Has any L-plater had a ticket recently for exceeding 70km/h?

[FastBikeGear]

I just wondered now that it has been discovered that 70km/h limit for learners on the open road is actually dangerous (who could have guessed this?) and they are scrapping this in the new learner rules (which incidentally look really smart) are they still policing the70km/h restriction in the meantime?

I am just a bit scared to endanger myself now that I know it is dangerous. I am wondering if I should just ignore this rule - (Happy to have L - Plate as this is apparently still good/smart for my safety)

I could have bought a cheaper helmet that met the rules and spent no money on safety items like boots and jacket/pants with armour which cost hundreds of dollars.

So I am already paying money for my safety.

Perhaps ignoring the dangerous 70Km/h rule and paying the fines is just another way of paying money to be safer?

[Monsterbishi]

imo, the 70kph learner limit rule is not a bad one in concept, instead of scrapping it, I would be inclined to re-word it.

ie, the problem arises from learners using 80 & 100kph zones whilst only going 70kph, change the wording to something like:

"A learner may not travel on roads where the posted speed limit exceeds 70kph"

And it's all sorted.

Yes, there's those people who bitch'n'gripe about needing to use motorway 'x' to get to work, etc, etc - FFS USE WHATEVER TRANSPORT YOU USED IN THE PAST! The learner period is only six months!

It's bad enough that fuel prices are engorging the scooter using populace with people who aren't going to give a toss about riding, now we're going to bin a law that will see them splattered all over the place at high speed when they lose control from inexperience.

[CookMySock]

Yes you should ignore the 70km restriction where you feel it is safe to do so. If you are unhappy or you have safety concerns, or your stress level begins to rise you should slow down. Do not let the traffic intimidate you into speeding.

100km/hr on clear road with three seconds following distance and you will be fine, except the above caveat.

Read, re-read, and fully understand countersteering before you take corners at these speeds.

DB

[awayatc]

You may want to sit your restricted asap......
That way the whole 70 kph will not be an issue for very long....
Some people stay on a learners for years......
So any incentive to get on with it has to be a good one....
The law is not always right/just or fair....BUT the law can always be enforced, so beware and use commonsense...
:scooter:

[McDuck]

I got done for speeding on my l plate. The cop started the ticket from 100. Dont ride like a tool and you will be fine.

[Gubb]

Two Weeks ago.

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=77698

[FastBikeGear]

Thanks Gubb I saw that thread. But it's a little different because he got a ticket for not displaying his L Plate (not for doing 100km on learners).

[Jantar]

imo, the 70kph learner limit rule is not a bad one in concept, instead of scrapping it, I would be inclined to re-word it.

ie, the problem arises from learners using 80 & 100kph zones whilst only going 70kph, change the wording to something like:

"A learner may not travel on roads where the posted speed limit exceeds 70kph"

And it's all sorted.

Yes, there's those people who bitch'n'gripe about needing to use motorway 'x' to get to work, etc, etc - FFS USE WHATEVER TRANSPORT YOU USED IN THE PAST! The learner period is only six months!

It's bad enough that fuel prices are engorging the scooter using populace with people who aren't going to give a toss about riding, now we're going to bin a law that will see them splattered all over the place at high speed when they lose control from inexperience.
So what you are saying is that people who live in a 100kmh area are not permitted to learn? Or is it that you prefer that they obtain their learners, but don't actually learn to ride on it, but rather wait for 6 months until they get their restricted, then start learning to ride?

[BiK3RChiK]

Mate, just slap the L Plate on and go 100km/hr if you are happy doing that speed... I do! My son does, and the cops are not interested! They even wave as I go by...

[Cliffrazor]

You guys have a good system going in NZ,I wish our laws here in SA were the same,we see it here time and again when young guys can climb on to big bikes (600cc and up) on their learners,not having any experience and hitting the highways doing excesive speeds way over 120kmh,and the end result is accidents or fatalities:(

On the ThinkBike forum I'm on,you read every day of bikers down and worse,the fatalities,just on friday I again went to another funeral of a fallen biker/brother.......we dropping like flies here:(

[FastBikeGear]

imo, the 70kph learner limit rule is not a bad one in concept, instead of scrapping it, I would be inclined to re-word it.

ie, the problem arises from learners using 80 & 100kph zones whilst only going 70kph, change the wording to something like:

"A learner may not travel on roads where the posted speed limit exceeds 70kph"

And it's all sorted.

