how do they know all this data, from memory when the census asked about motor vehicles, they said to exclude motorcycles?
I knew it all along. According to the New Zealand Motorcycling Safety Consultants it is all the governments fault - https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/southland/motorcycle-club-head-objects-police-ministers-call. Nothing to do with rider responsibility at all, what was I thinking.
At least the AA are going to save us.
Clive Matthew Wilson was briefly on RNZ this morning saying that voluntary training courses only cater for those who are already safety conscious, he was suggesting fitness / reflexes / hand-eye coordination tests instead for older riders along the lines of the compulsory medical requirements for elderly drivers.
I think I would probably fail on all counts .
Moe: Well, I'm better than dirt. Well, most kinds of dirt. I mean not that fancy store bought dirt. That stuffs loaded with nutrients. I...I can't compete with that stuff.- The Simpsons
"Every other Western country makes anti-locks on motorcycles compulsory - they've done it for years - and yet governments have, for years, ignored that and a few other things to do with motorcycle safety, and motorcyclists have kept on dying.''
What? is ABS compulsory in Aussie? then how did I get around on a VTR250? Or is it on new imported?
Anyway, what a load of rubbish
Since I was already of the opinion that Mr Wilson was an idiot that comment changes nothing. Motorcyclists do the same elderly tests as car drivers. I know this, because last week my mail included an invite to participate.
European Community regulations were going to make ABS compulsory on all new models homologated after January 1 2016. Other countries are in the process of introducing their own regulations. "They've done it for years" is stretching it.
Bluewing used to import bikes without ABS to 'maintain their margins' IIRC. Hopefully it won't be worth the manufacturers shagging about for a tiny market like ours, and almost everything will come with ABS sooner rather than later.
Typically the regulations have exclusions, such as dirt bikes, what our bureaucrats will come up with is anybody's guess.
There is a grey blur, and a green blur. I try to stay on the grey one. - Joey Dunlop
Moe: Well, I'm better than dirt. Well, most kinds of dirt. I mean not that fancy store bought dirt. That stuffs loaded with nutrients. I...I can't compete with that stuff.- The Simpsons
Oh crap .. there were other group rides on that weekend - and nothing happened there ... we do not know if these riders were part of a group ride at the time - or whether they were coming from or going to a group ride ..
I was lead rider in a group a week ago - 62 bikes - had NO incidents at all - count them - NO INCIDENTS ..
There are group rides every weekend - and nothing happens at most of those ..
"So if you meet me, have some sympathy, have some courtesy, have some taste ..."
Given that our allotted span is three score years and ten, mid life is 35.
Mr Wilson can shove any extra tests.
I became aware of a "returning rider" having just bought a new bike, bigger than anything he'd had back in the day, but not particularly powerful, a metric cruiser. I offered his wife, who I worked with, use of any of the small library of "how to ride" manuals I have here but she declined."He'll figure it out".
A couple of weeks later I asked how the biking was going and received the reply that the bike was away for repairs having crashed.
"What happened?"
"A dog ran out."
The books may or may not have helped, but Mt Wilson's tests would have been irrelevant unless there are tests for overconfidence and lack of knowledge.
There is a grey blur, and a green blur. I try to stay on the grey one. - Joey Dunlop
Yeah, makes you wonder where they get people from to comment for pieces like this.
I think the AA thing is an example of not understanding the world they are reporting on, or trying to report to others who are not familiar with the area of interest. What has happened is the AA has become one of the providers of the R4E programme. There is nothing new in what is being offered, but ACC are trying to step up availability, especially to regions not as well catered for to date. Ironically because the AA do not have a motorcycle training side to their business per se, they are subcontracting delivery to motorcycle instructors. I guess AA is a brand most New Zealanders are familiar with. Few outside of motorcycling will have heard of R4E, this way a connection is made using familiar names or things?
Life is not measured by how many breaths you take, but how many times you have your breath taken away
It rings like a festering pile of propaganda, the table doesn't even refer to bike size. It's so obviously spun to present a presupposed argument against "born again" bikers it deserves zero credibility
And as it's exactly this sort of political spin that creates most "anecdotal evidence" that source is also about as credible as your aunt's knitting circle.
Go soothingly on the grease mud, as there lurks the skid demon
The fact is ... that members of Kiwibiker are not immune from a motorcycle accident ... and being in one is likely on any ride I'm pretty sure most will know of one member (not necessarily personally) killed in a motorcycle accident. For some ... why they ride is to push the boundary's of danger and exhilaration to their own limits ... and further. Those that ride this way and live to talk of it ... tend to put it all down to THEIR skill / ability ... and not luck. In too many cases it is simply luck they owe their survival to.
We ALL need to start looking at the way WE (ourselves) ride ... and not point the finger at any one (or more) groups / types of riders. Even at the posted speed limit and us riding to the conditions ... some OTHER other road users may not be. Being "In the right" with "Right of way" will not always save you from grief. We ALL need to be more aware of OTHER road users ... even if the risk is low and you feel safe in how you are riding.
Most road accidents are caused by multiple factors ... not usually by just by one. Count the factors that might go against you as you ride ... and ask yourself just how many more is needed to be killed in an accident. The simple scary answer is usually ... just ONE more is needed. So perhaps ... wherever and whenever (and however) we ride ... we just look harder for the factor that might just kill us. The life you save might just be your own.
When life throws you a curve ... Lean into it ...
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