New cheesecutter going up

[Grahameeboy]

Thats rather a large leap in assumption - so every potential lane crossing is a fatality - you don't work for the media do you? Or TNZ?

I am just going by the news clip which said that 15 possible fatalities were avoided, I am not saying that every potential lane crossing is a fatality but on the road there is always potential for a hazard......

[avgas]

i personally dont like the fences, not because they can kill....but because we "need" them.
If you consider where they are - when was is OK to cross lanes.
Either make it a full blow motorway, or penalise the drivers out there that think its fine to "bounce off" the fence.
Why lay pillows out with a red carpet cos your a bad driver.
Would they make the same mistake if the fence was setup to kill the driver of the car if they got close to it? How many bad drivers fall off the various cliff faces and die instantly? f all.
Bloody nana state indeed

[Paul in NZ]

Goodness.... This wire is just ONE stretch of highway where there has been a consistent and HIGHLY publicised issue over many years with cars crossing the centre line resulting in many fatalities... YES - Motorcycles have been hit by these cars and other idiots doing U turns to go fishing.

Its very narrow and cannot be made wider to 4 lanes which would better reflect the amount of traffic using it.

My point - fighting the use of wire rope barriers using the centenial highway (the Killer highway) as an example could be doomed to failure - their use could well be justified there..

Paul N

[discotex]

My point - fighting the use of wire rope barriers using the centenial highway (the Killer highway) as an example could be doomed to failure - their use could well be justified there..

1. If a WRB is the only possible solution why not modify them to make them safer?

2. Are all the installations of other WRBs equally justified and will they actually achieve the intended result if they allow deflection into the oncomming lane anyway?


The argument to keep the status quo sounds awfully similar to pro-tobacco lobbying e.g. "will have to wait until the link with cancer is proven" ... "you can't prove smoking caused the cancer, they may have got it anyway" ... "I've been smoking for 40 years and look I'm not dead" ...

You just have to look at the mounting evidence overseas that shows that WRBs (and armcos with exposed posts) are a major risk factor to bikers that can be addressed reasonably easily.

[Paul in NZ]

I give up.....

[Colapop]

Wire rope barriers save lives.

The current campaign is not only about motorcyclists wailing against the oppressive hordes (of cagers and politicians) to further solely our aims. We are road users - part of a group of road users. Yes, wire rope barriers in their current form are very dangerous to motorcyclists but do save the lives of a large number of people. We should be looking to work with Transit to improve them rather than wailing about how they should be completely removed.

"To eat an elephant, you must first take a bite" Dalai Lama.

Small victories in battle often make up the most momentous victories in war. I'm saying that by taking small steps, we can achieve a greater good.

[Paul in NZ]

And I'm saving my energy for other things.. Go for it Col - like your attitude

[discotex]

We should be looking to work with Transit to improve them rather than wailing about how they should be completely removed.


Small victories in battle often make up the most momentous victories in war. I'm saying that by taking small steps, we can achieve a greater good.

And I'm saving my energy for other things.. Go for it Col - like your attitude

Can you munters not read?

That's exactly what is being called for.... The retrofitting of WRBs to make them safe... No-one behind this protest is calling for the removal of barriers.

[imdying]

Yeah, right... I've got a fiver that says at an 'anti-cheesecutter event', the message out there will be 'cheesecutters are dangerous, get rid of them!' rather than 'cheesecutters are dangerous, make them safer!'.

Check out this flyer... http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...ad.php?t=59690 Stop the construction of WRBs and increase the safety of other barriers.

[Pixie]

So we've got one idiot who falls off and whacks himself, and Chris Lane 'director of Kapiti Emergency Medical Services' telling us that 'it's fantastic' cause he doesn't have to scrape bodies off that piece of road anymore, and has probably prevented 15 casualty accidents they he knows of. 15 to 1 is pretty good odds in favor of the barrier.

Another bleedin' Devil's Advocate.

Using your logic we can make it compulsory that all cars have steel spikes mounted in front of the drivers forehead.
Only a small percentage will crash and get skewered,so it's alright,and the upside is that it will make them very careful drivers.

[Pixie]

You cannot just compare with other Countries who probably have greater volumes of traffic that NZ does.

If there is only 1 death per year, yes it is one too many, however, does it justify saying that Transit NZ don't care.?

How many kids drowned in pools per year prior to compulsory fencing?

[Grahameeboy]

How many kids drowned in pools per year prior to compulsory fencing?

No idea, however, not the point I am making..........

[sAsLEX]

Yep, as I understand it, that seems to be valid. Your equation unfortunately applies to cost as well
For me, every life is equal, motorcyclist or cager, I also accept that there's only so much money allocated for barriers. It would however be nice if we could have a few less barriers to pay for upgrading the new ones with covers (if they're indeed proven to minimize injuries to motorcyclists). Given that every life is equal, the barriers seem to be doing alright... out of the 15 head ons prevented, how many were bikes that would've been on the receiving end? Of course, we'll never know that, but it would seem that it would only take one to even the score thus far.

ahh yes.

But how much would be saved if they avoided letting recidivist drunk and proper dangerous drivers back on the road.

We hear so much about these drivers killing on our roads and yet speeding seems the main thrust......

Maybe if a judge had been given some teeth some of those 15 never would of happened.

[imdying]

Must be different up north... down here I see more active enforcement against drunk drivers than speeders :shrugs:

/edit: That's not entirely true... I see more cops patrolling than booze buses out on the highways... but maybe that has something to do with the ration of 100km/hr zones to pubs....

As far as the 15 perhaps not happening... well, bad news, the standard of driving of the general population is bad enough that I wouldn't be surprised if none of them had been on the piss.

[DEATH_INC.]

WTF????
They are no cheaper in the long run....cost cannot be an argument for them.
Concrete or full armco will save as many lives, and stop trucks into the bargain, thereby saving potentially more.
The width is not that much of an issue, a concrete barrier is only a couple of feet through, not that huge.
Why are they banned in other countries if the no's don't add up?
There is no excuse for them.