Yes, there's those people who bitch'n'gripe about needing to use motorway 'x' to get to work, etc, etc - FFS USE WHATEVER TRANSPORT YOU USED IN THE PAST! The learner period is only six months!

It's bad enough that fuel prices are engorging the scooter using populace with people who aren't going to give a toss about riding, now we're going to bin a law that will see them splattered all over the place at high speed when they lose control from inexperience.

Yeah some good sentiments.

I stayed off the motorways today as I don't have the confidence in the wind and wet yet. (Meant a much longer ride home).

However by not using the motorways I had to deal with lots of intersections, cars pulling out of driveways and side roads - all acident risks.


However I suspect that I can pick the times when it is safe for me to travel at 100K on the motorway. I can't believe it would ever be safe to do 70km/h on the motorway in traffic doing 100k.

I have over 20 years driving cars on the road so have reasonable traffic sense although I can see riding a bike is going to hone this to a higher level.

[xwhatsit]

I've never heard of anybody getting pinged under the 70kph rule. Maybe somebody has, but they're bound to be exceeding the real speed limit anyway, or doing something else particularly naughty.

I spent a year on my learners, did a fairly reasonable amount of kilometres (riding 7 days a week), wore L plate and did 100kph right from day 1. No problem there.

There's far more dangerous places to be than doing 100kph in a straight line down a motorway. I'm far more scared at 50kph in a suburban street, or 70kph through Wiri Rd.

[CookMySock]

by not using the motorways I had to deal with lots of intersections, cars pulling out of driveways and side roads - all acident risks.yes, but a much safer environment than the motorway. Accidents here will result in an embarrassing fall and a few scrapes. A motorway fall is going to hurt a lot, or worse.


However I suspect that I can pick the times when it is safe for me to travel at 100K on the motorway. [....] I have over 20 years driving cars on the road so have reasonable traffic sense although I can see riding a bike is going to hone this to a higher level.Yes you will be fine. It is fair to be worried at this time, but soon you will see it is all perfectly workable, and some months later you will be quite the master at it. Once your confidence builds, and sometime when the motorway traffic is very light, take the bike on a motorway route that you already know very well. Relax. Breathe, and hum along at the speed limit. Remain well behind other vehicles in your lane. Be very careful with hidden queues. Then you will see its nothing special, really.

Remember, the most important thing you need, other than skill, knowledge, and experience, is time to allow it all to consolidate. Theres lots of time, and I'm sure you don't want this cool new learning thing to end too soon do you ? ;)

DB

[Subike]

imo, the 70kph learner limit rule is not a bad one in concept, instead of scrapping it, I would be inclined to re-word it.
:

"A learner may not travel on roads where the posted speed limit exceeds 70kph"

And it's all sorted.
.
:gob:
That would limit me to being able to dive up my driveway only if I was on a learners. The nearest 70kph zone to my home is 27k away ,
what do you suggest that a learner does in this instance?
Some of us do happen to live in rural zones where 100kph is at the house gate and 20k either side of that gate!
70kph is the rule yes, but common sence says keep up with the traffic flow, especially where there is no room between the berm and the cliff edge, up or down, for you to ride safley as the trucks pass you by on the open roads

[Max Preload]

You guys have a good system going in NZ,I wish our laws here in SA were the same,we see it here time and again when young guys can climb on to big bikes (600cc and up) on their learners,not having any experience and hitting the highways doing excesive speeds way over 120kmh,and the end result is accidents or fatalities:(

On the ThinkBike forum I'm on,you read every day of bikers down and worse,the fatalities,just on friday I again went to another funeral of a fallen biker/brother.......we dropping like flies here:(

Be careful what you wish for... you might just get it.

