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

[Katman]

Quick - get Katman et al to tell us why, esp if the biker was in the right. Cos everyone should just accept the biker is always in the wrong eh??

It's always disappointing when someone lets their dislike of an individual distort their view of an issue that should be above petty squabbling.

[Usarka]

Do you realise how stupid that statement sounds? (The bit in bold).

a key skill in interpersonal communications is seeing through the exact words and picking up the intent or meaning behind them. Often harder when using text. How does this sound:

"So too is the assumption that bikers can avoid [all] crashes."

if you still think its a stupid comment, lets hire taupo track - you on a bike me in a car.....first one to do 10 laps wins....

[Steam]

Do you realise how stupid that statement sounds? (The bit in bold).

Gotta agree with Usarka here. The intent of the statement was clear.

[jrandom]

Do you realise how stupid that statement sounds?

Yeah, that's what your mum tried to say last night.

It came out as 'mmph mmph mmph', though.

[Katman]

Judging by the attitude displayed by many on here I don't think the intent was clear at all.

[RC1]

Interesting...a fire engine nearly took out a motorcyclist at a Hamilton rounder bout not 4mins ago.
100% fire engines fault however the poor motorcyclist got abused

fark me you did tron to the ronga then posted within 4 mins, LEGEND

[MSTRS:Me]

It's always disappointing when someone lets their dislike of an individual distort their view of an issue that should be above petty squabbling.

Huh? It's nothing to do with you as a person. It's the message you adhere to that causes issues. Unfortunately your message, whilst not without some merit, is just too black and white. The real world does not conform to your ideal. Bikers have crashes and accidents for numerous reasons, sometimes their own fault, sometimes contributed to, sometimes no fault and sometimes 'act of god'.
With better handling and observational skills, many offs could be avoided, but never all of them. And motorcycling does carry an inherently higher risk factor, no matter what you may say.

[Sanx]

Ultimately, every motorcycling accident is the rider's fault. He chose to get on a bike.

Katman: if you want to break it down to that level, then yes - you're right. However, back in the real world, the unforseen and unforseeable does happen. Stating that the biker could have anticipated each situation a little better is simply disingenuous. When passing a parked car on the left-hand side of the road, do you automatically assume it's going to pull a u-turn in front of you? If so, how do you ensure it's not. Pull over and wait for ten minutes behind each parked car? Get off and check to see if there's no driver? Unless you do the latter, you can't be sure that at the exact moment when you're a metre and a half from the front guard, said driver's not going to drop the clutch and wheelspin round in a circle, taking you out in the process.

I can think of plenty of other accidents scenarios where the rider could not have possibly anticipated or seen the accident coming. Front tyre blow-outs due to debris in the road, people running red lights, oncoming cars suddenly pulling out into your lane, fuckwit teenagers dropping bricks off motorway overpasses, etc.. Sure - you can avoid most of them by remaining stationary, preferably at least 5 metres from your bike in case it falls over, but it's not a realistic proposition.

By all means re-enforce the point that we, as bikers, have to ride defensively but rather like the government's laughable message that the moment you go over 100kph you become a potential child murderer, going too far and blaming every accident on the rider's lack of anticipation makes people simply ignore what is a valid message.

[Tank]

Yeah, that's what your mum tried to say last night.

It came out as 'mmph mmph mmph', though.

JRandom - you are one funny bastard!

[avgas]

I wouldn't complain if it was a force of nature causing the injury, like a meteor or a flood or a mechanical failure, but in this case it's simple negligence by a driver who didn't care enough to check before he u-turned. Simple and stupid.

Stupid is a force of nature.
The only difference now and 65,000,000 years ago is stupid is alot faster now.
Your either for it or against it. Some call it evolution, i just call it the learn.
While i am all for 'the individual' get his a into g and getting the learn from this fuckup, him being a cop is a stereotype like all sportbike riders are Rossi.
Its bullshit and you know it.
Sad fact of the matter is the cops do suck (thanks the bs in the world). Like i said earlier - you can only guarantee yourself. Assume the world wants to kill you and you wont die.
I would put money down that atleast 30% of the people on the road dont look. Motorcyclist included.
Now i was playing poker and i had a 30% chance of loosing all my money.....i may still place a bet on that hand. But you only got 1 life.
the learn or die. Lets face it - how many stabbings have happened lately? bike crashes? shootings?
The world is a fucked up scary place, assume its out to get you.

[mstriumph]

........... Mind you the way they are going they are eliminating the motorcyclists one by one

perhaps that's the plan ...

[madbikeboy]

Source - NZHERALD.co.nz

Motorcyclist serious after police u-turn accident
5:00AM Tuesday December 11, 2007
By Andrew Koubaridis


The injured motorcyclist is attended to at the scene of the accident.
A motorcyclist was seriously hurt yesterday when he crashed into a police car doing a u-turn to pursue a speeding vehicle.

It is the second accident involving bike riders crashing into u-turning squad cars in just over a week.

Yesterday's crash happened about 9.40am on SH2 near Maramarua when the officer went to answer a call about a speeding Mercedes.

A witness said the collision sent the motorbike flying into the air before it crashed on to the road.

The motorcyclist was left conscious but had serious leg injuries.

"It looked as though his foot was hanging off his ankle.

"He was talking, though, and it looked like he was trying to get a number off his cellphone."

The man was very pale and was cared for by a doctor who stopped at the crash scene.

The witness said the policeman was feeling "pretty bad" and was heard asking the motorcyclist what direction he was headed in.

"The [speeding] Mercedes overtook me and the police car turned its lights on and then did a u-turn. I asked him [the police officer] if he was chasing the Mercedes and he said that he was and had clocked it at 142 km/h."


On December 2, two riders were seriously hurt in the Upper Buller Gorge on the West Coast when they crashed into a police car doing a u-turn to pursue a speeding motorcyclist.

[Mikkel]

Hmmm, looks like it's time for the boys in blue to get some proper guidelines regarding U-turns sorted out!

Hope the rider will be ok!

[Mrs Busa Pete]

its just the latest wepon against motorbikes U TURN US OFF THE ROAD it takes a lot of training to get the timing right

[dmouse]

uturns and reversing out of a driveway onto a state highway should be a NO NO i cant believe another trained officer did the same thing within a week, these guys are supposed to set an example and follow the rules to the letter, he should be crucified is a ticket worth so much to them ? a life or a ticket i hope that he has a consience and has to suffer flashbacks evertime he looks into a mirror there is just no excuse just poor bad driving and adrenalin with the thought of a high speed chase 142k`s its going to be an expensive ticket and so it should be.