Submit against the proposal 'copy and paste' this one if you want.

[BiK3RChiK]

My submission.....


I am outraged at the proposed ACC Levy fee increase for Motorcycle's.
We expected to pay an increase in levies, but the proposed fee increase
is outrageous, to say the least!

My husband and I are small business operators, who have two work
vehicles. We also have two private motor vehicles for our family, and
between my husband and I and our two children, we have four
motorcycles.

Currently, the ACC levies we pay for our business are in the order of
around $1500 per annum. ACC Levies we pay on our vehicle registrations
are $558.18 for our business vehicles, $558.18 for our private motor
vehicles and $1010.76 for our motorcycles.

Under the proposed ACC Levy hike, I work out that we will be paying in
the order of $2000 for our small business per annum. For vehicle
registrations for our business vehicles I work the ACC Levy component
out to be $634.56 and for our private motor vehicles $634.56, and
motorcycles $2280.06. As my son and I were both considering changing
our bikes to 650cc models the ACC Levy component of the registration fee
would in that case be $2748.74!

I am totally against such an increase.

The CC rating of a bike is unrelated to it's power output. Some bikes
with a lower CC rating have vastly more power than a larger CC rated
bike.

Also, there are many bike related accidents from unregistered bikes such
as farm bikes and motor-cross bikes and the like, which figure in
motorcycle statistics but the road bike riders are subsidising their ACC
Levies.

Added to that, ACC is a 'No Blame' scheme. However, this proposal flies
in the face of that claim. By funding the shortfall in ACC by
increasing the levies on motorists is entirely unfair. Sports injuries
figure highly in ACC claims and yet are not directly charged an ACC Levy
component.

What I can see from this current proposal, if it becomes law, is that
many motorcyclists will not pay to license their motorcycles, or will
get out of motorcycling altogether. This will mean more motor vehicles
on the road, causing more congestion and increased pollution.

The current system penalises riders who are responsible riders and have
no ACC claims, but subsidise riders who may ride irresponsibly and make
multiple claims.

Also, the current lack of training for motorcyclists and ease with which
one can obtain a motorcycle license is ridiculous. More education needs
to be done with regard to riding a motorcycle and also with regard to
awareness of motorcyclists for motor vehicle drivers. Many motorcycle
crashes are actually contributed to by other vehicles on the road.
Public awareness of motorcycles is abysmal.

More education needs to go into Bike Safety Gear also. It seems to me
that the more gear motorcyclists wear, then the less chances of having
serious injuries from a crash.

Please re-consider the exorbitant increase especially for motorcyclists
in regard to the ACC Levy component of licensing. Our family gets much
enjoyment out of motorcycling and this proposal will impact our family
in a major way.


Yours sincerely,

[OutForADuck]

Done... and I will continue ...

[EgliHonda]

my humble effort:

Name
Adress


Re: Proposed ACC levy increase for motorcyclists:



I wish to register my opposition to the proposed ACC levy increase for motorcyclists for the following reasons:

• I have been licensed since 1998, in this time I have ridden a multitude of motorcycles over many thousands of kilometres and have not received any infringement notices, had any accidents or made any claims.
• I have more than one motorcycle, and also more than one car. As I obviously cannot ride/drive more than one vehicle at a time, why should I pay many ACC levies? I cannot have an accident on the vehicle sitting garaged.
• I believe this proposal may create criminals out of otherwise law-abiding citizens, simply due to the unreasonable costs involved.
• The capacity limits seem as arbitrary as the 250cc learners permit. Engine size does not actually mean much with motorcycles. A 750cc motorcycle for example may be a much safer machine to learn on than a legal 250cc two-stroke race replica.
• I wear extensive (and expensive) protective equipment at all times, and ride defensively and make myself visible to other road users
• I have full personal accident/income insurance
• This flies in the face of encouraging less fuel use/traffic congestion, which was a path I thought we as a country were choosing.

I accept that ACC is struggling, and there are unsustainable costs occurring, I suggest the following:

• I have issues with ACC being paid to drunk drivers and other criminals. There would be NO opposition to cutting costs by refusing payment to anyone committing an offence
• Cut down on the unnecessary frills. After a sports injury I was offered taxi chits, home help and almost unlimited physio appointments. I attended one physio session to learn what I had to do to return to full fitness, and refused everything else as a matter of principle. It was almost as if the case manager was on commission
• By all means make poor riders/drivers/repeat offenders pay much more for their registration. This should include offences such as riding without suitable protective gear, but should apply to ALL vehicles, and may actually create some accountability.

I suspect the figures proposed are part of the old ‘put out a ridiculous figure and they’ll be glad when we come back with a simple doubling of costs’ trick, which is disappointing from a party I have supported for some time. My support cannot be guaranteed however given the seemingly ill-thought-out proposal announced here.




