Motorbikes more dangerous, campaigner warns

**yungatart** · 7th July 2006, 15:12

Originally Posted by Wolf

I don't even want to think of the use Jim2 would have for tissues...

Ummm.. blowing his nose?
Enjoy your lemon and honey drink SJ, I promise to be good now

**aiki** · 7th July 2006, 21:16

They need high stats of injury to maintain the excuse to keep rego higher than cars.
Scooters are very dangerous, most riders of 50cc don't consider proper gear, when they use their face as a break at 50km maybe they might start thinking fullface.
The dumb tits in parliment allow 50cc scooters to go around without WOF, what the!!!! You need a WOF for a trailer for cryin out load.
Scooter riders usually tear thru the traffic with no real idea of how dangerous their small wheels are on slippery roads, nor do the new breed have enuf experience to think defensivly{sp}.
The more mature riders main problem is to avoid the dumb fuck drivers from running us off the road.
Keep your wits about you, wear some decent gear and please if you are on those little scooters just slow down and remember you are a tiny fish in a big pond of sharks waiting to eat you

I used to have a larger scooter and it is the only bike I've had where I had a big wipeout, fullface protection luckily as my head was 1st to make contact. So I'm not against them, just the way some fools ride them.

**Lou Girardin** · 8th July 2006, 10:08

Originally Posted by aiki

Scooters are very dangerous, most riders of 50cc don't consider proper gear, when they use their face as a break at 50km maybe they might start thinking fullface.
The dumb tits in parliment allow 50cc scooters to go around without WOF, .

Scooters are safer than bikes.
Only mopeds don't need a WOF. That's less than 2.4KW. They're not much quicker than a bicycle.

**Rashika** · 8th July 2006, 10:14

Originally Posted by Lou Girardin

Scooters are safer than bikes.
Only mopeds don't need a WOF. That's less than 2.4KW. They're not much quicker than a bicycle.

most scooters scare the bejessaz outa me.... those tiny wee wheels, and having no real control using your body i.e. your legs to grip the bike....blah, would happily have a throw-ya-leg-over motorbike anyday.
My sis had a niftyfifty for awhile, but gave it up cos she felt so insecure on it after a couple of lowsides for no real reason, and got my old GN instead.

**Lou Girardin** · 8th July 2006, 10:36

Yeah, but fewer people kill themselves on them. Could it be that the perceived risk theory has something to it.
Maybe they should ban protective gear.

**Rashika** · 8th July 2006, 10:42

Originally Posted by Lou Girardin

Yeah, but fewer people kill themselves on them. Could it be that the perceived risk theory has something to it.
Maybe they should ban protective gear.

I suspect it may be more to do with the lack of warp factor 10 available to scooters....

less likely to kill yourself at 50kms, altho just as likely to be run down by a car

**oldrider** · 8th July 2006, 15:58

Originally Posted by Str8 Jacket

I was reading through Stuff this morning and came across this article:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3722442a11,00.html

IN FULL:
The recent rise in motorbike sales would inevitably mean a big increase in road deaths and injuries, a car magazine editor and road safety campaigner said yesterday.

Clive Matthew-Wilson, editor of car buyers publication the Dog and Lemon Guide, said Land Transport New Zealand (LTNZ) figures showed motorcyclists were 40 times as likely to be killed or injured than a person driving a car.

Motorbike registrations rose for the 27th consecutive month in June when 758 bikes were sold, according to LTNZ figures.

There was a 45 per cent increase in motorbike sales since January, compared to last year, the figures showed.

"High fuel prices mean there's a natural temptation to switch to two wheels but people really need to realise the risks they are taking when they ride a motorbike," Matthew-Wilson said.

"In Britain, motorcyclists represent 1 per cent of traffic but 20 per cent of deaths and serious injuries."

LTNZ spokesman Andy Knackstedt agreed and said the risk of injury and death was higher for a motorcyclist than a car driver.

AdvertisementAdvertisement"There's no arguing with that.

"It's basic physics. I mean if you're in a car you have got two tonnes of steel surrounding you, you've got airbags, and you've got seatbelts and everything else.

"If you're on a motorbike, I mean even if you are doing everything right as the motorbike rider, if somebody pulls out in front of you and you are involved in a crash the only thing you've really got protecting you is your helmet."

