Bikers collide with Police car in Buller Gorge (1 December)

[Pixie]

Or both! Commodes have decent panel steel compared with jappa imports.

Bullshit.all manufacturers use the same guage high strength low alloy steel and the Japanese brands regularly score higher in aussies own crash test regime.

[Katman]

So why isn't that applied to the single biker crashes then? instead of all the sympathy that generally gets heaped upon them, it seems every other road user is fair game but motorcyclists protect their own even if they do fuck up

At last, some of you are starting to echo what I've been saying all along about the 'Biker Down' threads.

(Can I have my privileges back now please).

[MD]

Thank you to those well wishers. I've just got home from the ferry.

These are my friends and I was riding down with them in the morning of the crash.
I can't say too much for obvious reasons as I am the supposed/alleged speeding motorcyclist in question and subject to the enquiry.

My friends are in terrible shape with injuries I can't list. The one airlifted to Wgtn is very serious. He would not have survived the golden hour if an off duty Doctor and paramedic hadn't been coming through the gorge. They apparently worked frantically to keep them alive. We can't thank them enough.

I guess I can clarify a few points which I noticed the media got wrong.
1. There were two riders hurt. One on a 999 and the other on his new pride and joy, a Benelli 900Tre.
2. They are Wgtn riders, not from Nelson
2. the Cop was heading east and stopped to do a u-turn to chase a single bike heading west.
I can't say anymore on that. I did not find out about the crash until that night when I reached Fox Glacier- I travelled on my own as I wanted to visit Relatives down the Coast. The remainder of the group went to Karamea from the accident scene.
The next morning (Sun 2nd) I went back to comfort my friends, visited the scene and meet the others at Murchison. Then we went to Nelson Hospital.

On Monday I realised the Police were looking for this alleged speeding Rider.

I went to a local police station to make a statement. That was a weird feeling. As I approached a policeman he said, you aren't this guy are you as he pulled out a piece of paper with my name on it. He said there was a Police notice out to stations to locate me. Spooky.
I can say that the Policemen that interviewed me were compassionate, understanding and in no way biased towards either party. The head of the PCA enquiry was called at the time.
I know what the Cop checked this riders speed at. Don't be mislead by the dramatic 'speeding' word used by the police/media, minor infringement comes to my mind. Certainly not worth the risk taken to issue a ticket.

I challenge anyone to attempt a U-turn at that spot in a Mini, let alone a large car with a poor turning circle. I photographed the area. I stood where the riders would have first appeared, I stood where the car pulled over. I know what I saw.

As I said, I can't comment on much until the enquiry is over apart from what's been in the News.
Get well Guys

[Skyryder]

It's 50/50 as to who could be at fault. Time and investigation will tell. No point in jumping to any conclusions.

Not as I understand the law. It is 100% driver responsibility to 'safely pull out from the kerb. Don't need to be a rocket scientist to 'know' the cop did a u turn in an unsafe place. He took a chance and two bikers paid for it. The only doubt I have is what 'bike' the cops will say is at fault. The one the cop says was speeding and did the u turn to chase or the bikes that hit the car.

The cop fucked up............ period.

Skyryder

[ajturbo]

Perhaps they need to reinstate the hand-brakie as a legitimate 180 degree turn option?

welllllll we got away with that ..infront of a cop!!!!... said the brakes were sticking and had ajusted them.... a bit too much.. hahahahahahaha ( back in 1984)

[Katman]

MD, one question - is the photo in your avatar of you? (Yes, I realise the photo is taken at a race track but if it is you, it speaks volumes).

[skelstar]

Shit MD, thats no good dude. Hope yer alright.

[cruza]

Nice to hear MD ,You know how most people feel here, thanks for the comments, Photos of scene do kinda sum it up.

[Paul in NZ]

MD - Sad news mate.... Thanks for the information.

Going back (in time) - is there anything I can do to help these 2 guys?

Cheers

[et al]

Thanks for the update MD, it should put to rest a lot of the mis-information and speculation that has been around. Here's hoping for the best possible outcome for the injured riders. Will be a difficult time for you as well, please stay strong and look after yourself.

