Death toll on the roads is virtually identical to 2019

[Bonez]

Did somebody just fart in this thread as it stinks to high heaven?

Whoever it was obviously hasn't ridden in the last 6 months.

The prime candidate to run the Sheep Vehicle Awareness Program by the smell of it.

Just saying....

[FJRider]

The sheep need vehicle awareness training though I noticed. Any takers?

No. Most motorcyclists need training on how to behave with stock on the road ... and how stock will will react in certain circumstances.

And ... how NOT to react themselves when seeing stock on or beside the road.

Sheep generally attempt to get back to the Paddock they got out of. If that means crossing the road to do so ... they will give it a go. Sheep react to loud noises ... and run to safety. Again ... if that means crossing the road ... they will usually wait until the loud noise is really close before running.

Farmers do not usually put two or three sheep in empty paddocks. So ... if you see a few sheep on the road edge ... look for similar sheep in the roadside paddocks. That's probably (maybe) where they will try to go.

A few things that you should remember as you approach sheep you see on the road verge ...

1. They run from loud noises ... so stop/reduce the loud noises. Clutch in and coast for a bit if you're close. If you have time ... slow down and idle through. This gives all of ewe's (excuse the pun) time to sort yourselves out to where ewe's want to be. In such cases ... Loud pipes wont save your life. They may kill you.

2. Ewe's with lambs nearby ... will run to their lambs if spooked. If you see lambs on the road ... look for where their mothers are. They are bigger and will do more damage to you.

3. You may often see signs on the side of the road ... various sizes and colours with STOCK / CATTLE (or similar) on them. Nothing else. Take the warning ... as these signs are a warning. Look for gateways left open for them to go into ... or ones that they havge come out of. Well trampled grass and sheep shit all over the place is obviously where they have been. Follow the trail along the road carefully. Be aware of the difference between sheep shit and bullshit. Many stock owners often forget to collect the signs after a stock move. Not really supposed to ... but they do. If you hit stock with the signs out (and you ignore them)... your problem.

Sometimes they just have a person (often a kid on a four-wheeler bike) waving you to slow down. Take the warning.

4. Revving the shit of your engines to speed up mobs of stock is not recommended. Most farm workers will just call the cops ... and will probably be in the same rugby team as the local cop. So if you do ... expect to be stopped down the road. Sometimes ... WAY down the road.

5. The owner of stock on the road is legally responsible for damage their stock cause to vehicles. Ignore the warnings ... and this will not be the case. And you might beheld accountable for damage to stock.

Remember ... the smell of sheep and cow shit on a hot exhaust lingers for quite some time. As does the stock internal body bits that can escape confinement if you hit one. In my various travels ... I would have seen about 30 motorcycles that were written off/ destroyed after hitting stock on the road. At least double that damaged. A few riders killed. It seems funny when you see or hear about it happening ... To somebody else.

All this is seldom covered in any motorcycle road safety / awareness courses. But SHOULD be.

[eldog]

Fuck me old boot! (Old rural expression.) It's almost as if there are people in this country who have not yet realised there is a pandemic. There are border controls. Currently the tourist vans are driven by Kiwis.

SMH

Got to wonder just who is a “kiwi”

and how do they rate versus other drivers from around the world


I ask this because I have seen a lot of very ‘recent’ kiwis on the road.
the older ones are better.
i work with one recently arrived kiwi, even they are shocked by the crap driving of their compatriots.
kiwis in general are better but the single mindedness often rules them out of thinking of others when on the road.

saw a classic kiwi driver the other day emerge from a single lane stop go roadworks, managed to accelerate along a very straight bit of road then off the road edge, luckily back on, narrowly missing a ditch. The lanes all marked with edges etc how did that happen.....straight bit of road 600m or so, going off road after the first 200m

It seems to come down to attitude, there those who know everything, those who think they know, those who don’t give a dam, those who only drive because they have to, those who thoath driving but because of circumstances use it as a means of travel.

there also those poor unfortunates who are in the wrong place at the wrong time, even though they are in legally the correct place etc.

[eldog]

No. Most motorcyclists need training on how to behave with stock on the road ... and how stock will will react in certain circumstances.

And ... how NOT to react themselves when seeing stock on or beside the road.

Sheep generally attempt to get back to the Paddock they got out of. If that means crossing the road to do so ... they will give it a go. Sheep react to loud noises ... and run to safety. Again ... if that means crossing the road ... they will usually wait until the loud noise is really close before running.