Matthew-Wilson said many of the people who were switching to motorbikes were young, inexperienced riders with little understanding of the risks they were taking.

He said he was particularly concerned about the "mini chopper" scooters popular with young men.

The height of these scooters meant they were largely invisible when travelling behind many higher vans and 4WD vehicles, Matthew-Wilson said.

He said he thought it should be much harder to get a motorcycle licence than to get a car licence because of the higher risk riding a motorcycle posed.

"The least safe car is still probably 40 times safer than the safest motorbike.

"You can't simply allow young people to hop on to motorcycles after a couple of days training because the consequences are likely to be tragic."

Mr Knackstedt said it took about 18 months for someone to get a full motorcycle licence.

"You do have to sit a skills course and pass a practical test."

But he said LTNZ also encouraged people to do more than the minimum that was legally required.

"We encourage people to do safe riding courses, because the more you can do to protect yourself the better."

Mr Knackstedt added that motorcyclists were not allowed to ride a motorbike with a large engine size straight away, but had to progress from a smaller one first.

Matthew-Wilson – a former motorbike enthusiast – said he understood bikes could be "irresistibly enticing" and had a cool image.

But he stopped riding after several major injuries.

However, it was usually car drivers that caused the accidents, not motorcyclists, he said.

This last paragraph kind of surprised me! Im also glad that they mention that Mini Choppers are dangerous... Do you guy's reckon that the figures they include in this article include scooters? If so why do they not list them as mopeds or scooters or are we always going to be grouped in with the scooters?

This crappy article is in today's "Otago Daily Times" are they trying to run an "Anti Bike Campaign" around the country!
What a load of contradictory bullshit. John.

**iluvbikz** · 10th July 2006, 17:30

My last trip down the tar on my back was caused by a car changin lanes on top of me, i have had 5 road accidents, no serious injuries, largely thanks to the skills i developed riding mx and enduro for about 7 yrs b4 i went near the road. But often i walked away due to dumb luck. All my road accidents have been caused by car drivers either failing to give way or changing lanes without looking properly.

**crshbndct** · 10th July 2006, 17:55

Originally Posted by Jim2

You've got to drop it. Anger and fear are two emotions that focus the mind. A bad thing on a motorcycle because when you are really angry you lose peripheral vision and you target fixate on the object you need to kill or run away from. You also stop breathing long enough to affect the way circulation works, a big chunk of your body goes into anerobic respiration as your aerobic capacity gets overwhelmed by your adrenalin fuelled large muscle groups. If the event doesn't get you, the aftermath can because for a time after an event like that you are running at less than optimal.

Fear or anger also should indicate to a motorcyclist that they aren't expending enough energy on situational awareness. Riding, even in town should be a Zen affair. Negative energy is a lot more lethal on a bike.

so to summarise
fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hates leads to the dark side. (buyin a cage instead of a bike)

**James Deuce** · 10th July 2006, 19:54

Originally Posted by crshbndct

so to summarise
fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hates leads to the dark side. (buyin a cage instead of a bike)

Padawan of promise, great, you are

**Zapf** · 10th July 2006, 23:22

Originally Posted by Jim2

Fear or anger also should indicate to a motorcyclist that they aren't expending enough energy on situational awareness. Riding, even in town should be a Zen affair. Negative energy is a lot more lethal on a bike.

Interesting... maybe thats why I wasn't scared jumping out of a plane earlier this year either...

**Insanity_rules** · 11th July 2006, 07:04

Originally Posted by Str8 Jacket

Yep, I know what you are saying Jim... I usually ride with a clear head and enjoy it however this morning I was riding along quite happily when a 4WD's front wheel almost hit my front wheel, I had braked but before I knew it they were just about to run me over so I had to go for the footpath where I came to a standstill and he just drove off. Less than 100 metres up the same road another 4WD tried doing the same thing but they were ahead of me so I blasted my horn and flashed my lights onto full and they went back to there lane... So I was more than a little angry/shook up when I got to work and then I read this article....

Jeez Hels sorry to hear about your near misses. Yeah I get pretty mad too when you see these supposedly educated people mouthing off about motorcycle safety. I'd only really respect an opinion and data from a fellow biker rather than these fear mongers who wouldn't know motorcycle safety if it arrived in a taxi, waltzed up to them wearing a pink tutu, slapped them in the face and said "Hi! I'm motorcycle saftey".