NZ Motorcycle Safety Council
I think like most motorcyclists, safety has always been at the top of mind, but accidents were something that happened to other people and fatalities were something I read about. Until December when I watched a good man die on the side of the road, then it all became very, very real.
At that point it would have been easy to change the way I rode, and maybe get a bit spooked, but the thing that struck me was that Ewan's death was completely unnecessary. If he had done things differently on the day, and maybe if the road had been designed differently he'd still be alive today and his wife Seona wouldn't have had to suffer the loss of her true love.
About the same time Our Masters Who Art in Wellington were stinging us with increased ACC levies because we ride those howwid and dweadfully dangewous motorbikes and Slippery Nick had (very kindly) agreed to spend around $3m on replicating the Victorian motorcycle safety model - which is impossible with that budget and who said we wanted it anyway?
It dawned on me that there is no organisation in NZ that is solely focussed on motorcycle safety. BRONZ have done a sterling job with the ACC levies and are committed to safety, but their focus is more on activism and lobbying for biker rights (or so I gather). We have groups like the ACC, the NZTA and the Police who are all engaged in developing, implementing and enforcing safety strategies, but it's all very prescriptive - "this is what you should do and we're gonna make you do it". I don't have a problem with their motives, and I am probably more into bike safety than any of them, but I have a problem with being told what's good for me.
I figured that an organisation consisting of (mostly) motorcyclists that worked with and included the ACC, the NZTA, the Police, local government, roading etc would be a good starting point. An organisation that had a strong research dimension, so we know what we're talking about and most importantly an organisation consisting of people who were passionate about bikes and riding the bloody things might just be able to suggest ideas that would work without being unenforceable, ridiculous or just plain flawed. I figured such an organisation might just make our lives safer and easier.
So I asked a few people what they thought, and last Sunday the NZ Motorcycle Safety Council was formed. On our steering committee are trainers (Mike Flowers and Karel Pavich), dealers, bike cops, reps from the ACC, the NZTA and the Christchurch City Council as well as David Golightly (insurance man) and Charley Lamb providing the intellectual grunt. ACC are excited and want to support us, as are the Police and the NZTA, and the Council have made available resources and a staff member and want us to participate in the road safety forums including having input into the roads in Banks Peninsula.
Our first priority is to find out what safety initiatives currently underway and provide a central clearing house where information on what is being done can be recorded and disseminated and we are communicating with the NZTA etc to find out what they're planning to do, what they're doing and what we can do to be a part of the process. We also want to find out what other groups, organisations and individuals in the motorcycle community are doing and how we can support them.
Anything else we should be doing? Any suggestions on what we should do?
Don't blame me, I voted Green.
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Originally Posted by shrub
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