God bless Transit NZ and all that sail in her...

[That Guy]

Ha! Just read this with interest. I recently got a $150 fine for riding in the "bus lane" at the bottom of the harbour bridge heading south. The angry copper pulled me over and as far as I could tell his attitude towards me was such that I had just raped or murdered somone. Geepers he was an angry man. To add insult to injury having been all stroppy, he wrote out my ticket and then tried to talk bikes! What? We're frineds now? Waaaaanker.

Anyway! I digress!

The answer is as you have all said, councils control local raods (generally 50k zones) and Transit controls the motorways. In 50 k zones local govt (North Shore and Auckland City - not sure about others) have both officially ok'd motorcycles using bus lanes - but Transit in their wisdom have not. Anyway I have learnt all this after my $150 ticket. I wrote to the ticketing place in Wellington attaching articles in newspapers from both NSCC and ACC stating it was ok to use bus lanes for motobikes. NO WHERE in either article did it say anything about not being ok in Transit owned areas, where the demark is between council and Transit (still arugable if anyone gets caught) areas are etc. Anyway - they wiaved the fine. Fair enough they said. Therefore if you get caught - use this defence. Just search on council websites and NZherald for the old sotries. Works a treat. And to that angry cop out there wherever you are - learn to channel your angriness to REAL criminals.

for the reocrd I was only doing about 70 kph at the time too (its and 80 kph zone) but he still said "and you were travelling too fast - you're lucky I don;t give you a speeding ticket".....also for the record - I know some good cops too - they have shitty job so perhaps he had just come from a rape case or something.

[Krayy]

One thing that I did get in the way of info out of them was that, currently, the bus lanes that are on the Northern, and the NW between Pataki and Rosebank, are classed as shoulders until the real, fully sealed ones get built. So in effect if you ride in them now, you're on the shoulder and are fair game.

BTW, are you the REAL "That Guy", or just another one?

[That Guy]

BTW, are you the REAL "That Guy", or just another one?

Real.....hmmm.....I think you mean THey Guy from Sportscafe? I was That Guy before him....but guess he's more famous. Perhaps I should change to "That Other Guy" or "That first Guy" or as Firestormer called me "That Guy There"......

[Krayy]

I was That Guy before him....but guess he's more famous. Perhaps I should change to "That Other Guy" or "That first Guy" or as Firestormer called me "That Guy There"......

Perhaps you should sue the bugger. In that case, I'll refer to you as "That 'That Guy' that should be That Guy that could introduce me to the bulgarian chick with the big tits"

[That Guy]

Yeah Eva.....That Guy who doesn't know Eva. The other Guy does. Get to know That Guy and you might. But not this That Guy. D'OH! It was so much less confusing talking about tickets in bus lanes!

[Lou Girardin]

and intersections are goverened by transit and not the local council that controls the bus lanes going through them!

Where did you get that one? Local bodies control urban roads and intersections.

[sAsLEX]

the guy I rang at the council, he said they dont control things such as traffic lights and that bus lights etc were therefore BUS only lights and that I was to wait until a green as the LTSA legislation only refers to buses using bus lanes/lights

[ManDownUnder]

the guy I rang at the council, he said they dont control things such as traffic lights and that bus lights etc were therefore BUS only lights and that I was to wait until a green as the LTSA legislation only refers to buses using bus lanes/lights

So, would that mean that I am not allowed to go when the green "B" appears on the traffic light?

Extending that thought... I therefore SIT in the bus lane, praying the driver doesn't push the go button in the bus while I patiently obey the law... a fly under his diesel powered swatter...

??? now THAT doesn't make sense. PLEASE tell me I have the wrong end of the stick
MDU

[sAsLEX]

nope if you are legally in the bus lane and the light goes red and you are at the front of all the busses, when the bus light come s on to let the bus lane through you are to wait for a green disc before moving!! Or as was suggested by the coiuncil guy move your bike to the side of the lane so the busses could sneak by likely hitting you!!!

