Cyclist accidents v motorcycle accidents

[Pascal]

where's our motorbike only lanes???

We have quite a few dedicated lanes. One is painted green and found in urban areas. Those bus driving cnuts use it from time to time though. And the other is found right between two lines of cars on your average trip through Auckland.

[DEATH_INC.]

And by the way, I pay a shitload of ACC levies so I'll ride my fucking bike on the road if I want to, OK?

What he said, I don't need another to add to the fucken list of bills....

[DEATH_INC.]

I find it hard to believe (tho this is the 21st century...and KB) that so much of this thread is about acc $$$$$$. Is that all that matters to the people in this country?

[Drunken Monkey]

and they should have every right to pay for it too, god knows I am for every single one of my road going vehicles. If they want to use the road they should pay for it like every other user especially if they expect "special" treatment like "bike lanes" where's our motorbike only lanes???

I certainly paid more than my fucking fair share of it when I had 2 cars, 2 motorbikes and 2 bicycles. And as per other poster, you have dedicated motorcycle lanes.
Cock.

[Hypobru]

You're a fucking moron.

Motorcyclists have worked themselves into a position whereby the vast majority of motorcycle accidents are viewed by the general public with an "Oh well, they probably brought it upon themselves" attitude...

Push bike riders get exactly the same reaction from the public when they get hit by a vehicle.

One of the biggest issues with cyclists is that the sport is popular with the 'vets' fitness nut brigade, (think 1000's of novice bike riders in their 40's & 50's + all over NZ), in the 70' & 80's the craze was jogging. Most of these folk wouldn't have ridden a push bike since they were teenagers, then they grow up, get wealthy & go buy a high performance bike & head straight out onto the roads,(sounding familiar?).

Racing bikes weigh fuck all, have steep geometry so are very responsive to a riders movements & input. Everything that I know about handling motorbikes translates to riding push bikes, except you can go at a reasonable pace everywhere instead of just down hill. (& motorbike rides aren't boring)

I believe that the biggest mistake pushy 'newbies' make is that they lean heavily on the bars which, as we all know, will upset the handling & make the bike wobble around. It's the reason they can't even ride side by side without taking up half the lane. A good rider will be able to ride along a white line for miles without wobbling off it. Then there's all the skills involved in hazard avoidance, cornering & stopping not to mention 'awareness' etc that take years to learn even for a competitive racing cyclist.

There is a good argument for compulsory rider training for these people, especially the ones who insist on riding in the Auckland traffic & narrow roads, (much slower than the cagers-fuck that), even motorbike newb's don't have anything more than the basic handling cert.

In the end even professional racing cyclists get mown down by other vehicles on the road. Sometimes there's fuck all you can do.

[shrub]

I find it hard to believe (tho this is the 21st century...and KB) that so much of this thread is about acc $$$$$$. Is that all that matters to the people in this country?

There must be a lot of really skint people out there. While I'm not happy about the rises, i don't hesitate spending around $600 for a set of tyres that last me less than a year and $130 for oil and filter that lasts me around 6 months, so rego is just another cost and I can afford it easily.

[yungatart]

There must be a lot of really skint people out there. While I'm not happy about the rises, i don't hesitate spending around $600 for a set of tyres that last me less than a year and $130 for oil and filter that lasts me around 6 months, so rego is just another cost and I can afford it easily.

Well, aren't you just the lucky bunny then.
Not all of us are that well paid...everything has to be budgeted for in our house and some things just get left off the list!

[Scuba_Steve]

I certainly paid more than my fucking fair share of it when I had 2 cars, 2 motorbikes and 2 bicycles. And as per other poster, you have dedicated motorcycle lanes.
Cock.

firstly you need to check the word "dedicated".
secondly your 2 bicycles you don't pay to use the road.
thirdly even if you included your 2 bicycles I'm still paying more road user charges than you, and I still can't use any I don't pay for or my CR250 on the road, so why should you be allowed your bicycle & demand "special" lanes.
and finally going by you last remark you seem to have some anger issues there, I'm gonna guess your part of the "lycra brigade", the reason a lot of motorists hate "cyclists", am I right?

[mrchips]

An elder(ish) cyclist cut right across my path today in a 70 kay zone. He just stuck his arm out & went for it without even looking & i'm the one paying big ACC.

Fcuk me, some cyclists are their own worst enemy.

My arse is still puckered up !

[neels]

I don't pay for or my CR250 on the road

But you still get covered by ACC when you're riding it, even though you don't pay any ACC levies for riding it.

Sort of like riding a pushbike really, isn't it.

Sort of covered by the general recreation levy.

But it probably still gets classified as a motorcycle accident by ACC and gets added to the levies that get paid by those that ride on the road.

So by riding your trail bike your screwing us both ways.

Probably time to shut up now, don't you think?

