Another one lost.

**Lou Girardin** · 21st October 2003, 15:46

I just read that a biker died on the weekend, on the way to Castlepoint. Anyone hear more about it?
Lou

**mangell6** · 21st October 2003, 17:00

Called in at the bike shop in Upper Hutt tonight and Mac mentioned that a guy from UH, Ducati 918 I think he said, went through a fence in the "Southern Wairarapa", late forties quite young really.

Bummer

**merv** · 21st October 2003, 19:35

I understand it was one of our e-riders crew but they haven't released his name yet in the news. I didn't know him really but maybe it is his 916 that appears in these photos:

http://bikemerv.topcities.com/road0409.html

**marty** · 21st October 2003, 19:50

there was one on the kawhia road the other day too.

**Motoracer** · 21st October 2003, 23:09

I was scanning the roads of Kaiaua while driving my car the other day and I almost witnessed a demise of another biker. It’s a simple scenario really but potentially lethal. Here is what happened.

1) I was following a merc
2) The dude happens to live in a place with a driveway right in the middle of an almost 180 degree 45Km corner. He slowly pulls into the driveway.
3) Less than half a second after the back of the car clears the road, a biker flies around the corner doing possibly 90+kmph.

This was a blind corner for the biker and there was no way he/she could have avoided a crash had the merc had been half a second late. I almost witnessed a fatality and it really made me think. This use to be our weekly route for our rides and to think how much we were in danger is a bit scarry...

**Lou Girardin** · 22nd October 2003, 07:38

Of course, the local authority that allowed a driveway to be placed in that position would be totally blameless too.
A bloody good arguement for being able to sue the nuts off these people. Not forgetting Transit NZ and their wire rope barriers.
Geez, I'm only 3 days back at work.

**jrandom** · 22nd October 2003, 08:54

Originally posted by Lou Girardin
Not forgetting Transit NZ and their wire rope barriers.

ITYM 'cheesecutter'.

If bikers are made of cheese, anyway.

**MikeL** · 22nd October 2003, 10:42

The cheesecutter is a good example of how we do things in this country. Economic factors, cost/benefit ratio etc. will prevail. The well-reasoned arguments of a minority group (bikers) will be brushed aside. Then when messy decapitations of unlucky riders start to get splashed (literally) through the media to an extent that is finally deemed unacceptable, the authorities will eventually and grudgingly back down. However, they will do this in such a way as to (a) not admit any fault or responsibility for the tragedies or (b) put the blame on decisions made by previous administrations or faulty advice from consultants, and (c) clearly indicate that the extra cost will have to be borne by the end-user and raise the ACC levy yet again.

**merv** · 22nd October 2003, 11:22

The damn cheesecutter on the Haywards hill down here is scary. Its already been wiped out about 5 times by cars but the authorities are patting themselves on the backs for saving head on crashes. It definitiely does not look biker friendly let alone the fact it would surely damage a car that hits it much more than a glancing blow on an armco.

**Lou Girardin** · 22nd October 2003, 14:40

I'd gladly contribute to a class action lawsuit if one is brought against Transit NZ.
Lou

**georgedubyabush** · 22nd October 2003, 20:08

Originally posted by MikeL
the authorities will eventually and grudgingly back down. However, they will do this in such a way as to (a) not admit any fault

"yes we dont actually need a fart tax as it turns out there was enough research anyway, absolutely not because it was ludicrous or that there was a public outcry..."

**Marmoot** · 22nd October 2003, 20:33

You do know that Tranzhit is planning to install your cheesecutters all along the motorway medians (and quite possibly the sides too) once they have the money as part of the safety improvement plans, dont you?