Two bikes down near Akaroa 27/12 (fatality)

[true-to-life]

Condolences to all the families.

Please take care out there every one.

[LittleAngel]

Aww this is very sad.

RIP and condolences to the families..

At this time of year it just reminds us to take it easy and the goal is to reach the destination however slow it might be...

[AllanB]

Its a dam fine piece of road. I flagged riding it yesterday due to the traffic (it goes past my place on the way out there) - we heard the police and ambulance.

As I said a fine hooning road with plenty of high speed corners - I ride the area with a bit of caution when considering passing - often there is a comfortable amount of room for a bike to squirt past, but on any high bike road you also need to allow for the possibility of another bike coming the other way at high speed.

[jtzzr]

R.I.P Bikers ,and condolences to their families.

[Patrick]

We wre riding on that road at that time and must hAVE JUST MISSED IT!!! It was VERY windy that day along that road and freaked us out as well. We actually were talking about how the wind can make passing and cornering very dangerous as you line up the corner and a big gust completely screws up your plans... freaky!!

Overtaking three cars at the time, on a bend, played more of a part than the wind did....

This is not good news, A very good friend of mine was the innocent victim, his wife is in intensive care with internal and spinal inhuries, they were aboard the Suzuki Boulevard that was hit head on. His brother was in front and narrowly avoided the triumph rider......a very sad day with two young kids left without a father.

All the best to the families of the innocents involved. I hope the mum recovers well enough to be with her little ones....

[Mikkel]

How sad, very nasty stuff.

While I have sympathy for all involved, this could have been avoided if everyone had left their overtaking to straight stretches of road with good visibility.

...of which there are plenty on said road.

Its a dam fine piece of road.

It is indeed. I am sure we can agree that since this is indeed the case there are also a lot of people using it every weekend. Some of them using it in a manner that is well beyond the grey area of moderate speeding... something I am all for given time and place.

Between trailered boats, boy racers and bikers the Akaroa road needs to be treated with a bit more respect than what it usually is being afforded - and that's not just the hills either. Truth be told I am sometimes surprised that there isn't even more carnage on that road than there is. Personally I've given up on riding that road during the "rushhours" - mid to late morning and mid to late afternoon.

[Paulus]

We have just come back from Akaroa and saw the site. It is not where you'd expect it to be and the corner in question is of very gentle radius and with pretty good visibility (over the hedges when sitting up on a bike). Nasty to see. Very sad.

[blairh]

So it's fairly clear what happened here, it's really sad. But I think it needs to be a reminder to every biker that as they say, we're 18 times more likely to die on the roads than our caged friends.

While this was a tragic event, it was not an accident.

If the corner is blind, you don't pass. If the corner isn't blind and you can see vehicles coming towards you, you don't pass. If you're not 100% sure you have enough room, you don't pass.

It has to be said that this guy's impatientness has taken 3 lives and effected the lives of many others forever.

I know we're not into the blame-game on here, but I definitely do think that we all need to realise that the split second decisions we make on the road can have huge consequences. Any one of us could have been in that innocent group of bikers riding towards him.

Be safe out there people... it's really not worth passing if you're not 100% sure.. there are so many wide open straights on that road...

[AllanB]

Weird thing about the written reports is the specifics of the offender riding a Triumph and the poor buggers who got hit riding Japanese bikes. Weird, WTF does it matter what they were riding?

[Pussy]

So it's fairly clear what happened here, it's really sad. But I think it needs to be a reminder to every biker that as they say, we're 18 times more likely to die on the roads than our caged friends.

While this was a tragic event, it was not an accident.

If the corner is blind, you don't pass. If the corner isn't blind and you can see vehicles coming towards you, you don't pass. If you're not 100% sure you have enough room, you don't pass.

It has to be said that this guy's impatientness has taken 3 lives and effected the lives of many others forever.

I know we're not into the blame-game on here, but I definitely do think that we all need to realise that the split second decisions we make on the road can have huge consequences. Any one of us could have been in that innocent group of bikers riding towards him.

Be safe out there people... it's really not worth passing if you're not 100% sure.. there are so many wide open straights on that road...

In a nutshell....

[danchop]

has total blame on the sole bikers been made official?the other group may have been comming towards them at a great deal of knots?

[blairh]

has total blame on the sole bikers been made official?the other group may have been comming towards them at a great deal of knots?

Doesn't matter what speed they were going. He passed, there was oncoming traffic. Tragic.

[blairh]

Riders have been named - http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...549889&ref=rss

[Tank]

Sad to read about this.

A good reminder that as bikers we need to ride defensibly.

When riding roads like SH16 or the coro loop - Im more concerned about other bikers than I am about cars

We can only hope that this is the last fatality of the summer - but sadly Im sure it wont be.

Ride safe, to the conditions, environment and your ability people.

[Titanium]

Double solid yellow lines mean something ......

RIP.

Been there, seen that ........ watching it on the news is pale in comparison to actually living it!