Impact statements/quotes?

[awayatc]

Hi, I am awayatc, and when I am not sea i am riding my harley with my wife as pillion.
If the proposed increased acc levies go ahead i can no longer afford this and will have to divorce my wife.
Hopefully the state will pick up the ongoing payments for her from there on.....

[MIXONE]

I use my bike to ride to the polling booth on election day to vote for National.If the proposed ACC levy increase goes ahead I wont be able to afford the bike so then I will walk to the polling booth and vote Labour.

[Ixion]

GOLD.

That's the one to go for !

[AlpinePossum]

I'm John C, I chose a Suzuki 650cc street legal dirt bike for the following reasons...

* It's cleaner, has a lower fuel consumption and is safer to other road users than a SUV.

* I rode a 250cc for many years and know they are more dangerous than a 650! I was always being overtaken in hazardous places by cars impatient with my slow top speed. On my 650cc I can keep a 0kph relative speed to the rest of the traffic.

* If I'm riding my bike, I'm not driving my car. But I pay twice! And I mostly use the car anyway!

* I DON'T WANT HIGH ACC PAYOUTS! Getting payed out means I'm hurt, disabled or DEAD! I want SAFER ROADS! Less DRINK DRIVERS! Fewer dangerous vehicles like SUV's.

* If these high fees go forward I'll give up, sell both the bike and the car and buy a dangerous to other road users gas guzzling SUV.

[taff1954]

I'm Mel, I use my 600 cc bike both as a commuter and for pleasure. If levies increase as proposed, nothwithstanding that my bike falls into the middle category, I am likely abandon it in favour of another car, being the cheaper option. Unfortunately this will increase my carbon footprint by anything up to 16 tonnes per annum, potentially equal to a cost to New Zealand of $704.00 per annum (http://www.med.govt.nz/templates/Mul...____10173.aspx), and will increase my consumption of (imported) refined fuel by approximately 1200 litres.

[klingon]

My name is klingon. Yes, really.

I am a middle-aged woman and I got my 250cc tame little commuter bike 3 years ago. I ride it over the Auckland Harbour Bridge most days. Having the bike allowed me to get rid of my 1990 Toyota Corolla and I am proud that I use less fuel, create less congestion have reduced emissions since riding the bike.

I have had one ACC claim. Six months into riding my bike I was hit from behind by a car. I stopped at a stop sign and the car driver decided not to stop and accellerated through the intersection. I was hit so hard that my bike was written off and I received fractured ribs, concussion and severe bruising.

This event happened within 200m of a primary school. If that car had hit a cyclist or a pedestrian instead of me (in all my protective gear) they could easily have been killed (or at least much more severely injured than me).

I have (at my own expense) attended the Right Right Ride Safe training course run by BRONZ in Auckland. I am astounded that it is not compulsory for all riders to attend a course such as this.

ACC would be much better investing money in training riders and drivers, rather than this short-sighted plan to penalise riders for being more vulnerable than car drivers.

[mnkyboy]

Hi my name is mnky boy

If these proposals go ahead it will cost the taxpayer a lot more in shit I'm more likely to destroy out of anger than the extra $500 bucks a year they will collect.

[What?]

I'm Alec.
One of my bikes now is not registered. I only bring it out a couple of times a year, and consider the risk of getting stung for no rego at the current rates to be acceptable. If the rates go up, I may well run more vehicles unregistered.

[vtec]

My name is Jason,

I currently have a 2.2litre car and a 400cc motorbike. Currently I am unemployed due to a slack economy, but starting an apprenticeship at the end of November on minimum wage I will only be able to run one vehicle. Because i have to commute around Aucklands dismal traffic flow, the bike is much more efficient both in terms of time and fuel efficiency due to lane splitting, also I can make a huge saving if I just put the motorbike rego on hold and not stop for the police when they try to pull me over while stuck in Aucklands crawling traffic as all the thousands of law abiding motorcyclists have been forced into their cars, jamming up the roads even further and putting more strain on the city's inadequate infrastructure.

Also, as it has been proven and stated recently the danger (and consequent injury expenses) involved in police pursuits far outweighs what is to be gained and are being reigned in currently, the police won't be allowed to follow me anyway. Freedom is on the way back. Thank you ACC.

[XP@]

My name is James
I have 2 bikes > 600cc both are adventure bikes and put out less than 60hp.
I use one of them all year round, the other for 2-3 months. My total distance is set to exceed 45,000kms this year.

Even if I only have one registered I will have $500 LESS to spend on my bike budget so will not be able to spend as much on important stuff I will be faced with choices like:

• Buying poorer quality tires.
• Doing more home mechanics than perhaps is safe.
• Not replacing helmet this year.
• Buying the cheaper jacket and pants.

The lower quality gear is going to make me more likely to have an accident and then will protect me less. Is this the goal of ACC to drum up more business?

[clint640]

My name is Clint

I have had more visits to A&E from bicycle accidents than from motorcycle accidents. If the government makes motorcycling too expensive I'll be doing more mountainbiking instead.

[FastBikeGear]

My name is Liam

Up until this week I owned 1 250 cc daily commuter motorbike, 1 big old classic bike motorbike, 4 cycles, 1 seven tonne motorhome, 1 diesel van, 1 car (that gobbles gas) and 1 road registered race car. I never drive more than 3 of these at any one time. i m the only person in my household who has a license to drive a seven tonne motorhome or drive a motorbike. However everyone in the family borrows and rides my cycles. My only ACC claim was for 9 months of treatment for doing a forware flip (unfortunately only half of one) off the end of a mountain bike ramp and landing on a tree stump. I have never had made an ACC claim for any motorcycle accident.

This week I sold my VTR 250 commuter bike to cut down on multiple ACC. At the end of summer I will be putting my registration on hold for my big old bike and my motorhome until next summer.

I sold the 250 because I worked out it is cheaper to sell it and run around in my 200,000km plus old smoky diesel van.

I pay more ACC vehicle levys than any other poor bastard in the universe and as a consequence I am considering becoming an alcholic. I cross subsidise myself so much that I don't know whether to put on my wifes dress in the morning or my pants.