This should raise a few temperatures around here...

[FJRider]

Seems to me that it's not the speed limit that's too high, it's the increasing horse power available to inexperienced drivers! The graduated scheme should include a power limit for cages like it does for bikers. That would fix a lot of things.

That only works for licensed / registered drivers or riders. EXPERIENCE is the key. And you dont get that untill just AFTER you need it.
More and better driver/rider training. Attitude readjustment in prison by victims family members maybe.

[kevfromcoro]

bikes are dangerous, ive said it before.

yes bikes can be dangerous..
so are a lot of other things...motormowers....toasters.irons..curling tongs ..if u hop in the bath with them ..still conectected to 240 volts.a lot of people die from toasters.....
this a biker forum..
no negative please
thats how it is

[Ocean1]

Two differences between NZ and most other countries we could reasonable expect to have comparable road accident stat's.

Personal insurance here is cheap and the same cost for everyone.

The roads, as the dude said, are not very forgiving. Some of that is topographical and some is inadequate funding, given that topography.

The fix is expensive: Arsehole the ACC component of registration costs and make everyone pay the real cost of their particular driving/riding risk. And fix the fekin' roads so they're a bloody sight more forgiving.

Like I said, expensive. In more ways than one.

[sAsLEX]

Personal insurance here is cheap and the same cost for everyone.

Unless you compare a young male and an older woman...

[mowgli]

That only works for licensed / registered drivers or riders. EXPERIENCE is the key. And you dont get that untill just AFTER you need it.
More and better driver/rider training. Attitude readjustment in prison by victims family members maybe.

Perhaps the insurance companies could be bludgeoned into giving discounts to young drivers who have undergone and passed extensive driver education. The discount could ramp up as more experience and training is completed.

While they're at it the govt should make third party insurance compulsory and it should the driver, not the vehicle that is insured. Owner insures the vehicle - drivers insured for the mistakes they might make. It would increase personal responsibility (successive govts are eroding this) and provide another avenue for the fuzz to come down hard on crap drivers.

[Ocean1]

Unless you compare a young male and an older woman...

That's my point.

I don't know what the true cost of a 19yo male owning a 250KW car with the suspension sitting on the bump-stops is. Same with kids on 100KW sprotbikes. I do know that insurance companies overseas invariably decline to cover such risk at all, at any price.

They also decline to cover those who cost too much in terms of claims. That's the real world.

We all make mistakes, but here we're exempt from the concequences. We positively encourage dangerous behaviour, (as with a great deal of our policies), by socialising the price of it.

[Swoop]

The clear message here, is that the approach taken by the authorities hasn't worked and stated targets have not been achieved.
This smacks of total incompetence in the workplace and all enforcement personnel must be fired immediately!

[homer]

Seems to me that it's not the speed limit that's too high, it's the increasing horse power available to inexperienced drivers! The graduated scheme should include a power limit for cages like it does for bikers. That would fix a lot of things.

Oh how i love this point


Your so correct
and its always been my argument why you should only have a 250 for a first bike

think about it
a 250 with say 65 hp
or a say 600 detuned with say 65 hp

ok most 600 are bit more hp about 80
but a 250 will still pull 200 clicks
and a 1000 will still pull 200 clicks

point is you can have any thing you want so long as its a 250

[mrchips]

The speed limits are to high cos the roads are shit.

People drive 4WD'S here to compensate for the crap standard of roads & ridiculously high speed bumps that take out your cars exhaust system.

Raise the price of petrol, increase acc levies & the price of smokes + ban loud exhausts, loud lawnmowers & loud music... this will reduce the road toll.

[The Lone Rider]

I have to agree though, a lot of NZ roads are shocking.. absolutely shocking. Badly paved, no safety barriers where there should be, odd routing of the roads, and what the fuck is with streets randomly changing names in Christchurch? There are several streets that "turn" on a slow bend and once on the bend it's a different street, and some little side street turn off is the "same" road you just left.

[sAsLEX]

no safety barriers where there should be

And dangerous barriers were none are needed.





Is it me not noticing or has something suddenly changed to our roads? Most are getting better, hell there is even repairs done on 22 occasionally, there should now be no call for reduced limits since when was it raised?

[Dooly]

'National operations manager for road policing, Inspector Carey Griffiths says New Zealand speed limits are too high for the roads.'

Cracks me up when I see him on telly now.
He's a biker, or was, when I knew him when he was a Sgt prosceutor here, not too long ago.
He brought my 1200 Bandit, and rode, shall we say........similar to most bikers.......

[Ixion]

Nowt wrong with the roads. You folk don't know what a bad road is.

In fact, the roads are too good. The quality of the roads (and vehicles) has exceeded the competence of the drivers. The nice smooth wide roads make them go fast, it all seems so easy.

If the roads were bad, people would slow down. Or, not drive at all, cos it's al too hard. They need to stop maintaining the roads , save money, let them go back to what they used to be when I was young .

70 years ago we had a 90kph speed limit (universally ignored). Many cars still had only two wheel brakes, suspensions were farm cart epilleptic spring beam axles. No power anything at all. And the roads would be totally inconceivable to you. Imagine the worst road you have ever seen, and take that as the standard of the best. Now imagine the worst. They were worse than that. And then you had the PUMICE. Which is beyond your imagination.

People managed perfectly well. Only bad drivers (or riders) complain about bad roads.

[mowgli]

People managed perfectly well. Only bad drivers (or riders) complain about bad roads.

Never thought about it like that. I have to agree completely. Trouble is that the govt is trying to protect the idiots in society by constraining the liberty of everyone else. The stats show that this approach is failing. Instead they should let natural selection take it's toll.

[riffer]

Reported on stuff:

In comparison to every other year it's an average result, but it's a poor result compared to last year," road policing operations manager Inspector Carey Griffiths told NZPA.

The overall trend of road deaths was downwards - "but it's still ... too many ... We can still do better.

"It's very easy to sit back and talk about numbers but when it's one of your family members it really hits home.

"I think it's fair to say drivers can get complacent."

The number of people who died on the roads in 2007 had also increased to 423, from 2006's total of 393, which had been a 40-year low.

Mr Griffiths said most crashes were caused by drivers, with mechanical failure a factor in only about 0.5 percent.

Alcohol was a factor in a third of crashes, speed a third of crashes and not wearing a seatbelt a quarter.

At least 22 lives could have been saved last year, had the person been wearing a seat belt, Mr Griffiths said.

The number of drink drivers being caught by police had increased slightly last year despite extensive campaigns.

The message was not getting through and it was time for people to take personal responsibility, Mr Griffiths said.

Friends and family should also step in, telling people not to drink and drive or speed and be prepared to call the police if necessary.

"As a community we shouldn't be tolerating bad driving and bad drivers ... It's time to say enough's enough."

People also liked to blame the road when someone had been driving too fast or did not have good tyres, he said.

"Any piece of road can be dangerous, if the driver doesn't use it appropriately."

The holiday period had ended but police were still urging drivers to take "extra care" as plenty of people would still be on holiday, Mr Griffiths said.



I would suggest the OP has misquoted or underquoted the original statement in order to fulfil their particular agenda. Not unusual - in fact its learned behaviour based on media practice.