or something? or run a red light?


What were you doing on a 400 on a learners licence? It is unlikely that you will win this one no matter how cool the cops were to you. (although the law can be an ass at times).

My daughter lost a court case in the small claims court to a biker riding an un regoed, un warranted bike. The cops thought it was ok that he was riding this bike and it could not have been a factor. (eg brakes)

Good luck.

[Ralph]

Great that you didn't get seriously injured from it and there are some great cops out there that do their job right, it's just to bad that a lot of people usually remembers the bad ones.
However I still wouldn't believe what they tell you about it all working out, hope it does but if it goes to court the 400cc on a learners may become an issue. I mean she may have to pay the damages but you could still end up with a fine if they wanted too.

[kiwifruit]

there are good ones out there, most of them are in the south island

[Macktheknife]

What a great story, glad you are ok and that they were so good to you. Restores some faith in the existence of common sense in coppers.
Good luck with the repairs.

[Babelfish]

When I had my big spill some years back it was due to a old f'er doing a u turn right in front of me (well, truth be told in all city prangs is due to lack of concentration as I reckon you have to harsh on yerself to survive). I was on a fzr400, learners licence, no insurance, no warrant, no reg, but since it was his fault the policeman was pretty cool about it and didnt do anything about it. So I know how you feel re: begin lucky!

That said though mate, keep those eyes out as from what you said you sounded a little preoccupied at a roundabout.

[unhingedlizard]

overtook a copper on the hayward hills yesterday. By the golf course. Left it a little late. overtook a black holden commonwhore. half way alongside a car appeared round the corner and so gently opened the trottle to about 125. As I came past the driver door i saw two uniformed traffic cops in the car. bugger thinks I but cant really stop what im doing now. all that happened was he wiggled his finger at me after i passed! So thier are some who chose the use discretion. Good on them

[mark247]

The accident has nothing to do with me riding a 400cc motorbike on my learners. The police, if they decide to give me a ticket or not, are dealing with that side of things. The woman failed to give way to her right ( a fundamental part of how a round-about works. ) In all honesty, i know i was a bad boy riding a 400cc on my learners, but it has nothing to do with this incident.

[mark247]

Here is the damage. I got a quote for all the repairs ( everything right down to the small scratch on the tank ) and its $1300. $400 would get the bike warrentable again. As you can see i have already taken the light and stuff off. If you like my taping skills feel free to PM me and ill teach you the art ;)

[Babelfish]

The accident has nothing to do with me riding a 400cc motorbike on my learners. The police, if they decide to give me a ticket or not, are dealing with that side of things. The woman failed to give way to her right ( a fundamental part of how a round-about works. ) In all honesty, i know i was a bad boy riding a 400cc on my learners, but it has nothing to do with this incident.

End of the day you need to control the situation and predict what the tosser cagers are doing...whether you're on a scooter or an superbike. The way I look at it, its always my fault if I prang into someone....sounds harsh but that way I'm always on me toes....the trash heap has spoken

[KLOWN]

I'm sure thier insurance company will try and screw but stick to your guns. Your in the right no mater if you were ridding a 1000cc and had NO license. Your indisgressions, if they have nothing to with accident, won't count against you.

[mark247]

End of the day you need to control the situation and predict what the tosser cagers are doing...whether you're on a scooter or an superbike. The way I look at it, its always my fault if I prang into someone....sounds harsh but that way I'm always on me toes....the trash heap has spoken

I disagree. She was in the left lane and a van was to the right of her waiting to pull into the roundabout. I can't see through vans. The van had seen me and was waiting ( i have talked to the woman who was driving it. ) The woman who hit me pulled out blindly from the left of the van because she had seen me 6 seconds ( or whatever ) before checking my rear tyre quickly. She fucked up. You dont ever pull out into a roundabout if there is a vehicle in the lane to the right is of you is waiting at it. Its obvious the van was waiting for me to go past!!!

Perhaps if the woman had been coming into the roundabout and 70kmh and i could see she wasnt going to stop then yeah, i would of been kicking myself because i know you should look out for everyone and not just the cars who you should give way to. But that wasn't the case, i couldnt see her.

