Why do we need the LTSA?

[kerryg]

And what the fuck is the LTSA's job - surely they have policy analysts (every other Govt Dept does - god knows what they actually do though...).

If the LTSA know that a law/regulation is a farce they should be lobbying or advising Govt to make the appropriate change for fucks sake.

What a cop out.

They are bloody quick to jump on the ACC bandwagon in recommending higher levies for our vehicle registration.....bastards

I guess this topic won't be new....but can someone explain to me why I have to an ACC levy on each of the bikes I own? There's only one of me (thank god for that) so I can only ride one at once.......so why do I need an ACC " insurance policy" for each bike? It's me that's covered by ACC isn't it, not the bike??????

[pete376403]

The obvious answer is... they get more money that way.

[vifferman]

I guess this topic won't be new....but can someone explain to me why I have to an ACC levy on each of the bikes I own?

That's a friggin good point, Kerry! I've never actually thought about that. Maybe I should see about a partial refund on my three cars...
It just shows you that the "user pays" line is bullshit.

[kerryg]

The obvious answer is... they get more money that way.

Yeah I guess that's what it comes down to. It is an injustice though. Way I understand it is we pay a levy to the ACC so that they'll look after us (that too might be another discussion...but I digress) if we have an injury. They don't pay to fix the bike. They pay to fix the rider. So...no matter if you've got 1 bike or more, it's you (the rider) that ACC covers. I figure seeing as I've got several bikes I'll be entitled to more ACC money than someone with 1 bike....do ya think?

Her's a thought: if you're riding on an unregistered bike (eg off road) and you have an accident I guess you're not covered by ACC then??? Yeah right

[kerryg]

That's a friggin good point, Kerry! I've never actually thought about that. Maybe I should see about a partial refund on my three cars...
It just shows you that the "user pays" line is bullshit.

Yes. CORRECT. I've thought it through now. As ACC covers you even if you're on an unregistered bike, (or for that matter if you trip over on the son's skateboard at home) it really means that ACC levies on bikers are a very weird and distorted form of tax. At least with income tax you only pay a lot if you earn a lot , or with GST or tax on petrol or excise tax on booze or cigarettes it's based on consumption (e.g. burn a lot of petrol or smoke a lot of cigarettes, pay a lot of tax). On the other hand ACC levies on motorcycles are completely arbitrary. Are we more likely to have an ACC claim if we have more than 1 bike? (Not unless we ride more than 1 at a time!) A lot of guys I know have got a few bikes, so this is not an unusual situation. And it definitely doesn't mean you're rich if you've got a couple or few bikes so you can't justify it based on some ("from each according to his means and to each according to his needs") Marxist/Michael Cullen type of reasoning......

[Firefight]

Can somebody please explain to me why we need the LTSA?

Come on Mike, If we did not have LTSA, who would people like ACC go sniveling too everytime someone bought a shitty H8 plate !! H8ACC, yep I do.

F/F

[What?]

I guess this topic won't be new....but can someone explain to me why I have to an ACC levy on each of the bikes I own? There's only one of me (thank god for that) so I can only ride one at once.......so why do I need an ACC " insurance policy" for each bike? It's me that's covered by ACC isn't it, not the bike??????

That was one of the gripes I put in a letter to ACC earlier this week. After the H8ACC plate story on the poison dwarf show, I wrote in objecting to ACC's full page newspaper ad comparing NZ to USA. I pointed out that their ad, whilst telling the truth and nothing but the truth, was an awful long way from the whole truth.
H8ACC? Oh yes.

[James Deuce]

Why do we need the LTSA. The short answer is "we" don't.

The correct answer is the Government does. As one of the most heavily taxed populaces on the planet it wouldn't do to inflame us by giving us a flat tax rate of around 60%, so we have lots of quangos and other organisations with the right to collect revenue. By hiding it in a multiplicity of organisational structures people can be fooled into thinking that the maximum tax rate is 39%.

We have excise duty, GST, income tax, local government tax (rates), petrol tax, ACC levies, school "fees", and so on. To add insult to injury, if you want access to speedy reliable medical care you need health insurance. We also need to factor in insurances for every aspect of "living" and the highest "Official Cash Rate" (http://xtramsn.co.nz/business/0,,5011-3419394,00.html) in the developed world (whatever the hell a "developed world" is. I think it has something to do with dominant capitalist and technological factors). This has the effect of making our mortgages cost more with a knock on effect of making sure that rents are high, disposable income is low, and borrowing is kept up to maintain a churn in the local economy that wouldn't be there otherwise.

The first political party to introduce a 60% tax rate with all the baggage dropped gets my vote.

The one that drops the tax rate to 15% and says pay for your own medical care and schooling for your kids would get a look in too.

Oh and Andy Kick-me-in-the-Knackers-Instead of bothering the Government directly is a monumental dick. I'm sick of his anti population mobility rants, and I'd like to see him either pedal me (a fat IT tech) up the Maungaraki hill on a tandem, or drive a bus that gets me to work in less than an hour! I'm 13kms from work and it takes me an hour to get there by public transport, 15 minutes on the bike, 25 in the car, and public transport would cost me $16 a day. Screw the greenies and the anti personal vehicle brigade. Build more bypasses!! MOre motorways. Everyone go out and by 4 cars and 6 motorcycles and refuse to register or warrant them. I WANT MY BLUE PILLS.

[FROSTY:Me]

You guys have NO idea how stupid the guys at LTSA can be. We are pretty lucky there are some motorcyclists involved in compliance of bikes -some of the ideas for bike safety the LTSA guys had were apsolutely macarbre

[Lou Girardin]

Careful Lou, you might stick that tongue right through your cheek!
Funny thing is, I've yet to meet a cop who thinks anything of the LTSA - general concensus seems to be that they are a bunch of mindless jerks who should be first against the wall when the revolution comes...

You got me there what. It's my stirrer gene getting active again.
I only know of one ex-cop in the lTSA and another one is now running immigration.