Farmers do not usually put two or three sheep in empty paddocks. So ... if you see a few sheep on the road edge ... look for similar sheep in the roadside paddocks. That's probably (maybe) where they will try to go.

A few things that you should remember as you approach sheep you see on the road verge ...

1. They run from loud noises ... so stop/reduce the loud noises. Clutch in and coast for a bit if you're close. If you have time ... slow down and idle through. This gives all of ewe's (excuse the pun) time to sort yourselves out to where ewe's want to be. In such cases ... Loud pipes wont save your life. They may kill you.

2. Ewe's with lambs nearby ... will run to their lambs if spooked. If you see lambs on the road ... look for where their mothers are. They are bigger and will do more damage to you.

3. You may often see signs on the side of the road ... various sizes and colours with STOCK / CATTLE (or similar) on them. Nothing else. Take the warning ... as these signs are a warning. Look for gateways left open for them to go into ... or ones that they havge come out of. Well trampled grass and sheep shit all over the place is obviously where they have been. Follow the trail along the road carefully. Be aware of the difference between sheep shit and bullshit. Many stock owners often forget to collect the signs after a stock move. Not really supposed to ... but they do. If you hit stock with the signs out (and you ignore them)... your problem.

Sometimes they just have a person (often a kid on a four-wheeler bike) waving you to slow down. Take the warning.

4. Revving the shit of your engines to speed up mobs of stock is not recommended. Most farm workers will just call the cops ... and will probably be in the same rugby team as the local cop. So if you do ... expect to be stopped down the road. Sometimes ... WAY down the road.

5. The owner of stock on the road is legally responsible for damage their stock cause to vehicles. Ignore the warnings ... and this will not be the case. And you might beheld accountable for damage to stock.

Remember ... the smell of sheep and cow shit on a hot exhaust lingers for quite some time. As does the stock internal body bits that can escape confinement if you hit one. In my various travels ... I would have seen about 30 motorcycles that were written off/ destroyed after hitting stock on the road. At least double that damaged. A few riders killed. It seems funny when you see or hear about it happening ... To somebody else.

All this is seldom covered in any motorcycle road safety / awareness courses. But SHOULD be.

true, the sheep can jump out of ditches and directly into your path even though you thought you had passed them, no matter how slowly and carefully.
ducks can run back into you, the old crash bars on the front work wonders
15 young bulls out picnicking on the roadside can be intimidating as they pass by you, time and patience generally are the best when there is no other option.

[eldog]

This echoes my time on the roads over recent weeks. Of course it's only those that exhibit dork-like behaviour that you remember...

That will be the usual suspects from sheepieville aka Dorkland.
So many ‘had to get out’ over the Xmas break, me I enjoyed piece and quiet working from home, with the odd ride to Taupo thrown in for something to Do as a rewardo.

the traffic was quite good.

however the Intercity bus at 90 kph with cruise control on, was constantly braking the brake lights on, off, on, off for at least 15 minutes. There where a few frustrated people who passed this annoying hazard, rather briskly. No risk, was really painful seeing the brakes coming on every 5 seconds.

[Bonez]

Got to wonder just who is a “kiwi”

and how do they rate versus other drivers from around the world


I ask this because I have seen a lot of very ‘recent’ kiwis on the road.
the older ones are better.
i work with one recently arrived kiwi, even they are shocked by the crap driving of their compatriots.
kiwis in general are better but the single mindedness often rules them out of thinking of others when on the road.

saw a classic kiwi driver the other day emerge from a single lane stop go roadworks, managed to accelerate along a very straight bit of road then off the road edge, luckily back on, narrowly missing a ditch. The lanes all marked with edges etc how did that happen.....straight bit of road 600m or so, going off road after the first 200m

It seems to come down to attitude, there those who know everything, those who think they know, those who don’t give a dam, those who only drive because they have to, those who thoath driving but because of circumstances use it as a means of travel.

there also those poor unfortunates who are in the wrong place at the wrong time, even though they are in legally the correct place etc.

Spot on falla

[Scuba_Steve]

Interesting. I've worked on bikes for some years, though not at the moment. A day of riding a bike is more fatiguing than a day of driving a car, IMHO.

Back to the topic, when we stop looking at the number of deaths as being someone else's problem, we can start to do thgings to reduce the problem.