[Babelfish]

I disagree. She was in the left lane and a van was to the right of her waiting to pull into the roundabout. I can't see through vans...

bla bla bla, whiney whiney whiney, of course its her fault mate (esp in terms of insurance) but we dont get a slight ding and second chance as you've found. If that was a truck doing the same thing you wouldnt get to whine about it.

We're gonna make mistakes but whining about what the cars do does nothing, taking on where you went wrong will help prevent it happening next time which is why I focus on it being "my fault"....i.e. "I enterred the roundabout thinking I was going to get through without dodging yet another dopey tw@ in a car"

Agree with you, shes a dumb bitch and I wish the 88 year old cock that hit me had pegged out at 87 but he just would have been replaced by another. It mightn't sound it but I'm on your side.

[mark247]

I agree that i would of rather it never happened and would of rather, if i had the chance, avoid what happened. But in the future there is nothing i can really do ( other than not riding a motorbike ) to stop this happening again. Maybe getting xray vision would help but i do think that in the situation i was in i was very unlucky. Perhaps if the van wasnt there, then i would be happy to agree, yes its her fault, yes i could of avoided it by waiting for her to go. But, i really dont think, no matter how much experience i would have had, i could of avoided it. I'm not disagreeing with you either, i realise that on the bike its not just a dent in the front grill and a scratch on the door.

[scumdog]

I notice too many rider/drivers have blind faith that the other driver is going to obey the road-rules and do the right thing.
i.e. they assume that because the other driver can't see what's coming that they won't pull out on front of them or because the other driver is coming up to a give-way sign that they will do just that or because the other driver is coming up to a stop sign they will stop.

Assume nothing people, treat the 'other' driver/rider like they're a blind incompetent and you might just live a little longer.

[mark247]

I agree, but i didn't even know that the car was there.

[mark247]

Oh and by the way scumdog, you interested "if you can drink it, drive it, root, shoot or ride it I'm interested" is fucking classic!

[Babelfish]

Ok Mark, here's where I take my reference and why I come up with arsey trash heap soapbox cocky comments:



So i was coming through a round-about in Tauranga today on my Honda GB400 and a lady in a car failed to give way and i met with her front right.


So does this mean if you were going slower, noticing there was another lane on the other side of the van and not being able to see past it, you could have slowed to avoid something popping out?



She pulled out because she though because i had turned my head around to look at my rear tyre really quickly to check if it was alright


So you could have seen her waiting there? Did you? Or were you looking at your rear tyre?



I got half way into the round-about and she just pulled out and gave me about 3 meters to go from 40k to 0k, which didnt happen.


So you smacked into her, not her smacking into you...obv still "her fault" but still means you weren't keeping an eye on the entry lanes.



police ( two very friendly woman ) offered to take me to polytech


Just a side note here, this would have been an excellent place to start a playboy letter...

Definately dont think there is nothing you can do, the above is oversimplified but there's loads you can do to help avoid the prangs but you have to be 300% more alert than the other tw@s. Xray vision helps.

[Babelfish]

I agree, but i didn't even know that the car was there.

You knew the lane was there, you couldnt see it, so you should assume something is in it, and it wants your ass:buggerd:

[scumdog]

You knew the lane was there, you couldnt see it, so you should assume something is in it, and it wants your ass:buggerd:

You think the way I do - I'm as paranoid about that kind of thing as much as the average KBer is about cops.

[Matt_TG]

Just as a heads up, Section 11 of the Insurance Law Reform Act 1977 deals with damage happening that is no fault of the claimant, regardless of whether there is an exclusion in place (like riding outside the terms of your licence).

A common example is an un-warranted vehicle / intoxicated driver behind rammed by behind whilst stopped at traffic lights. It doesn't matter that it shouldn't have been on the road in the first place, if it was through no fault of the driver of the damaged vehicle that they were hit there should be cover (that's not to say that Police can't prosecute for the infringement though).

This section also applies to the third party liability section of the policy (ie the insurer of the driver who hit you). Mention the above statute if the car driver's insurer gets tetchy.

Further info can be found here (http://www.legislation.govt.nz/browse_vw.asp?content-set=pal_statutes). Click on "I" then choose Insurance Law Reform Act 1977. Go to section 11.

In any case however, insurers will head to the Disputes Tribunal if they don't agree with you and it depends what sort of referee you get on the day...

[Babelfish]

You think the way I do - I'm as paranoid about that kind of thing as much as the average KBer is about cops.