It's not a good system at all. The only reason learner motorcyclists here are so heavily restricted for so long is because it's far too easy to obtain a licence to drive a far more lethal weapon, a car. The standard of driving here is fucking appalling.

[awayatc]

. The standard of driving here is fucking appalling.

Standard....? What Standard.....?
:scooter:

[Max Preload]

Standard....? What Standard.....?
:scooter:

Arrrr, ya win this round!

[captain_andrey]

I've been riding to Hutt and back every day for my first 6 months with my L plate on and never had any problems going 100. I've been pulled over twice for doing 120+ and in both cases the officer completely ignored the 70k limit. In fact I was thanked for having the L plate :eek5: once and let go with a minimum fine.

[BANZAI]

Muhaha found the perfect thread for me!

YES I got the speeding ticket :woohoo:

I was lanesplitting busy traffic in motorway and then finally got off to offramp and it was pretty empty there so I thought yay I'm free!! and give bit too much of throttle.

It was 80k area and I did 100..

Biker cop in Honda pulled me over and I got ticket for

Not indicating properly (right and left)
Exceeding L-plate condition for 30k.

I got 25points so he gave me doing 20k over points plus lane splitting...

But $550 total is just big big money... :pinch: :no: :crybaby:

[CookMySock]

BANZAI, you got ticketed because you were going way to quick almost everywhere, for a sustained period of time. You ARE going to get the book thrown at you for that. It's fine to split and filter here and there, but if you are doing ALL of it continuously you invite the wrath of the fuzz, especially showing them your L plate as well..

It is perfectly feasible to travel responsibly at 100k on an L-Plate, until you misbehave.

DB

[Horse]

"A learner may not travel on roads where the posted speed limit exceeds 70kph"

As I've posted previously, if that had been the rule I wouldn't have bothered buying a motorbike until a couple of weeks before I could sit my restricted. In a small urban centre like Palmerston North not being able to travel on the open road makes a motorbike entirely pointless. I might as well buy a 50cc scooter.

So the actual impact of your proposed change would be lots of learners not actually getting any riding experience during the learner period.

For the OP: I wore my L-plate for the entirety of my learners period, and I travelled at 100km/h on the open road. Rode past lots of cops during that time and never got pulled over. If I had been I'd have eaten the $400 fine, but I'd have pointed out to the cop first that riding at 70km/h on the open road around here is not exactly promoting safety.

All the stories I've read about on KB about learners getting pinged for doing over 70km/h are people either speeding (ie exceeding 110km/h) or not wearing an L-plate or doing something else stupid, and the cop pings them for the "exceeding 70km/h as a learner" AS WELL. I don't claim that's an exhaustive survey but I think the results are suggestive.

BTW riding over 70km/h on an L plate isn't "speeding", it's "breach of the conditions of your licence". If you get done for 120km/h on an L-plate it'll be for speeding 20km/h over the limit AND breach of your licence conditions (which is the bigger fine).

[McJim]

I used to commute 26km along the southern Motorway in Auckland with an L plate on - always did 100km when able - always passed the cops - never got pinged.

I have never heard of anyone being pinged solely for 100km on a Learners although I have heard plenty of stories about people drawing uneccesary attention to themselves by No L Plate, Failure to indicate, riding like a fuckwit, running a red light etc. and then being done for Exceeding 70 on an L Licence (among all the other charges.)

[McDuck]

I even got one for speeding (as in above 100) and the cop didnt ping me for the over 70. Or the fact that i was out at 10.30. Or the fact the bike had no rego plate. Helps if you are nice to the cop....

[BANZAI]

BANZAI, you got ticketed because you were going way to quick almost everywhere, for a sustained period of time. You ARE going to get the book thrown at you for that. It's fine to split and filter here and there, but if you are doing ALL of it continuously you invite the wrath of the fuzz, especially showing them your L plate as well..

It is perfectly feasible to travel responsibly at 100k on an L-Plate, until you misbehave.

