New law allowing delivery motocycles on pathways

[YellowDog]

I have been told that the new headlight law also incorportates allowing motorcycle delivery and services bikes to ride on the pathways that were exclusively designed for pedestrians.

Whilst I can see some practical reasons for this, I can also see a shorter lifespan for ipod users thinking they are safe.

Has anyone seem this?

[Jizah]

Yeah saw this last week. Maximum speed of 10km/h. Try it, it's really slow. I don't see it being too much of a problem.
It might make the runs bigger though, or it could be the first step in making all the pushbikes into motorbike runs too.

[peasea]

I have been told that the new headlight law also incorportates allowing motorcycle delivery and services bikes to ride on the pathways that were exclusively designed for pedestrians.

Whilst I can see some practical reasons for this, I can also see a shorter lifespan for ipod users thinking they are safe.

Has anyone seem this?

Yeah, I noticed that. "But officer, I was just delivering a pound of.....oops!"

[Kickaha]

I can also see a shorter lifespan for ipod users thinking they are safe.

I still can't see a downside?

[CookMySock]

allowing motorcycle delivery and services bikes to ride on the pathways

People do that already without issue. All this law will achieve is to more-clearly define precisely who may and may not do this, and it sounds like the who in this case specifically excludes you and I (non service vehicles.)

This doesn't give us more rights - it erodes them.

Steve

[PrincessBandit]

So if you're allowed to ride I assume that means stopping/parking must also be ok. I guess if you're delivering something you would be entitled to park on the footpath as well then. Legal footpath parking! Do you then have to prove you work for a courier company though?

[The Baron]

Mopeds delivering mail???

Paper boys on scoots???

Watch out granny.

[Jizah]

The words they used were "allow motorbikes or mopeds to ride on the footpath at a maximum speed of 10km/h to pop mail into a letterbox"

[Badjelly]

I hate it when people play Chinese whispers with stuff like this.

Here's a relevant article on the Stuff WWW site:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post...e-made-illegal

It includes the following list of changes (but check for yourself)

TOP 10 CHANGES

* Talking on a hand-held cellphone or texting while driving will be banned.

* Mobility scooter riders and users of wheeled recreational devices will have the same obligations as pedestrians to observe crossing rules, and also the same rights.

* Moped riders and motorcyclists will have to turn on their headlights during the day.

* Drivers will have to give way to pedestrians who are obviously waiting to cross at a pedestrian crossing. Currently, drivers are required only to give way to pedestrians who are on a pedestrian crossing.

* Customs and fisheries officers to have blue beacons on vehicles to "clearly demonstrate their authority" to pull drivers over.

* Cyclists will be able to make a safer "hook turn" when turning right at busy intersections.

* Delivery people will be allowed to ride mopeds or motorcycles on the footpath to pop items in letterboxes but no faster than 10kmh.

* The maximum speed for towing a vehicle with a non-rigid towing connection (such as a tow rope) will be 50kmh.

* Seatbelts will not only have to be "securely fastened" but put on properly also.

* Rules will be clarified for the use of shared pedestrian/cycle paths. All users will have to use the paths in a way that does not present a hazard to others. Where signs or markings give priority to either pedestrians or cyclists, users without priority must give way.

Jizah is right about the words, so no, PrincessBandit, this does not imply parking is OK.

I've found a ministerial press release relating to this

http://www.national.org.nz/Article.aspx?articleId=30595

but this doesn't mention all the changes described in the Stuff article. Can anyone tell me the authoritative source for the proposed rule changes?

And what's a "hook turn" for cyclists?

[Badjelly]

Can anyone tell me the authoritative source for the proposed rule changes?

Here it is:

http://www.nzta.govt.nz/consultation...ent/index.html

with the full text of the draft rule in a PDF:

http://www.nzta.govt.nz/consultation...-amendment.pdf

One of the objectives of the rule is

allowing a person to ride a moped or motorcycle on a footpath for the purpose of delivering printed matter

Note "printed matter". This objective is to be achieved by the following amendment (apologies for formatting):

9 Driving along footpath
Clause 2.13 is amended by adding the following subclause as subclause (2):
“(2) Subclause (1) does not apply to a person who rides a moped or motorcycle on a footpath in the course of delivering newspapers, mail, or other printed material to letterboxes, but only if—
“(a) either—
“(i) the road on which the footpath is located has a speed limit of 70 km an hour or more; or
“(ii) the road controlling authority has authorised the use of the footpath for that purpose; and
“(b) the speed of the moped or motorcycle does not exceed 10 km an hour while it is operated on the footpath; and
“(c) the person complies with the requirements in clause 11.1(4) and (5) as if the person were the driver of a wheeled recreational device.”

So there's a fair bit there that didn't make the newspapers.

Another rule change, that I haven't heard publicised recently, though it's been discussed on this site before, is to impose a blanket speed limit of 50 km/h on mopeds. Currently they're not supposed to be able to exceed 50 km/h, but exceeding 50 km/h is nevertheless legal on roads where the speed limit is higher than that. The new rule closes that loophole.

And, by the way, a hook turn seems to involve turning right while keeping as far as possible to the left through the whole manouevre (like cars do at some central city intersections in Melbourne). As far as I can tell it would only make sense to do that at traffic lights.

[Badjelly]

And then there's this, from the Q & A page

Also raised, as an issue for discussion, is whether buses should have priority when leaving bus stops, and comments are being sought on this issue.

I may not have been paying attention, but I hadn't heard of that one!

[Badjelly]

Oops. The documents I've been linking to on nzta.govt.nz date from September 2008 and refer to proposals for public consultation, the consultation to finish on 16 October 2008.

The government's announcement on 13 August 2009 is a further step in (some of?) the proposed rules coming into effect. From the Stuff article most of the changes originally proposed appear to have come through unchanged. However (as far as I can see) the priority for buses rule was dropped, and they've added a couple I didn't notice in the original proposal:

* The maximum speed for towing a vehicle with a non-rigid towing connection (such as a tow rope) will be 50kmh.

* Rules will be clarified for the use of shared pedestrian/cycle paths. All users will have to use the paths in a way that does not present a hazard to others. Where signs or markings give priority to either pedestrians or cyclists, users without priority must give way.

Oh, and they've dropped the 50 km/h speed limit for mopeds.

Anyway, the question I posed a few posts back still stands: does anyone know where there is an authoritative document describing the changes?

PS: I realise that putting up a series of 4 posts, one after the other, is a bit pathological.

PPS: I think this is best discussed in this thread.

[YellowDog]

I started this thread because I am a Motorcycle Postie and was wondering what others thought generally speaking

From experience I can tell you that the pathways can be a pretty dangerous place for a motorcycle rider. The risks from meter readers etc reversing blindly out of driveways etc. are best avoided. I am sure it will help in some situations (and we already use these) however the road is the safest place for a motorcycle.