More restrictions and speed limits coming up. Announcement 13 December

[quickbuck]

Ride safe people!

Article today in Herald about cyclists not wearing helmets.... "They are designed to prevent serious head injuries, but it seems helmets are a turn-off for would-be cyclists worried about messing up their hair."

Isn't that just typical of peoples shallowness and short-sightedness when it comes to safety on the roads!

I saw that!

It is tree hugging gone MAD!!!

They are saying the benifit to the enviroment if more people rode a [push]bike (without a helmet, if that is what it takes to get them on it) will be a bigger benifit to the enviroment than the benifit of a helmet in a crash.

FFS!!!
They already got their way with lukemia causing, tree saving aromatics in unleaded petrol (as opposed to the "nasty" lead).

[davereid]

Actually.. I'm with the tree huggers on this one.

Why ? Motorcycle helmets may actually be useful. At least for gravel rash !

But bike helmets arent.

In NZ a chap called Scuffham was commissioned by the G'ment to show the world how great our compulsory helmet law was. After all, we managed to get almost 100% compliance after the law was passed.

What did he conclude ?

He couldn't find any proof that helmets had stopped a single injury. All he could show was a negative health benefit, as lots of people stopped riding bikes. (Including me!)

In conclusion..

A cost-benefit analysis of the New Zealand helmet law showed that the cost of helmets outweighed the savings in injuries even taking the most optimistic estimate of injuries prevented.

(And excluded consideration of the environmental and health benefits !)

References :
(Trends in cycle injury in New Zealand under voluntary helmet use Scuffham PA, Langley JD. 1997. Accident Analysis and Prevention: 1997 Jan;29(1):1-9)

Head injuries to bicyclists and the New Zealand bicycle helmet law, Scuffham P, Alsop J, Cryer C, Langley JD. 2000. Accident Analysis and Prevention: 2000 Jul;32(4):565-73


Just remember when you support banning something on the grounds of safety that as a motorcyclist you are next !

[Motu]

I'm all for compulsory insurance. ....

You'll love it! I'm not sure about the present time,but a few years ago it was costing my brother in Canada $1600 a year to use a bike 6 mths of the year.User pays....and pays...and pays.

[scumdog]

I have no problems hitting 120-140+ down gravel roads even on a road bike (closed private road of course)

Yeah but you're not normal.

[SwanTiger]

Indeed, my cousin was struck by a 4X4 (proved to be speeding, doing well over 60 kmp/h) in a 50 kmp/h school zone around 3pm in the afternoon (when school had finished) and seriously injured. As far as I'm aware the driver was warned and let off, no charges or fines came about.

It does happen and on a regular basis too.

Trucks are increasingly becomming worse too, as more and more drivers obtain their licences and employers pay little to fuck all; The quality of the driver decreases and we are left with dipshits on the roads in charge of a few tonnes of carnage.

A few weeks ago a large truck pulled out of a side street in front of me, I re-acted in time and avoided the truck, however unfortunately the car hit the curb and due to it being on a hill, dug into the bank, lifted the back up and then flipped over on its side. The driver tried to deny responsibility, first saying I was speeding, then saying I had plenty of room and shouldn't of braked to avoid him. However he was on a stop sign, based on skidmarks I was only doing 40 ish kmp/h (which is correct, as it was a 50 kmp/h zone) and two independant witnesses backed up my story. Was a pretty freak accident anyway.

Then there is the truck who rear-ended my brothers new BMW on the motorway due to the driver not paying attention. Twisted the chassis and wrote the car off.

Or on the way down to Bruces funeral, the truck driver who had apparently fallen asleep and drifted off the road, wiping out 50 meters of fence and a few power poles.

Or the other day, at the Red Beach / Whangaparoa Road lights (which are on a hill), where a genius woman driver forgot to apply her brake and failed to notice she was rolling back down the hill as she txt'd on her mobile! Luckily I could reverse fast enough to get out of her way.

The list goes on.

However I will confess one stupid thing, stuck in a traffic jam, doing a U-Turn I hit someones trailor, no damage. My fault as I wasn't paying attention, was looking for cars, motorcycles and trucks to avoid, not trailors.

As for improved driver training, I am not so sure it would make much of a difference, skills and experience aren't the problem, its attitude.

A friend from germany had to pay $2,000 or $3,000 NZD to obtain her German drivers license. Heaps of one on one training, practical and theory. Her driving is absoloute shite! No smooth control, rough acceleration, panic braking and lack of attention and confidence at intersections. Tail gating, failing to give way, excessive speeds and the list goes on. My cars gear box is fucked because of her driving.

Not to mention the countless times she drove on the wrong side of the road.

I thought "okay, maybe its just her" but I've spoken to a few people who own campervan rental places, they all say the same thing. Can't drive for shit. Although I'm sure there are exceptions

Changes to the age you can get your licence or making it harder to get your licence doesn't work, speeking from experience the majority of people on the road who drive like they shouldn't be on the road either havn't ever had a licence or are disqualy or suspended drivers, its the attitude to speeding that needs to change, people in big 4wds fly down 50 km areas next to school and
then get flashed by people coming the other way warning them that theres a speed camera or cop ahead, yet if that 4wd accidentaly lost control and wiped out a kid the driver would be a monster.
People think speeding is fine until someone dies and then it's ooohhh where were the cops when you needed them, yet 5 minutes before they were flashing other traffic warning of a speed camera , the road toll will change wgen the publics attitude change.