Yours sincerely


Name

[not signed, sent electronically]

[NinjaNanna]

To whom it may concern,

I am hereby expressing my dissatifaction in regards to ACC's proposal to increase the levy on motorcycle registrations. I have been riding motorcycles for over 10yrs and have never had an accident, I have been rewarded with the max no claims bonus by my motorcycle insurer and I am a recreational rider of a 1000cc motorcycle who rides approximately 10,000kms per year.

In my opinion the proposed increase is obscenely high. I am however a realistic man, if indeed your calculations are genuine and have not been tainted by political motivations, then I would grudgingly support a 5 year phase in of the any adopted increase. This approach will minimise the affect that these levies will have on the re-sale value of all affected vehicles.

In truth it is the devaluation of my motorcycle that concerns me most about the proposal. This directly affects me as I could no longer justify the ownership costs of my motorcycle given the limited use that I make of it - therefore these increased levies would be the final cirumstance to force the sale of my motorcycle.

I also believe that the levy based on cc ratings is ultimately flawed, I predict that your statistics showing higher accident rates on larger capacity motorcycles will be totally reversed as riders transition to smaller capacity bikes. I do not believe for one moment that the accident rates nor the cost of treatment will decrease with this transition. To levy bikes based on cc rating alone shows a total lack of understanding and incompetance from officials whom should be better educated.

Also in regards to ACC motor vehicle levies in general, the option of adding the levy to vehicle registrations is both lazy and inequitable. In a system where the goal is to insure the person rather than the property, surely it makes more sense to levy the individual through their Driver's License. This would ensure that individuals with multiple vehicles are not unfairly levied multiple times, it would also offer the opportunity to levy dirt bike and quad bike riders, through the establishment of a new vehicle class.


To state my position clearly, at the bare minimum, this proposal should be re-worked so that it eliminates the >600cc distinction and phases in any significant increases over a period of years.

I trust in democracy and hope that my voice is heard.

Yours in dissapointment
Shane Vaughan

[DangerMice]

My email to Nick Smith and cc'd to everyone else in parliament. lol

Sir, how can you in all honesty say you “welcome the fact that motorcycles under 125cc were not facing a big increase” (NZ Herald 15 Oct 2009) when what is proposed will see the ACC component of registering my 49cc scooter go from $58.97 to $257.58. That is an increase of over 400%. Is that not a “big increase” in your opinion?

I would encourage you to spend a day or even a morning commute on a motorbike in Wellington or Auckland to see the behaviour of car, truck and bus drivers towards motorcycle riders and scooterists. I have not once come close to having an accident on my own, yet it is a daily occurrence to be cut off, turned in front of, dangerously overtaken, tailgated or other similar behaviour. When questioned, the typical response from the other party is “oh I didn’t see you”. I ride with my headlight on, in a high visibility vest and plenty of safety gear yet you seem to think it is “fair” for me to pay massive increases for other drivers inattention and careless driving. “Transport Ministry figures showed 62 per cent were the other driver's fault.” (NZ Herald 15 Oct 2009)

In my opinion, these changes render ACC no longer a “no fault” system. By discriminating against a small group of society you are in effect saying it is our fault for choosing to ride a motorcycle or scooter, when the majority of the time, it is not we who are at fault.

[Ms Piggy]

photos or it didnt happen

You asked for it...not me but you get the idea

[Laxi]

You asked for it...not me but you get the idea

not what I was expecting off to the camel toe thread to erase that image from my head for ever

[Bend-it]

Mine:

Hi John (or whoever checks his email),

I'm writing to protest the proposal to increase ACC levies for motorcycles, and not for other higher-risk activities, like rock climbing, rugby, bicycling etc. This penalises motorcyclists unfairly for the increased risk that all these other groups pose as well. Motorcyles are just an easy target.

1. If we are going down the route of higher risk pays higher ACC levies, then it should be applied uniformly, as opposed to just one high-risk activity.

2. If ACC premiums are linked to injury risk, then paying multiple premiums for multiple vehicles is not right, as one can only operate one vehicle at a time. A large number of motorcyclists have multiple vehicles and so are further penalised by this.

3. Motorcyclists should also then be creditted for benefits like easing congestion, parking and having a smaller carbon footprint.

I'm an ardent "right-ish" supporter but the inconsistencies listed above are alienating many people like myself. Handled wrongly, this will cost you your next election, you just watch... And Labour didn't even have to do anything...

My suggestion is that people's overall risk profiles get assessed individually, and ACC premiums charged on that, just like how insurance comapnies do it, which is what ACC is, at the end of the day.