Call for motorcyclists to stop 'lane splitting' overtaking after 10 riders die in Jan

[Paulo]

https://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/new...die-in-january

[2fst4u]

That's not anti propaganda. That was a fairly balanced and sound analysis of the manoeuvre, backed up with statistics. Seems fine.

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[EJK]

Must be riding under too much pressure to go home sooner.

[Moi]

That's not anti propaganda. That was a fairly balanced and sound analysis of the manoeuvre, backed up with statistics. Seems fine.

Have to agree. And Clive Double-Barrel actually made sensible comments.

Assistant commissioner for road policing Sandra Venables said half of the motorcycle deaths had been caused by dangerous overtaking, and she urged motorcyclists not to take unnecessary risks. - there's a big difference between lane splitting in a sensible manner and a dangerous overtaking manoeuvre, although both involve an element of risk.

Biggest issue with lane splitting is that NZ drivers can not drive to the left of the road or the left of their lane...

[release_the_bees]

"94,238 dollars paid out in ACC claims in 2017"

Surely there's a couple of zeros missing from that number.

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[Paulo]

"94,238 dollars paid out in ACC claims in 2017"

Surely there's a couple of zeros missing from that number.

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actually I'm surprised by the vast majority of the comment are pro motorcycling.

[Crasherfromwayback]

That's not anti propaganda. That was a fairly balanced and sound analysis of the manoeuvre, backed up with statistics. Seems fine.

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You must've read a diff article than I did then.

[johcar]

"94,238 dollars paid out in ACC claims in 2017"

Surely there's a couple of zeros missing from that number.

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But they neglect to declare how many $$$ were collected from motorcyclists in the form of ACC levies in the rego price...

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[2fst4u]

You must've read a diff article than I did then.

How? There was a spokesperson for the transport agency saying it was safe and several lines from some other geyser saying that splitting in itself wasn't the issue, unsafe overtaking in general was. Seems pretty fair.

[release_the_bees]

But they neglect to declare how many $$$ were collected from motorcyclists in the form of ACC levies in the rego price...

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That's what I was thinking too.

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[Crasherfromwayback]

How? There was a spokesperson for the transport agency saying it was safe and several lines from some other geyser saying that splitting in itself wasn't the issue, unsafe overtaking in general was. Seems pretty fair.

Well here's the headline of the article *Call for motorcyclists to stop 'lane splitting' overtaking after 10 riders die in January *. Care to show me the number of riders killed whilst lane splitting?

[2fst4u]

Well here's the headline of the article *Call for motorcyclists to stop 'lane splitting' overtaking after 10 riders die in January *. Care to show me the number of riders killed whilst lane splitting?

🤷 quite a minor point in the scheme of the whole article I think. Stuff isn't a bastion of good journalism.

[FJRider]

Assistant commissioner for road policing Sandra Venables said half of the motorcycle deaths had been caused by dangerous overtaking, and she urged motorcyclists not to take unnecessary risks.

That has been known for some time ...

there's a big difference between lane splitting in a sensible manner and a dangerous overtaking manoeuvre, although both involve an element of risk.

Lane splitting IS overtaking ...

Biggest issue with lane splitting is that NZ drivers can not drive to the left of the road or the left of their lane...

And Motorcyclists are not allowed to overtake on the left of vehicles in their lane ... and the picture in the article seems to show them doing so.

[FJRider]

But they neglect to declare how many $$$ were collected from motorcyclists in the form of ACC levies in the rego price...

How would that information affect the content and meaning of the article.

Higher ACC levy's than other vehicles give us no excuse to ride dangerously. If we do ... we only prove their point ... as ACC levy's are based on their belief (with good reason) that motorcycling is dangerous.

[release_the_bees]

I spent the last half an hour writing a comment to add to the stuff article, but it looks like the comments closed while I was doing so. I'll paste the comment in here, so that it wasn't a complete waste of time and effort.

-----------------------------

As a motorcyclist, I can see this from both points of view. There's nothing wrong with lane splitting, as long as it is done safely, and in a way where you always have an escape route should it be required.

Personally, I don't usually lane split unless the traffic is going slower than around 20 km/h. On the occasions where I do lane split, I find most car drivers to be courteous, and a lot of them make extra room for me as I pass (I'll give you a wave to say thanks if it is safe to do so). Of course there's always one or two morons who think it's a good idea to intentionally impede my progress, open car doors, change lanes without checking or indicating etc. But, by and large, lane splitting is a simple and pain free experience.

Most motorcyclists also split sensibly. However, a very small minority give the rest of us a bad name. Unfortunately, motorcycling does attract a certain amount of risk takers, but it doesn't mean we're all like that. For every genuinely idiotic motorcyclist that you see on the road, there's dozens of others trying to make their way to their destination as safely as possible.

At the end of the day, it doesn't matter whether you're a car driver, a motorcyclist, or you're driving a truck or a bus, we all have a responsibility to drive/ride safely, give 100% attention to our driving/riding, and do our absolute best to ensure that everybody arrives at their destination safely, and as painlessly as possible. If we all did that, all of the time, the roads would be much safer for everybody.