ANOTHER police car does a u-turn in front of a biker = crash

**Steam** · 10th December 2007, 17:10

What the f%#k!? Is this becoming a legitimate police tactic or something?? Once is an accident... twice... hmmm...

nah, I'm sure there's nothing to that conspiracy theory, but hell, what are the police doing these days in vehicle handling training??

"A Tauranga man is in hospital with serious leg injuries after a police car turned in front of his motorbike on State Highway 2 on Monday.
Police say the collision happened near Waitakaruru after the patrol car did a U-turn, believing the road was clear, and turned across the path of the BMW motorcycle.
The bike rider, 44, was taken to Middlemore Hospital. He is in a serious but non-life threatening condition.
Police are seeking any witnesses to the crash and have notified the Independent Police Conduct Authority."

**Qkchk:Me** · 10th December 2007, 17:15

Any details yet?

**Steam** · 10th December 2007, 17:16

I just heard it on the radio, I will post a link in my first post when it comes on the internet later this evening. The rider is in Middlemore hospital.

**deanohit** · 10th December 2007, 17:51

Jeez, thats a bit off, you'd think they would all be super careful after the last incident.

**manwithav8** · 10th December 2007, 17:54

Originally Posted by deanohit

Jeez, thats a bit off, you'd think they would all be super careful after the last incident.

especially since the last one STILL isn't resolved.. How long can it take to sort out who was in the wrong.

Wonder if this recent cop is already on sick leave and will be returning to full duty in a couple of days...

**Toaster** · 10th December 2007, 18:15

Originally Posted by deanohit

Jeez, thats a bit off, you'd think they would all be super careful after the last incident.

Rumour has it that police are human beings just like the rest of us. Shock horror

**James Deuce** · 10th December 2007, 18:17

There was a clear lesson from the last accident - take it easy when you see a Police car and expect him to do the unexpected, more so than other road users.

You HAVE to take responsibility for your own safety.

Remember that people do NOT compute speed if they do not have two reference points at least a metre apart. They only compute distance. He "saw" the motorcycle, but perceived it as stationary thanks to the effects of motion camouflage.

For the anti-cop brigade: I'm not making excuses for Cops or anyone else. It's how we humans work. We're designed to do 20km/hr, tops. We haven't adapted to 100km/hr yet, we've learned some techniques for planning ahead at those speeds.

**Deano** · 10th December 2007, 18:31

It's not just about computing speed though - the wife and I have twice been following a patrol car and had it veer to the left then do a u turn in front of us with no warning.

I guess the adrenalin kicks in when a call is received but there is no excuse for not checking the mirrors and hitting the lights first.

**cowboyz** · 10th December 2007, 18:32

Originally Posted by Toaster

Rumour has it that police are human beings just like the rest of us. Shock horror

no. not quite like the rest of us.

Originally Posted by Jim2

For the anti-cop brigade: I'm not making excuses for Cops or anyone else. It's how we humans work. We're designed to do 20km/hr, tops. We haven't adapted to 100km/hr yet, we've learned some techniques for planning ahead at those speeds.

I am not anti-cop. Just pro-realistic. The cop in my sig did a U turn in front of me to pull me over. I didnt bitch about it cause I am too lazy. If the cop is doing a U turn to ticket someone then they know EXACTLY how fast that person is travelling. And arent the highway patrol trained in how to operate a vehicle better than the average motorist (please please dont say no to this..... I dont think I will ever sleep again if you tell me the police dont get any advanced driver training and are allowed to go chasing people.

**Deano** · 10th December 2007, 18:36

Originally Posted by Toaster

Rumour has it that police are human beings just like the rest of us. Shock horror

I expect there should be consequences for poor performance, in any profession.

Perhaps it's a training issue ?

**James Deuce** · 10th December 2007, 18:46

Originally Posted by Deano

It's not just about computing speed though - the wife and I have twice been following a patrol car and had it veer to the left then do a u turn in front of us with no warning.

I guess the adrenalin kicks in when a call is received but there is no excuse for not checking the mirrors and hitting the lights first.

Even if he did check the mirrors there's no guarantee he perceived the bike to even exist. As much as we all like it to be different, bikes are harder to see and the root cause of that issue goes beyond the bright colours vs dark colours debate.

**Pex Adams** · 10th December 2007, 19:08

I remember Andrew Templeton (ww.roadsafe.co.nz) saying during one of his training seminars, "every motorcyclist is in someway responsible for 99% of the accidents they are involved in, there is always something that the biker could do to avoid 'that' situation from happening".

I realize that there is fuck all we can do we a guy decides to do a U-Turn on a blind corner. Nonetheless we should all know to expect cage's to do stupid things.

I hope Mr BMW (whoever you are), that you recover well.

**Deano** · 10th December 2007, 19:39

Sorry - I didn't mention that the wife and I were in the car both times.

Perhaps if they had to count to 3 before responding to a call, in order to check around, or maybe 5 or 10 seconds........