The AA

[Voltaire]

AA Directions arrived in the post for my Son as I cancelled mine some time back with a rant about their anti motorcycle stance.

I had a quick flick thru it and was surprised to see a full page ad from ACC promoting the Ride Forever courses.

My Son did the bronze course last week in Rotorua and was very positive about it and booked for the next one, at $20 for a full day its good value.

Apparently they are worth $250.

I feel less bad about paying $500 a year for my 35 year old BMW.

Even more surprising was a three page spread on getting your learners for older riders.

AA are now in the Motorcycle Training business ( no cynical comments please )

Goes on to say how the Driving School GM is a motorcycle rider and that the AA do care about us

There is a blurb on ATGATT shared with an add for a Retirement Village , so if your reading this Cassina all your bases are covered.

I also renewed my AA membership as they probably need to recoup the $700 for transporting my bike from Timaru to Auckland.

Cover page has article on the 100 people killed in cars not wearing seatbelts, or 42% of the total.

30% of drivers killed in crashes between 2004 and 2009 had some form of impairing substance in their blood.

Makes you think about who you are sharing the road with.

[Swoop]

Cover page has article on the 100 people killed in cars not wearing seatbelts, or 42% of the total.

So if police targeted seat-belt wearing and red-light runners instead of speed, they would be happily seeing a decrease in the road toll.
No surprises there.

[Jeeper]

Red light runners can be captured through cameras. And they should be. I detest them.

Catching people not wearing seatbelts is a bit more difficult. Education only works for people who want to learn.

Sent from my F8331 using Tapatalk

[FJRider]

So if police targeted seat-belt wearing and red-light runners instead of speed, they would be happily seeing a decrease in the road toll.
No surprises there.

Speed just gets you to the scene of your accident quicker ...

Obviously ... it didn't work out well for the 54% that were wearing their safety belts ...

[YellowDog]

Cover page has article on the 100 people killed in cars not wearing seatbelts, or 42% of the total.

Motorcyclists don't have to wear a seatbelt

But joking aside, I have also noticed a turnaround in the AAs's bad attitude

[rastuscat]

So if police targeted seat-belt wearing and red-light runners instead of speed, they would be happily seeing a decrease in the road toll.
No surprises there.

Do I really have to re-state the facts? Seatbelts, speed and drink/drive have been joint priorities since 1993.

[pritch]

I got a questionnaire from the AA, and having some spare time, I filled it in. In the notes at the bottom I made some comments about how motorcyclists were not the enemy and that a lot of members owned motorcycles. I'm not so sanguine as to believe I made any difference, they never acknowledged the comments.

On another occasion a local AA official made disparaging comments about motorcyclists in the press, I sent an email to the effect that he should stick to what he knew, whatever that was.

That copy of the magazine is here, having read this thread I might take it out of its bag.

[jim.cox]

Many many moons ago I used to belong to the AA.

Then I realised they were selling their address list, and therefore me, to spammers, junk mailers and other rubbish.

These days they are just more open about being a marketeer.

And I do disagree with a whole pile of what they say in the media.

Guess I'm just a biker - not an Automobilist

[swbarnett]

Do I really have to re-state the facts? Seatbelts, speed and drink/drive have been joint priorities since 1993.

The problem is that, although I'm sure the above is true, it doesn't look that way to publicly. When did you last see a seat-belt or drink-drive camera?

[GazzaH]

The problem is that, although I'm sure the above is true, it doesn't look that way to publicly. When did you last see a seat-belt or drink-drive camera?

I'm watching the footage from several, right now: it's one of the many ride-with-the-police/bodycam documentaries. No seatbelt, on the phone, erratic driving and other things are good reasons for them to pull someone over for a little chat.

[swbarnett]

I'm watching the footage from several, right now: it's one of the many ride-with-the-police/bodycam documentaries. No seatbelt, on the phone, erratic driving and other things are good reasons for them to pull someone over for a little chat.

Fair point. Still requires an officer to be present though. As far as I know speed (and perhaps red-light running) is the only offence that you can be ticketed for by solely electronic means. I honestly don't believe the same effort has been put into finding a ubiquitous way to spot the non-wearing of a seat-belt or a driver under the influence.

Personally I couldn't care less if someone doesn't wear a seat-belt. Their body, their choice. Driving under the influence on the other hand is a danger to all.

[GazzaH]

Given the way CCTV cameras are spreading and image analysis is improving, it may well be possible to automate checks for all sort of infringements, soon if not already.

Imagine the wealth of data available from driverless cars for example. How long before we all have little black box recorders?

From there, the Thought Police are just around the corner.

[Swoop]

Do I really have to re-state the facts? Seatbelts, speed and drink/drive have been joint priorities since 1993.

It appears that the statistics suggest otherwise. Catching people is the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff. Getting the public to belt up would not only save lives but it would also "meet KPI" targets of reducing the road toll.
Talking to the converted, I know eh Rastus!


We get propaganda on the drink-drive culture, but very little about seatbelts. Perhaps the Scottish Restaurant needs to re-release their "make it click" campaign.

[rastuscat]

The problem is that, although I'm sure the above is true, it doesn't look that way to publicly. When did you last see a seat-belt or drink-drive camera?

Booze Buses don't target speed.

Motorbike cops write mainly traffic light, cellphone and seatbelt tickets.

When I started as a baby traffic cop on a bike seatbelts were our bread and butter. When I left 27 years later seatbelts were still bread and butter offences.

If any of you know the system, bikes are best at D, F and M series offences.

[rastuscat]

Booze Buses don't target speed.

Motorbike cops write mainly traffic light, cellphone and seatbelt tickets.

When I started as a baby traffic cop on a bike seatbelts were our bread and butter. When I left 27 years later seatbelts were still bread and butter offences.

If any of you know the system, bikes are best at D, F and M series offences.

Certainly it's the perception that is the problem.