Another piece of brilliant law from our Gunmints LTSA

[ManDownUnder]

nope if you are legally in the bus lane and the light goes red and you are at the front of all the busses, when the bus light come s on to let the bus lane through you are to wait for a green disc before moving!! Or as was suggested by the coiuncil guy move your bike to the side of the lane so the busses could sneak by likely hitting you!!!

Another piece of brilliant law from our Gunmints LTSA

Sounds like it... I've emailed the LTSA this morning seeking clarification on all the above (use of bus lanes in Auckland city, use of bus lanes on motorways in Auckland city, and the issue of m/c having to stay stationary in the bus lane even when the light goes green.

The last one is of particular interest obviously, and I'll get back to you when I hear back from them (in 10 working days according to the auto reply).

Watch this space!
MDU

[Ghost Lemur]

So, would that mean that I am not allowed to go when the green "B" appears on the traffic light?

Extending that thought... I therefore SIT in the bus lane, praying the driver doesn't push the go button in the bus while I patiently obey the law... a fly under his diesel powered swatter...

??? now THAT doesn't make sense. PLEASE tell me I have the wrong end of the stick
MDU

Unfortunately not.

That was exactly what happened to sAsLEX, went on the green bus light and got a ticket.

So what it means is you can use the lanes but not the lights. Stupid? YES. Dangerous? DEFINITELY. Too funny for words? I THINK SO.

[vifferman]

Ha! Just read this with interest. I recently got a $150 fine for riding in the "bus lane" at the bottom of the harbour bridge heading south. The angry copper pulled me over and as far as I could tell his attitude towards me was such that I had just raped or murdered somone. Geepers he was an angry man. To add insult to injury having been all stroppy, he wrote out my ticket and then tried to talk bikes! What? We're frineds now? Waaaaanker.

Was he a bike cop?
I got abused (but not ticketed) by some frothy-mouthed shouty guy on an ST1100 for carefully lane-splitting past stopped cars. He got quite aggro, and yelled, "Maybe if you rode like a proper motorcyclist instead of an idiot, you'd stop giving the rest of us a bad name!!"
I was flabbergasted (and I can tell you, I'm not at all fond of having my gast flabbered, no sirreee, JimBob), and to this day (after 4 years of consdering this) I'm still not sure WTF he meant by "riding like a proper motorcyclist". My best guess is: "Maybe if you pretended you were driving a car, ignored all the advantages and fun of bike ownership and riding, and sat in the traffic jams sucking up the noxious fumes, while talking on your cellphone, shaving, and having breakfast and reading the paper, instead of riding very carefully and safely while saving time, you would be adhering to my fascist view of life, have no life or friends, and be a total wanker like me!! So there!! Hmm hmmm!!"

[ManDownUnder]

Unfortunately not.

That was exactly what happened to sAsLEX, went on the green bus light and got a ticket.

So what it means is you can use the lanes but not the lights. Stupid? YES. Dangerous? DEFINITELY. Too funny for words? I THINK SO.

So self defence isn't a defence against that ticket???

"Your honour, the bus driver behind me saw the green light and I elected to break this dumbass law rather than become roadkill"

Yup - NUTS... but I'm still keen to hear back from the LTSA (nothing personal guys). With that in hand I'll quiet hapily take it to the Minister of Transport and politely request something be done. Of course it is also useful to mention to all the other Ministers of Transport (i.e. the one from National, and everyone else will to poke fun at the one in power).

[vifferman]

So self defence isn't a defence against that ticket???

Obviously not. What is the ultimate aim/purpose of road laws?

SAFETY.
Supposedly.
But in reality?

[ManDownUnder]

Obviously not. What is the ultimate aim/purpose of road laws?

SAFETY.
Supposedly.
But in reality?

REVENUE

And don't you forget it!

The only reason traffic is ever allowed to move faster is so they don't have to go so far to collect it. It's a numbers game - the more traffic per minute the more chances of collecting revenue.

Speed cameras exemplify this principle.
MDU