DB



All the stories I've read about on KB about learners getting pinged for doing over 70km/h are people either speeding (ie exceeding 110km/h) or not wearing an L-plate or doing something else stupid, and the cop pings them for the "exceeding 70km/h as a learner" AS WELL. I don't claim that's an exhaustive survey but I think the results are suggestive.

BTW riding over 70km/h on an L plate isn't "speeding", it's "breach of the conditions of your licence". If you get done for 120km/h on an L-plate it'll be for speeding 20km/h over the limit AND breach of your licence conditions (which is the bigger fine).

Yea exactly.. :o
Lucky I didn't get fine for 20k over and breach of license...

[Tim 39]

I got fined $400 because of that stupid rule!

9 days before I got my restricted, I was getting along the Dunedin motorway on my XT225 that I had at the time, at 85Kph. I got pulled up and fined $400 ! 'breach of learner licence' The cop went on about how the rule is there for my safety and that I can't safely go faster than 70 because of my 'inexperience'

my 'inexperience' only consisted of racing bikes at way over twice that speed and knee sliding at twice that speed as well! jeez what do you have to do to be allowed to go 100?

[CookMySock]

I got pulled up and fined $400 ! 'breach of learner licence' [....] my 'inexperience' only consisted of racing bikes at way over twice that speed and knee sliding at twice that speed as well!That stinks bro. Are you sure there wasn't some other heinous misdemeanor that he couldn't process you on ? Shoelace undone ? Slight smirk on face ? One square knobbly slightly rounded ?

DB

[EJK]

I got fined $400 because of that stupid rule!
9 days before I got my restricted

A weekend away for mine! :doh:

Yeah BANZAI, I got pulled over for probably the same way like you did.
Except that I got fined $400 for not having the L plate...

$550... man... Thats a BIG money.... :no:

[Sable]

I even got one for speeding (as in above 100) and the cop didnt ping me for the over 70. Or the fact that i was out at 10.30. Or the fact the bike had no rego plate. Helps if you are nice to the cop....

One and only time I've ever been pulled over was for a license check. No L-plate, no glasses (a condition of my license, although I can see fine) and worst, NO LICENSE! I'd left it on the desk at home and forgotten to put it back in me wallet. I was polite and friendly, and he didn't ping me for anything.

[skidMark]

imo, the 70kph learner limit rule is not a bad one in concept, instead of scrapping it, I would be inclined to re-word it.

ie, the problem arises from learners using 80 & 100kph zones whilst only going 70kph, change the wording to something like:

"A learner may not travel on roads where the posted speed limit exceeds 70kph"

And it's all sorted.

Yes, there's those people who bitch'n'gripe about needing to use motorway 'x' to get to work, etc, etc - FFS USE WHATEVER TRANSPORT YOU USED IN THE PAST! The learner period is only six months!

It's bad enough that fuel prices are engorging the scooter using populace with people who aren't going to give a toss about riding, now we're going to bin a law that will see them splattered all over the place at high speed when they lose control from inexperience.


What so a learner will have no open road nor motorway experiance? what an awesome idea there buddy... :oi-grr:

[<Rhino>]

I ride the open road its the only way I can get to work, there are no 50km/h streets that link from my place all the way to work so a rule of not going on any streets >70km/h would be prohibitive to probebly most of the population who leave town for work. Don't forget outside of Auckland people do travel outside the city limits for work...often!

I have my L plate on, I don't care, I'm not going to let my pride give away $400 if I get caught. I travel at normal road speed, granted it took a while for me to feel comfortable with that and during that time when I wasn't I would and did pull over for cars to get past when it was safe for me to do so (still do on occaision in the wet etc). If it wasn't safe to bad for them I held my ground. There was occaisions where they would push past, so I would considder pulling over more often.

I have not (as yet) been pulled over for exceeding 70km/h and don't generally go much faster than 100 anyway. :scooter:

[Dare]

now we're going to bin a law that will see them splattered all over the place at high speed when they lose control from inexperience.

