What Coppie did - A thread listing Police road accidents and bad driving

[CHOPPA]

Did anyone bother to read the question at the start of the thread?

[onearmedbandit]

Did anyone bother to read the question at the start of the thread?

That's a trick question!! There is no question in the first post!

[Big Dave]

Did anyone bother to read the question at the start of the thread?

Cop Chop, the cop thread thread cop.

[rustic101]

This
RATS

Howard,

Appreciate your reply in both messages. However there is a clear lack of perceived visibility - I certainly agree that there needs to be a National Body, however at present every man/woman and their dog is trying to represent.. There was a chap I talked to in ChCh who was also looking at setting up a National Body at which time I offered my assistance, to date, nothing.

From my perspective - most individuals on here are extremely quick to jump on the band wagon or point the finger before the full facts are known (fact). To be honest most are full of gusto and lack the ability to back up or carry through there thoughts or actions, in most cases I'll stop short of calling some posters childish. The work that your team and BRONZ did as well as most riders to tackle the ACC issue was fantastic - I know, as I was also deeply entrenched in that. However that was one issue which was always a hiding to none as we (motorcyclists) were used as a political tool and we played right into their hands...

In order to put all the drama, finger pointing, blame game and name calling to one side, motorcyclists need one credible voice. Leadership and unity is the only way to be taken seriously. Regardless of who forms this it needs to be done to give credibility to our cause, more importantly to improve our safety. It needs to conducted in a professional and business like manor.

One of my beliefs is; 'you can either be part of the problem or part of the solution' - We (motorcyclists) need to raise our profile and tackle matters of concern to us at a higher level and ensure that we keep the pressure on across a range of areas. To do that we need to get along side all sectors of Government agencies to get them working for us not against us. This also applies to the motorcycle industry, and I'm not just talking about the local bike shop down the road, I'm talking the brands.

I am not a member of either of the bodies mentioned, however again I offer my knowledge, skills and time.

Again this is about all riders not just KB, BRONZ or Ulysses.

Your thoughts

[ZX12R Hoon]

Rustic101. Yes, we were used as a political tool. Yes the response from most bikers and Biker organisations was amasing (we had media people telling us that they were amased that we kept the issue in the media so long). Yes we absoluty need a professional, respectable body to represent us, in fact yes, I agree with what you have said.
Who should be on the body that represents us is the big question and if you read my letter to the other bike groups it pretty well tells you my opinion on that. Actually its not "my" letter, it was worked up by myself and Peter McIntosh with input from the rest of the National Committee. I guess there will always be disagreement about who should represent us (bikers) but if we get reps from all the bike groups then to me that's more representative than having one group, take any other group in the frame for instance, they represent the members who have joined their organisation so that means that they don't represent the vast majority. That includes BRONZ. Kiwibiker is probably the biggest but they have no structure of representation, I talked to Mom and a group of other Kiwibiker guys and suggested that they form some sort of pricipal group but I've heard nothing back. I can't think of another or better way than to bring all the bike groups together into one room and thrash this out, thats why Ulysses have gone down this path, and are willing to put their money where their mouth is. It's why I spent many hours writing letters and finding all the national groups and their contacts, it's why I spent a lot of time recently on the phone talking to the groups who haven't answered.

[trustme]

Did anyone bother to read the question at the start of the thread?

It started as a bullshit whinge thread , good stuff is coming out in the last few posts, leave them alone to actually get on with positive stuff.

Sorry , whingeing is much more fun isn't it, as someone who was on Bronz in the very very early days I know just how unfun trying to make a difference can be. Although sending all the bald tyres to parliament house WAS fun & a bloody effective shit stir that ultimately achieved nothing ,In retrospect it did effectively get Bronz off the ground & active so something was achieved.

[Pixie]

I forgot one in post 2:
Being followed,on the Mangawhai rd,in the dark,by a police ute at 100 kmh, who sits 2 metres off my rear wheel and refuses to pass when I give him the opportunity.
Perhaps trying to elicit a speeding offence from me?
I called the sergeant at Wellsford the next day and the culprit got his arse served to him.
Apparently, the excuse given for following so close was that he was trying to pass.

[Pixie]

Ya' know the problem with the pigs? It's pretty easy really... They are just Humans.

I would have preferred that this thread remained just an account of riders' experiences without the justifications and excuses.
But since you brought it up.....
The quoted comment above is what I call the "Kiwi justification".
Along with "everyone makes mistakes", "They are just Humans" is the typical half arsed NZ attitude to professionalism and doing a job properly,espoused in the "she'll be right philosophy".

When this philosophy is applied to behaviours that can result in death it is totally unacceptable.Those found to have this attitude should be dismissed from their jobs forthwith.They can go and do something in the janitorial field,where the risk of killing innocent people is much lower.
Would you accept "everyone makes mistakes", "They are just Humans" to excuse airliner crashes?The international civil aviation authorities don't.

[scumdog]

I forgot one in post 2:
Being followed,on the Mangawhai rd,in the dark,by a police ute at 100 kmh, who sits 2 metres off my rear wheel and refuses to pass when I give him the opportunity.
Perhaps trying to elicit a speeding offence from me?
I called the sergeant at Wellsford the next day and the culprit got his arse served to him.
Apparently, the excuse given for following so close was that he was trying to pass.

So why don't more do as you did - report the incident to the local cop shop?

Oh, that's right this is KB so: "Cos nothing will be done/happen etc" is the most common comment here.......

[Pixie]

I just thought of another couple of boo boos:
The two cop cars that collided at the intersection of Balmoral rd and Sandringham rd in the early hours a few years ago - they were going to the same callout (probably the only 24 hr donut shop in town)

And the car that was driven off the causeway on the way to Whangarei airport (Onerahi?) into the mangroves one sunny afternoon.

[Pixie]

Can I start a thread on bad driving by non police peole?

Or would that overload the site?

Sure can Scummy.
But check with the poster of post #2 he may have beaten you to it.
By the way - you don't need to ask permission.

[scumdog]

Sure can Scummy.
But check with the poster of post #2 he may have beaten you to it.
By the way - you don't need to ask permission.

Ta!

Funny but I got red-repped for asking that question - by somebody who hasn't even posted on this thread yet (from memory) - some people have no sense of humour eh!

[EJK]

Police officers catch bad people so that we can be safe to play in the playground

[Bald Eagle]

A few years back I did the Holden Advance Driver training course at Puke. Great course - highly recommended. The chief instructor used to be involved with driving instruction for the police. He told us that he left because he felt that despite all of the training, their accident rate was rising. He told us that he was tasked with investigating training methods elsewhere in the world, but that the hierarchy refused to believe that there is a better way to do things. He was convinced that they were using an outmoded model, and decided to go private.

That's what he said.

They used to have a two week full time driving course and driving school with ex London Met instructors. Very high quality training. Done away with to save money I 'spect.

[Pixie]

It started as a bullshit whinge thread , good stuff is coming out in the last few posts, leave them alone to actually get on with positive stuff.

Sorry , whingeing is much more fun isn't it, as someone who was on Bronz in the very very early days I know just how unfun trying to make a difference can be. Although sending all the bald tyres to parliament house WAS fun & a bloody effective shit stir that ultimately achieved nothing ,In retrospect it did effectively get Bronz off the ground & active so something was achieved.

Actually it is not a whinge thread,or maybe one with a purpose.
I would like to end up with a list showing just how common bad driving practices are amongst the Police and perhaps get some action regarding training or change the "rabid dog" ticketing policies.