Letter from ACC

[quickbuck]

I got the same letter .. but the only near misses I have is when there is a hazard on the road & its not warned about .. IE pea gravel

I am rather cynical about the info the are wanting .. but to my mind the conditon of some roads leaves a lot to be desired so I will only comment on this one .. esp the road out of fordell pea gravel sharp left hand bend with no warning comes instantly to mind .. how many crashes have there been there??

I have been around a while, and have found that what is a near miss to some is just what happens to us motorcyclists... in my mind.

So instead of naming a particular incident... I couldn't think of one in the past couple of years... What? Old Timers you say? Eh?

Anyway... I generically stated that it would be great if the contractors cleaned up the mess before they removed the signs indicating road works.

There seems to be a trend of letting the traffic "sweep" the road.

We all know for us motorcyclists it can mean anything from, a stone to the throat from a passing vehicle ...to a slide on a bend and rider hitting the nearest solid object!

So let me explain my first comment.
After posting my letter off, I went for a blast over the saddle road.
Well blow me down! On the other side was freshly laid chip, and some kind person had knocked over the warning sign! Or, it was put in a place where I didn't see it. The light wasn't the best, and I had lots of bugs on my tinted visor.......
Well, good news is I worked out what was happening quickly, and took it easy... See if I wasn't experienced I may have locked a brake and gone cross country.
Well, many years ago that DID happen!

Oh, and once I got back onto the hard stuff on the saddle, I looked around, and saw the sign advising the uphill traffic.
Got me thinking, Did I just not see it? Maybe I was looking at the road rather than the grass at the time? Who knows.

Anyway, to back up my case there is still rubbish on the intersection outside Mt Biggs School from the work 6 weeks ago..... Well I think it has been there over 15 years to be truthful!

Oh, and sunhuntin herself knows first hand about the rubbish our local roading contractor dumps on the intersection of SH1 and Tangimoana Road.
Rocks to the knee smart!

[quickbuck]

down the track .

yes, much safer there!

[quickbuck]

I suspect that this letter is to gain ammo. for them to make the wearing of fluoro vests compulsory! If a car cuts you off, etc. they can say that if you had a vest on, it would not have happened. That's crap, actually, because as many of us know, cars pull out blatantly even when they do see us - they know who will come off second best!

Well, if this is the case, then it is easy to mess their data by talking about a near miss where visibility wasn't the factor.
Motorcycle incidents are more than cars pulling out in front of you.

A friend of mine described his near miss.
He was waiting to pull out from an intersection. A car was traveling from his right and had it's left hand indicator on.
Sweet he thought. I'll go now.
Well, as it turns out, the car hadn't turned off the indicator from the round about!
Yes near miss that time... Next time wait to see if the car actually turns!
Takes just a few more seconds, but better home a few seconds late than in Hospital!
If the car is more than a few seconds away, then you have heaps of time anyway....

[sunhuntin]

in the last week, ive seen 2 lots of unsigned roadworks in town. one was at the end of my street and was that yellow gravel stuff they put in potholes before sealing. had to go the long way to work due to a right hand turn being made dangerous by the gravel.

second was on a side road to my main motorbike park. looked like a pipe had been replaced, but it wasnt wide enough. it was the same stuff used in potholes. no signs, just cones.

and yet they have cones for africa for a side street having the footpath replaced.

im tempted to reply with photos showing the unmarked works, with details as to their location, as i view roadworks more a threat than car drivers... at least with cars theres a slim chance they will stop... with roadworks theres nothing you can do once you get caught on it. im also wondering, is there a way to find out how much diesel/petrol covers the roads around petrol stations? twice now ive locked the rear and ridden an invisivble slalom course on perfectly dry roads. on the same bit of road as well.

quickbuck... there hasnt been any gravel there since! its much better actually. im still trying to work out how it got across a passing lane, through my front wheel and impacted my left knee... very determined stone!

[Usarka]

One is suspicious. We may be sure that whatever ACC may be plotting, it won't be to our advantage.

What is needed here , is for everyone who fills in the form to *say* that any near misses happened when they were wearing a hi-vis jacket, even if y' never really wear one.

Hmmm not sure. They'll see all these high-vis bikers having near misses, then look at the accidents where most riders won't be wearing them.

Instant conclusion, a near miss is better than an accident, and hi-vis can make the difference between a hit and a miss.....