I have given some consideration to the wording of proposal 16a, and think a different focus might be of benefit.
I've considered three views.
1. A person wanting to get into riding with no experience. The current wording places the onus on the new rider to ensure the bike meets the legal requires of being under 660cc and less than 150 kw/tonne. This is a lot of knowledge for someone to possess who does not know anything about riding.
2. Enforcement on the road side by Police will be difficult. I cannot see how a Police person could readily determine the power to weight ratio by just looking at the motorcycle. Additionally, I can see some difficulties for the court in trying to uphold this law. For example, how exactly is the weight measured (dry sump, with or without rider, at what RPM, at what temperature). Also there can be quite some variance between a manufactures published power figures at what is actually measured on a Dyno. And even when using a Dyno, no two Dyno's are likely to give the same answer as they often measure the power in different ways.
3. No provision is allowed for new technology, such as electric bikes.
I understand that a list is proposed to be used to assist in these areas.
I would like to propose that the legislation be changed so that it states a learner can only ride a bike that is on the list, as opposed to stating the technical mechanical requirements of the motorbike. This makes it very easy for someone buying a motorbike - it is either on the list or not. It makes enforcement on the side of the road very easy, and it makes it easy on the courts.
I also propose that the legislation provide the power to the LSTA to add and remove motorcycles from the approved learner bike list.
And I propose that the LTSA prepare guidelines saying that only bikes under 660cc and under 150 kw/tonne (as currently proposed in the legislation) will be placed on the list, and that manufacturers and importers (who have the technical knowledge) need to apply to the LTSA to have their bikes placed on that list. This shifts the onus from those without the knowledge to those with the knowledge.
I would suggest that the LTSA could also say that any bike on the Australian list is automatically placed on the NZ list.
The reason I prefer that the process is managed by the LTSA is that the LTSA can adapt faster to changes - such as the uptake of electric bikes. Anything put in legislation takes a long time to change.
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