[Lou Girardin]

I haven't heard that the motoring world is about to fall in yet.
Anyone seen a headless chook go by?

[riffer]

Yeah, me neither Lou

Perhaps it's all been overshadowed by the news about Telecom today.

[Ixion]

Yes it all seems (thank goodness) to be a bit of a damp squid.

Info is vague but so far reported are

Roadside drug testing
Demerit points for red light running
Demerit points for not wearing seatbelts (bit difficult for passengers, who may not have a licence ?)
Demerit and fine regimes for speeding offences are "also up for change". whatever that means.
But no speed camera demerits (that will piss off the plod)
and
"There is also consideration being given to changing the graduated license system by increasing the amount of supervised practice learner drivers go through before driving solo. The penalties imposed on drivers who breach the conditions of the graduated system are also being looked at. King says the graduated licensing system is being looked at with the emphasis on changing behaviour."



So, not too bad. The Demerits for speeding offences bit is ominous, and the changes to the GDLS may be a bit of a bugger for some. But it could be worse



Thank God for Harry Duynhoven he's about the only sane fellow in the gubbernmint I reckon

[xwhatsit]

No news about 70kph learner's limit, then? :-|

[Ixion]

Nothing specific. Could be in t he vague waffle about the GDLS. The media reports are very sketchy, i can't find the official release,I suspect the blurdy webmasters are asleep on the job again

[apteryx_haasti]

Story now on Stuff:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3899039a10,00.html

Pretty much what Ixion said. An extract from Stuff:

The details of an expanded demerit point system have not been finalised, but offences that would incur demerit points include running red lights, failing to stop at a stop sign, failing to wear a seatbelt when required, and young drivers breaking any licence restrictions.

The current system disqualifies drivers who earn 100 points within two years, with a driver travelling 11kmh to 20kmh over the limit incurring 20 points.

Under the changes, a motorist with demerit points for speeding could breach the 100-point limit by committing an offence such as running a red light.

Mrs King said the proposals aimed to change driver habits by threatening motorists' licences.

"People who persist in breaking road rules will lose their driving privileges because they pose an unacceptable risk to other road users."

However, the Government has stopped short of applying demerit points to speed camera offences.

A law against drugged-driving will be introduced next year, with police able to demand a physical roadside test, followed by a blood test, if they suspect a driver has taken drugs.

[Toaster]

Actually.. I'm with the tree huggers on this one.

Just remember when you support banning something on the grounds of safety that as a motorcyclist you are next !

I'm impressed with your research.... nice one.

[Toaster]

With the insurance thing, people keep complaining about the cost of having it.... don't forget its also about protection for us from people who dont have insurance and hit us, leaving us with bugger all comeback.

[Ixion]

Oh oh don't relax too soon folks. Like all political statments the devil is in the detail - which ISN'T in the press reports.

I finally found the actual policy statement, at http://www.transport.govt.nz/assets/...ent-Dec-06.pdfand there's some nasties in there

This new approach will also be taking account of climate change issues and the impact of emissions on health. There are environmental benefits to be gained from, for example, speed reductions on the open road.

... an innovative new approach to demerit points was offered on the website. Diminishing demerits is an idea that appears, on the face of it, to have considerable merit. This system does not allow for the clock to be set back to zero when a person, disqualified as a result of achieving 100 demerit points, has served their disqualification and their licence is reinstated. Instead, points would start to drop off the total at a specified rate from the point when they are allocated. As a result, when an offender gets their licence back they could still have a total of say 70 demerit points so that the next infringement would get them a further disqualification rather than waiting to accumulate 100 points from scratch. This would impact significantly on repeat and serious offenders but serve merely as a warning to those who make an occasional mistake. The idea received strong support from commentators on the website.

Speed management presents a dilemma. The view of road safety experts worldwide is that speed is the single most important determinant of the extent to which anyone will be injured in a crash. Everything possible should be done to try and reduce driving speeds as that is the single most effective strategy for reducing road trauma.

Officials have been asked to provide a series of proposals that will: (a) ensure that our young people are as capable as possible before driving unsupervised on the network; and (b) deter young drivers from breaking restrictions that are designed to keep them and other road users safe.

Government is concerned about the safety implications of the rapid increase in growth of the motorcycle fleet. Anecdotal evidence suggests that much of this growth is among older and returning riders. This development raises the following issues, which officials have been asked to explore and report on:
10
(a) improving education and training of motorcyclists and raising awareness of motorcyclists among the general population of road users; (b) considering whether the 70km/h speed limit for learner motorcyclists is appropriate given the concerns expressed by motorcyclists about the risks presented by this limit; and (c) assessing the suitability of the infrastructure to support the growth in motorcycling. in particular, there are issues around the safety of the road surface and suitability for motorcycling and cycling.

A couple of positives though. The government is actually taking notice of what is on the safeas website. And we had a strong presence there, and should be able to continue that. So get along there and make the biker voice heard ! And the 70kph limit looks like it might go.

[steved]

Hmm. A bit reactionary of me but ...

19. A second area, where fines have been problematic, is in relation to speed management, where unfounded accusations of revenue gathering have been able to undermine the safety message as being the sole reason for speed enforcement.