One of ours? (23 June)

**Macktheknife** · 23rd June 2007, 19:37

Hoping this is not one of ours, but wishing the rider all the best for recovery anyway.

NZ Police CommCens Alert 15:45 23-06-2007 Waikato

Location of incident: Kopu, Thames

Incident Type: Serious Motorcylce Crash

State Highway 26 between Kopu Road and the Kopu-Hikuai Road has been
closed to traffic while police serious crash staff deal with the scene of
a serious crash.
It appears that a motorcyclist has lost control of his machine near the
Kopu turnoff. A man aged about 40 has been flown by helicopter to
Waikato hospital with head injuries described as serious. No other
vehicles are believed to have been involved in the crash.
Auckland-bound traffic coming off the Kopu-Hikuai Road is being routed
south through Paeroa. South bound traffic from Thames is being
diverted across the Kopu Bridge on SH 25. The diversions are likely to be in
place for at least another two hours to 7.00pm.

Issued By: Inspector Ian Brooker

**chanceyy** · 23rd June 2007, 19:46

ahhhh crap .. speedy recovery to the fallen biker ..

take care out there folks its been pretty crap weather

**cowboy** · 23rd June 2007, 19:49

Here's hoping the rider is not to badly injured

**kevfromcoro** · 23rd June 2007, 19:56

FUCK,,,,just seen it all.i work the other side annd couldnt get home..had to go through paeroa,,,,this was at 4.30...and its still going on...cops everwhere..its a mess...didnt know a biker was involved...will post more imfo as it comes in......

**Meanie** · 23rd June 2007, 20:10

Not good to hear someone has gone down
Our thoughts and prayers are with him

**kevfromcoro** · 24th June 2007, 18:15

quick update....was a biker in his early 40s.....but he is not dead..brain damage.not sure how serious.cant understand why the cops closed the road off for 4 hrs..

**Patrick** · 25th June 2007, 10:41

Originally Posted by Speedie

SCU carry out a full investigation for all Status 1 or status 0 road traffic crashes. Its policy. Reason is at the time of the crash it is not knowen weather the crash will turn out to be fatal or not. Or so I understand.
I dont have any info on this particular incident however.

Sums it up really, its a potential crime scene. Just like if someone got the bash/killed, scene is closed to all so all the evidence can be collected...

**marty** · 25th June 2007, 11:18

there's a few coro loop yokels that i haven't deen back on here yet - fingers crossed

**vifferman** · 25th June 2007, 12:23

Originally Posted by Patrick

Sums it up really, its a potential crime scene. Just like if someone got the bash/killed, scene is closed to all so all the evidence can be collected...

That's all very well, but there's been a lot of (justifiable?) criticism of how long it takes the SCU to do their work, compared to overseas units which take lots of photos/notes, and get the roads opened as quickly as possible in a far shorter time.
It's kinda dumb anyway; the incident's happened, and no amount of investigation/recrimination/prosecution/regulation after the event can undo it.

**imdying** · 25th June 2007, 13:12

Might be able to learn from it though.

**scumdog** · 25th June 2007, 13:37

Originally Posted by imdying

Might be able to learn from it though.

Like whether it was an 'accident' or a road rage homicide perpetrated by a driver pissed off with a motorcyclist......

**vifferman** · 25th June 2007, 13:44

Originally Posted by Speedie

Where do you garner those facts from?

I wouldn't go so far as to call them "facts", Speedie; it was summat I read somewhere some time ago. I can't remember where, or when or even what the "facts" were. For all I know, it may even have been a letter to the editor by some irate traveler who took 17 hours to get home after a long holiday weekend.

Despite your admirable and justifiable defense of the time taken by the SCU to investigate incidents such as this, to my mind (enfeebled though it is), it still has an unfortunate taint of the NannyState bureaucracy that's spreading like wildfire here. It used to be that we just got on and got things done, and got them done quickly and efficiently. Now everything takes forever and is horrendously encumbered by a HUGE amount of political correctness, rules'n'regulations, and mountains of paperwork.

But that aside, keep up the good work.

**imdying** · 25th June 2007, 14:14

Originally Posted by scumdog

Like whether it was an 'accident' or a road rage homicide perpetrated by a driver pissed off with a motorcyclist......

Or another idiot who thinks he's Rossi, or another cager due for an eye exam...

Nobody knows yet, no SCU, nobody ever would.

**Patrick** · 25th June 2007, 14:35

SCU are a direct result of a crash down south (Dunners way???) where a guy crashed into a carload of three young girls, killing them all, blamed the girls and nearly got away with it because everyone involved "just got on with it" and cleaned up.

An "investigation" found he was in fact the culprit, without a doubt. I bet those parents, families and friends of those three girls weren't happy about everyone "just getting on with it."

If one of them was your daughter Vfferman, would you?

As for the criticisms, one recently here came from a guy who got held up on his way home after a motorbike fatality and he moaned about the traffic delays from the Police diversions. he turns out to be a roading engineer who designed the piss poor one and only sole entry from the north into New Plymouth!!!

Oh, and the one guy who gobbed off when passing while I was doing points... two out of the thousands who went past me that day aint bad....