Nelson blitz on bikers...

[rustyrobot]

Looked but didn't see it posted yet...
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crim...sparks-tension

Blitz on bikers sparks tension

Some Nelson motorcyclists say they are "disgusted" by a 100-day police campaign to target riders even if they are not doing anything wrong.

The campaign is a result of a large number of motorcycle crash fatalities in the Tasman police district over the past nine months.

Police say that, unusually, all 11 of the fatalities since last September were the fault of the motorcyclist. In the five cases where other vehicles were involved, the drivers of those vehicles were not at fault.

Tasman district road policing manager Inspector Hugh Flower said that from July 1, police would be asked to spend 15 minutes of their shift time to stop and check motorcycle and moped riders.

This would enable officers to ascertain the rider's licence status, check their vehicle for road safety compliance, and pass on the message to take care on the roads.

"We want to indicate to them that we don't want to be scraping them off the road."

However, the president of the Nelson Ulysses motorcycle club, Lorraine Lindsay, said most accidents were caused by inattentive motorists rather than motorcycle riders.

"We are all pretty disgusted by this. I have been riding 47 years, and the only accident I have had is by a car backing out of a driveway. They are such bad drivers in New Zealand."

Anger in the motorcycle community has also been stoked by comments by Tasman district commander Superintendent Gary Knowles, who said motorcycle crashes were a "middle-aged man thing".

"[Riders] just appear to be coming up here, if I'm brutally honest, with their midlife crisis and riding around and dying," he said.

Mr Knowles said the region had a disproportionate number of motorcycle fatalities compared with the rest of the country.

Last year, 13 per cent of all road deaths nationally, or 48 deaths, involved motorcyclists, compared with 28 per cent of fatal road accidents, or six deaths, in the Tasman police district.

Tony McIntosh, who was seriously injured by a utility turning into a driveway at Pakawau this year, said most of the people he rode with had owned bikes when they were younger.

"Then you get married and have kids and get rid of the bike. When you get older, you buy another bike, but with my [accident], there was nothing I could do. I had taken every precaution but still I got hit."

Mr McIntosh's right leg was broken and his pelvis was broken in four places. In March, the ute's driver, Gary Climo, 56, of Pakawau, was fined $2500 and disqualified from driving for seven months.

Mr McIntosh said the motorcyclists he knew took every precaution when riding, including taking safe driving courses. "When you are riding a bike, you a defensive driver plus. You have to be because you are that much more vulnerable."
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Tasman District Council road safety co-ordinator Krista Hobday said accidents were increasing as more motorcycles came on the roads. The number of motorcycles and scooters in the Nelson region has increased by 70 per cent over the past five years, and the number of crashes involving them has doubled.

"It's definitely not good, but we are continuing to run campaigns and training courses to make sure motorcyclists know what the issues are," she said.

[onearmedbandit]

I think the figures stand for themselves. 11 fatalities in the past 9 months, and every one of them determined to be the riders fault. Motorcyclists have identified themselves as a target, I'm sure the response to this would be positive if it was 'boy-racers' instead of motorcyclists. I'm a bit bewildered by the response from the Nelson Ulysses rep, it's obviously not the other road users who have contributed to this isolated spate of fatalities. Surely they would be better seen to say that riders need to take responsibility for their own actions on the road, and not point the finger at all other road users by saying "They are such bad drivers in New Zealand".

[rustyrobot]

When I was in Melbourne last October I was surprised to see so many billboards targetting motorcyclists - and I dont think I saw any targetting car drivers. It was a little off-putting, all those reminders of your vulnerability, but it seems like a sensible way of reminding riders to take care of themselves. Also a lot less intrusive than being pulled over and having your bike checked over for 'road safety compliance' and getting the third degree from Mr.Plod.

[Ixion]

Theres a lot of tourism in the Nelson diatrict. And a big bike hire business.

I wonder how many riders were riding their own bikes on a NZ licence.

Not an anti, just that NZ roads are maybe a bit different to what they are uaed to, and on a strange bike, with maybe on the opposite side of the road to what theyre used to. Which means left handers become right handers and vice versa. Jolly confusing.

[onearmedbandit]

While I don't agree with just pulling over people even if they are doing no wrong, I don't know of any other way they could bring this to peoples attention as well as this has obviously done (in Nelson).

[Katman]

Theres a lot of tourism in the Nelson diatrict. And a big bike hire business.

I wonder how many riders were riding their own bikes on a NZ licence.

Not an anti, just that NZ roads are maybe a bit different to what they are uaed to, and on a strange bike, with maybe on the opposite side of the road to what theyre used to. Which means left handers become right handers and vice versa. Jolly confusing.

You're an expert at making excuses, aren't you?

[Ocean1]

While I don't agree with just pulling over people even if they are doing no wrong, I don't know of any other way they could bring this to peoples attention as well as this has obviously done (in Nelson).

Be interested in a legal opinion on whether it boiled down to harasment. I don't believe they've got any business buttonholeing motorists going about their business.

Did nobody see this coming? The day they invented ACC cover for road accidents it became inevitable they'd decide they needed to control your behaviour.

Suckers.

[Coldrider]

"This would enable officers to ascertain the rider's licence status, check their vehicle for road safety compliance, and pass on the message to take care on the roads."

Unless these items were found to be the root cause of the fatalities, the pigs may as well hand the motorcyclists lollipops.

[Genie]

On any given Sunday there are literally hundreds of bikes on the roads in paradise....surely with so many bikes on the road the crash rate would rise. Best I go pop the 'L' plate back on. Be extra vigiliant whenever you are ridng.

[scumdog]

Be interested in a legal opinion on whether it boiled down to harasment. I don't believe they've got any business buttonholeing motorists going about their business.

"Any where - any time"

Of course they could instead just send out letters to motorcyclists asking:
Are you sober?
Do you have a full motorcycle licence?
Does you bike have a current WOF?

And thereby saving the effort of actually stopping any motorist going about their own business.

[Woodman]

Well if the flange did nothing about 11 fatalities in 9 months they would not be doing their job would they?


I live in Nelson and support it, if you are doing nothing wrong then you got nothing to worry about, mind you I wonder how many were local vs passing through riders?

[scumdog]

Looked but didn't see it posted yet...

peasea probably pissed off the wrong cop..

[sinned]

peasea probably pissed off the wrong cop..

You're doing well scumdog. BTW you need to update your signature - 10,000 posts.

[Ixion]

"Any where - any time"

Of course they could instead just send out letters to motorcyclists asking:
Are you sober?
Do you have a full motorcycle licence?
Does you bike have a current WOF?

And thereby saving the effort of actually stopping any motorist going about their own business.

Not quite . Any where any time at an individual level , but overall it has to be non discriminatory, human rights complaint, all that sort of stuff. For instance, if it were found that a police district stopped Maoris (or gingas , or ) 10 times as often as other groups, relative to population, then that could be considered harassment.

Or, to put it another way, it could be argued that stopping road users for compliance checks (or breath checks) is OK, any where any time. But, if those compliance checks were just waving through a select group of road users without checking (say, drivers of European cars, or drivers with the local football club sticker in the windscreen), then that would be a corrupt practice.

So, if cops want to check vehicles for compliance checks, then they need to check all vehicels that go through the check point. No letting vehicles with four wheels get off.

[JATZ]

Interesting........
Personaly it doesn't bother me, whats an extra couple of minutes to the journey anyway ?
BTW where does the law stand on riding with an L plate when you have your full ?