Yeah mate, the day I spend too much time checking out the girl on the footpath is the day I'll end up on the tarmac...there's too wet marks on the inside of my visor where my eyeballs stick out to.

I use the bus lanes on domion road each morning and night and if i'm not 5 steps ahead of the dumbass's I share the road with I'll end up a hood ornament for sure. I'm usually pretty pumped by the time I get to work/home.

[Babelfish]

Oh, and good info Matt, that'll come in handy one day.

[mark247]

Thanks for that Matt_TG.

TempBJ, I agree that maybe if i had looked 10 seconds before i may of been able to see the car coming in ( depending on if it was right beside the van or not. ) I also agree that for a split moment i was turned around checking my tyre because i thought that a flat tyre was a bit more serious at that point in time, i wouldnt want to fall off on a round-about if i car was accelerating up behind me as well. Possibly if i hadn't had to look at my tyre i would of been able to see the car coming, but as i said, at that point in time, making sure my tyre wasn't flat was the most important thing to me. But then, saying that, their is the chance that i would of assumed the car was going to wait for me. But I cant say if i was going to have done that or not, because from what i had done and how the car was position behind the van when i did eventually pull out, i did not manage to see the vehicle. I have learnt to be a lot more weary at roundabouts now. I am not disagreeing with you in anyway by saying that i did everything perfectly. I am only human, and certainly not a perfect bike rider. I do certainly try to know where all the cars are around me though.

Thanks for everyone who is commenting, I'm learning a lot. It's good to hear other peoples opinions.

[Babelfish]

Yeah Mark, its amazing how that sort of even makes your learning curve turn exponential. I just didnt want this thread to be a whole bunch of "fark what a bitch" comments. When of the best things I like about riding is the constant learning and talking about other people experiences n stuff.

Just after I had my u-turn accident, I had exactly this interraction with a really experienced rider and it kicked off the attitude I have now in terms of uberdefensive riding...sure I go mad at times but its usually in open spaces and fairly calculated to make sure I say hi to the kids I said bye to.

Main thing mate is we're talking to you about it rather than talking about you.

Ok, I'll stop being trash heap-esq now....about the two female cops....(cue barry white music)

[Ixion]

I agree, but i didn't even know that the car was there.


Always best to assume that there IS another vehicle hidden there, in such circumstances.

A good idea on roundabouts, if someone pulls out in front of you. don't brake, just edge right and go right round the roundabout parallel to them , until they exit. Did that last night when a dopey woman shot straight onto the roundabout without slowing or looking - just leaned a bit more and did a full 360 loop of the roundabout.

[mark247]

Always best to assume that there IS another vehicle hidden there, in such circumstances.

A good idea on roundabouts, if someone pulls out in front of you. don't brake, just edge right and go right round the roundabout parallel to them , until they exit. Did that last night when a dopey woman shot straight onto the roundabout without slowing or looking - just leaned a bit more and did a full 360 loop of the roundabout.

Excellent idea. In the position i was in i was at the point of leaving the roundabout and was unable to do so. Had about 3meters to stop/turn with a bloody car infront of me. She came from the left lane so it was right at the exit of part of the roundabout, if you know what i mean.

[Babelfish]

Excellent idea. In the position i was in i was at the point of leaving the roundabout and was unable to do so. Had about 3meters to stop/turn with a bloody car infront of me. She came from the left lane so it was right at the exit of part of the roundabout, if you know what i mean.

Yeah, taking what Ixion said, it all about preemptive thought...give yourself a jedi mind trick before enterring roundabout: "a car will come out from behind that van, and I when it does I will turn away from it rather than twack it"...and wave hand accordingly. THEY ARE GOING TO JUMP OUT FROM EVERY ORIFICE THE ROAD CAN PROVIDE, never think otherwise or suffer the consequences (and since I've now interracted with you I hope you dont).

The big point here: whatever she did does not matter. It what you didnt do that bent your bike.

Thats not an attack on you, its an attack on your subconscious and hopefully a realignment off process. :eek5: (look into my eyes, not aorund the eyes, not above the eyes, not below the eyes, look directly into my eyes...and.......yer under...)

[mark247]

haha full on

[okeh]

Mark, I have a x-ray vision setup here, it clips on over your visor and is made of a microwave and 3 blenders. PM me for details.