I wouldnt know, high speed riding was less stressful for me than riding in central auckland, once your above 60-70, the only worry when i first tried was the traffic around me and the snow/rain that day. Countersteering is more or less intuitive (but i would recommend learning about it first anyway) and the only way you will really lose control on a 250 or less is mis applying the brakes or taking a corner too fast. If taupo-auckland is possible on the third day of riding then short hops should not be a problem, highway riding is not brain surgery :p

Also my 2c, going faster than the surrounding traffic is in general safer than going slower BECAUSE overtaking puts you in control of where the other cars are whereas being overtaken puts the other guy in control, and when cars overtake they usually cut in (at least in auckland) before they have fully overtaken you (and any number of other semi-lethal driving habits).

[Jerry74]

When I was on learners never did 70 kms....

Too many cars up ya jacksie scary stuff..

True that if you ride at 100 no cops tend to take a second glance at you.

Dont do what I did ride a 450 cc bike at 180 and then get pulled over, lucky i talked my way through it.

Ah the good old days of the MOT and no speed cameras

[rastuscat]

The GDLS (graduated drivers licence system) has made big inroads into reducing the road toll. That's an overall improvement in the licencing system. We can all point to abberrations (and frequently do), but the overall improvement is head and shoulders better than what I learned with. I had a car licence for 2 weeks, answered my 5 oral questions and instantly had a full bike licence. Random.

The problem is that SOME (not all) of it's minor conditions are just silly. The 250cc rule is just silly, and I hear it is changing. The L plate thing, what's that about? How does it actually make you safer? There are 2 L plates in siLLy.

The 70km/h thing is also fairly silly. But please let's not forget one thing. KBers tend to be motorcycle enthusiasts, and tend to be better riders because they have a personal commitment to bikes. The laws are designed for the whole population, including those people who use bikes only as transport, who have bugger all previous experience, who might even never have driven a car or ridden a bicycle. The law is designed for the lowest possible denominator.

The big issue arises with inconsistency. Motorcycles make up a very small percentage of the motoring population. We expect the police to know everything about everything, when that just isn't possible. Boy racers know more abouit boy racers cars, truck drivers know more about trucks, bikers know more about their bikes, because they have a commitment to them that the cops don't.

Because the cops don't have a huge commitment to each individual class of vehicle, the enforcement can be inconsistent. Some cops write the L plate ticket for bikers, most don't. Some enforce the 70 km thing for learners, some don't. It's the inconsistency that creates the controversy.

2 issues then, the rule itself, and the inconsistency of enforcement. No wonder we whinge so much.

:cool::cool::cool::cool::cool:

[awayatc]

The laws are designed for the whole population, including those people who use bikes only as transport, who have bugger all previous experience, who might even never have driven a car or ridden a bicycle. The law is designed for the lowest possible denominator.



Agree with whole post wholeheartedly, but the above quoted bits especialy

My son for example got his first little bike at 8 and has had bikes ever since...

His mate however only did his Theory and bought a very fast Kawasaki 250 something rather.....
Never been on a bike before!!!!
Off course he crashed a few times, bloody miracle he survived....

[Soljer99]

Hi there, please correct me if I am wrong, but is it true that learner motorbike riders are prohibited from using the motorways, particularly the Auckland ones? :baby:

I have read the motorcycle Road Code and (so far) haven't seen any rule explicitly saying so. :crazy:

Safety issues aside (just talking about the "legality" of it), has a learner ever been pinged for doing 70kph only at the motorway (whose speed limit is say 80kph to 100kph?). Cheers. :)

[McDuck]

Hi there, please correct me if I am wrong, but is it true that learner motorbike riders are prohibited from using the motorways, particularly the Auckland ones? :baby:

I have read the motorcycle Road Code and (so far) haven't seen any rule explicitly saying so. :crazy:

Safety issues aside (just talking about the "legality" of it), has a learner ever been pinged for doing 70kph only at the motorway (whose speed limit is say 80kph to 100kph?). Cheers. :)

You are indeed incorrect. You are alowed on the motorway. If you are confedent to. If you are not confedent then while you are alowed i wouldnt recomend it.