As long as we continue to blame roads, drivers, government, councils, NZTA, ACC, Police, not much will change.

I would argue tho that while I agree the individual needs to change, it does start with the Govt.
They're the ones allowing sub par drivers on the road thus thinking they're good enough to drive
They're the ones running NZ's biggest extortion racket with the speed scam while ignoring all other driving issues making people think they're driving alright
They're the ones telling people the only bad driving is "speeding" & drink driving
If people aren't told they're doing shit wrong, they ain't gonna change what they're doing
Govt needs to shift focus to 'impeding flow of traffic', 'failing to keep left', 'failing to indicate', 'failing to give way', shit that actually matters!

[release_the_bees]

You're not wrong there. If I was a cop, and given free rein, the amount of people I'd ticket for tailgating would be off the charts.

Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk

[Bonez]

You're not wrong there. If I was a cop, and given free rein, the amount of people I'd ticket for tailgating would be unreal.

Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk

Yip only one car length on the open road. It's just stuuuupid. I back wayyyyy off in those situations until there is plenty of room to pass, even if it is on double yellow lines. As long as I can see far enough ahead. Get away from the fuckers as soon as you can.

[F5 Dave]

I would argue tho that while I agree the individual needs to change, it does start with the Govt.
They're the ones allowing sub par drivers on the road thus thinking they're good enough to drive
They're the ones running NZ's biggest extortion racket with the speed scam while ignoring all other driving issues making people think they're driving alright
They're the ones telling people the only bad driving is "speeding" & drink driving
If people aren't told they're doing shit wrong, they ain't gonna change what they're doing
Govt needs to shift focus to 'impeding flow of traffic', 'failing to keep left', 'failing to indicate', 'failing to give way', shit that actually matters!

Golly. I'm going to agree with SS here. The If people aren't told etc bit is bang on.

[Bonez]

Golly. I'm going to agree with SS here. The If people aren't told etc bit is bang on.

They ARE told-TV, Radio, notice boards, traffic signs/lights, /reflective markers, internet pages, KB knitting circle etc etc etc,

Jusy saying...

[FJRider]

They ARE told-TV, Radio, notice boards, traffic signs/lights, /reflective markers, internet pages, KB knitting circle etc etc etc,

Jusy saying...

The good news is ... speed is easy to monitor and Police. The other issues ... not so much. You (ok .. THEY) have to see it for themselves. And for the most part ... THEY'RE NOT ... !!!

[jellywrestler]

The good news is ... speed is easy to monitor and Police. The other issues ... not so much. You (ok .. THEY) have to see it for themselves. And for the most part ... THEY'RE NOT ... !!!

they're easy too, fit cameras in the cop cars, the evidence is recorded, the cop doesn't have to sit in court waiting, it's not he said she said....

[nerrrd]

And then you get the gentleman yesterday who couldn't pull into the carpark next to the one with my bike in it without almost hitting the bike. Twice. I ended up standing next to one of my panniers to make sure he knew how close he was getting, almost knocked on his window at one point (politely of course), that's how close he was.

This was in standard row of parallel supermarket car parks. And given the bike was only taking up half the normal width of a car, he had way more room than usual. Middle aged guy, no L plates.

Not adding to the road toll obviously, but displaying a very ordinary level of spatial awareness.

[Navy Boy]

I would argue tho that while I agree the individual needs to change, it does start with the Govt.
They're the ones allowing sub par drivers on the road thus thinking they're good enough to drive
They're the ones running NZ's biggest extortion racket with the speed scam while ignoring all other driving issues making people think they're driving alright
They're the ones telling people the only bad driving is "speeding" & drink driving
If people aren't told they're doing shit wrong, they ain't gonna change what they're doing
Govt needs to shift focus to 'impeding flow of traffic', 'failing to keep left', 'failing to indicate', 'failing to give way', shit that actually matters!

Well said that man - And there in lies the rub. It's standard human behaviour that if you do something whilst driving and then get away with it without anything bad happening (Or at least nothing you noticed at any rate) then cognitive function is such that you'll be more likely to do it again. We're all susceptible to this whether we realise it or not.

On a positive note that's why I always try to wave thanks to vehicle drivers when they pull over or make things easier for me. People remember that and are more likely to do it again as they see you as a person rather than just another loon on 2 wheels.

Except if I'm riding a Harley of course - Then I don't wave at anything or anyone 'cos that'd be so uncool...