[Sanx]

Shit driving deserves reporting, doesn't matter if it is a boy racer or a marked patrol car.... I guarantee you something is done about it!!!! Seen colleagues get tickets for failing to indicate at roundabouts, not stopping at stop signs, careless use for U turns in front of following traffic, just to name a few.... locally, and in Auckland in this new age of Policing. It happens!

Sorry dude, but that's simply not true. I've personally reported a few cops for doing fucking stupid things, by phone (*555) and on two occasions gone down to a cop shop to report it in writing. Every single time, there was absolutely sod all done. I've had a sergeant call me and tell me that the cop in an unmarked black Commodore screaming up and down my residential street (I watched him for about 45 minutes) at speeds of well over 100kph and crossing a yellow line on an S-bend, all on a sunny weekday afternoon about school closing time, was perfectly correct in doing so so he could give drivers tickets for doing 65kph, although he grudginly admitted using a camera van might have been a better idea. I made several phone calls to a Sergeant John Sharpe of the Strategic Traffic Unit to find out what was happening about one of his officers (whose name and number I provided to the Sergeant) who I saw commit criminal damage. Never a returned phone call or a letter; nothing.

My personal experiences with the cops in Auckland have left me with nothing but the utmost contempt for all those involved in traffic policing. They do fuck all to help road safety (in some cases, they actively make the roads more dangerous), they don't go after dangerous drivers and at times certain officers seem to deliberately go out of the way to act in a manner that's almost guaranteed to piss most reasonable people off (which leads to a general dislike of the Police, whatever role an officer performs).

I'm not the sort of person to label all cops as rapists just because a couple of animals happened to wear the uniform (in fact, I've backed you up on this in another thread a long time ago). I'd like to think I can differentiate between circumstances and situations. I understand that the majority of cops do a very hard job under extremely difficult conditions for little recognition. However, cops will almost always stand by their own; at least publically. The inspector who made the report on this case - if quoted correctly - was guilty of using deliberately inflammatory statements which were designed to immediately minimise the blame attached to his officer. He pretty much blamed the accident on another speeding motorcyclist. And yes, this was before the SCU had been to investigate the accident, so he didn't have the full picture either. I sincerely hope the full story will be made public, but I suspect it will be downplayed as usual and any resulting prosecution trivialised.

[jimbo600]

From the stuff web site

]"The police officer came over and asked me if I was OK, and I asked him what the hell he was doing parked in the middle of the road," said Russell.

"His response to me was that we were speeding."

Russell had not had an apology from the police, who took a statement from him on Saturday when he was in intensive care.

A self-employed builder-electrician without income insurance, Russell would like to discuss financial compensation with the police to help support his family over the next six months while he recovered.


What a cunt. So you can just block off the road in order to catch speedsters now then?

And taking a statement while being in intensive care?? WTF I know its important to get statements asap but for fucks sake wait till the mans lucid at least.

I hope this fucker is hung out to dry. He's bad for bikes, for road safety, and indeed with actions and comments like the above bad for the police.

[scumdog]

From the stuff web site

]"The police officer came over and asked me if I was OK, and I asked him what the hell he was doing parked in the middle of the road," said Russell.

"His response to me was that we were speeding."

Russell had not had an apology from the police, who took a statement from him on Saturday when he was in intensive care.

A self-employed builder-electrician without income insurance, Russell would like to discuss financial compensation with the police to help support his family over the next six months while he recovered.


What a cunt. So you can just block off the road in order to catch speedsters now then?

And taking a statement while being in intensive care?? WTF I know its important to get statements asap but for fucks sake wait till the mans lucid at least.

I hope this fucker is hung out to dry. He's bad for bikes, for road safety, and indeed with actions and comments like the above bad for the police.

The 'stuff' stuff is all fact?? Wow!

[Ixion]

Link to the article here

Do you know a different version of the events Mr Scumdog ? The paper quotes the person directly involved.

[RantyDave]

The 'stuff' stuff is all fact?? Wow!

Dude, there's a picture of a police car on the wrong side of the road, mid corner, completely side on with two bikes buried in the side of it. There's a guy in hospital lucky to be alive and another missing a chunk of his thumb. None of these things are even remotely debatable.

The cop caused the crash. C'mon, admit it. The cop caused the crash. A cop very nearly killed one biker and had a solid go at another. It's completely black and white and I, for one, am fucking furious.

Tell me again, what was the thing about better work stories?

Dave