[McJim]

None of the solutions cited are used in the developed world yet they don't have the same extent of cycle risk. My observation is that, by and large, New Zealanders simply can't drive. QED.

When I drive my tank around the roads and I approach a cyclist I scan ahead of the cyclist for hazards that may cause the cyclist to do something unpredictable and I slow and wait for a safe opportunity accordingly. All the balme I hear in various forums and on the telly is simply Kiwis not being man enbough to own up to the fact that "we simply haven't got a fuckin clue how to operate machinery"

It's a cop out my friends. Take responsibility of the deadly weapon you have been put in control of or walk.

[JudaBaker]

thirdly even if you included your 2 bicycles I'm still paying more road user charges than you, and I still can't use any I don't pay for or my CR250 on the road..

Is this not constantly bitched about by people who own more than one vehicle? Having to pay more than one set of fees when you can only use one vehicle at a time is stupid, arguing that someone else should be treated just as unfairly as you are because otherwise it would be unfair is even more so. The entire system should be changed, not just "I pay this much more, so I have more right to be on the road, wank wank wank. Motorcyclists complain about being treated unfairly for being a minority, why have a go at cyclists when on the road they are the very definition of 'the little man'.

..so why should you be allowed your bicycle & demand "special" lanes?

If they make people safer then why not? would you rather the cyclist was in your way holding you up and pissing you off or in his own special lane so you can forget he even exists? Less queues at the gas station, less pollution and less congestion in town, how is this a bad thing?

I'm gonna guess your part of the "lycra brigade", the reason a lot of motorists hate "cyclists", am I right?

Find me a group that doesn't have a few arseholes you don't like in it. This includes Motorists, Police, Motorcyclists, Cyclists, Politicians, Your neighbours and probably even a few people you have work with every day..

[Scuba_Steve]

But you still get covered by ACC when you're riding it, even though you don't pay any ACC levies for riding it.

Sort of like riding a pushbike really, isn't it.

Sort of covered by the general recreation levy.

But it probably still gets classified as a motorcycle accident by ACC and gets added to the levies that get paid by those that ride on the road.

So by riding your trail bike your screwing us both ways.

Probably time to shut up now, don't you think?

its like using a mountain bike (off road), NOT a "lycra brigade" bike. Mountain bikes & motocross bikes are recreational vehicles, but if my road motorbikes are not recreational & I am expected to pay excessive fees for them why then should your "lycra brigade" bikes not be expected to do the same?

Your "its a recreational vehicle" argument doesn't work, "lycra brigade" bikes are as "recreational" as any road motorbike out there and almost anyone with a motorbike would tell you the same, we choose motorbikes because we love them.

[MarkH]

We have quite a few dedicated lanes. One is painted green and found in urban areas. Those bus driving cnuts use it from time to time though. And the other is found right between two lines of cars on your average trip through Auckland.

The green one isn't quite a dedicated motorcycle lane - they let both buses & bicycles use it too. But I'm quite happy with the lanes available - I think we have more lanes to choose from than any one else! Sure sometimes the buses share our green lanes and there is another lane I sometimes use that pedestrians also sometimes use, but we can easily use the normal lanes because we can keep pace with the rest of the traffic and the ancillary lanes (lane 1a and 2a) between the other lanes are pretty darned useful in heavy traffic - they are a big reason why motorcycling beats everything else in Auckland!

An elder(ish) cyclist cut right across my path today in a 70 kay zone. He just stuck his arm out & went for it without even looking & i'm the one paying big ACC.

My arse is still puckered up !

Get a Stebel air horn - then the bicyclist can have a puckered up arse too! (I think people's first though is a big SUV when they hear the Stebel)

Income tax? What about non-earners? or GST again?

Non-earners are not paying for anything else, why would ACC be any different?

I wonder what the figures actually work out at - if half a percent on either GST or Income tax would cover it than I'd be fine either way. I just think that ACC costs should be covered by everyone - or close to everyone. I don't think people that ride motorcycles should be singled out, there are too many other groups that just wont ever be fairly charged. Even if there was a $20 ACC levy on power tools there would be home handymen that would by 2nd hand and avoid paying that. Are we going to see a levy on every piece of sporting equipment? I just don't see how user pays would be possible, so it irks me that the motorcyclists get stung for hundreds and others will never have to pay any extra for their risky pastimes.

Bring back 'no fault' ACC!

I say - take the levy of vehicle rego and put it on PAYE/GST/whatever! Let everyone pay a little instead of motorcyclists paying a lot.

[The Stranger:Me]

Go back to sleep, Noel.

Hmm, such arrogance. You're not a cyclist per chance are you?
That's the shit that gets them killed - thinking their shit don't stink, that they own the road, the road rules don't apply to them and that they're always right.
Dead right.