Aging motorcyclists - Close Up tonight 30/11/10

[Mudfart]

I couldnt post this on the msn have your say page which shows the article, so here it is, i hope someone reads it, with the point being 1 bikers 18 more times die coz we dont have cage protection 2 cars kill us.
every morning i ride home at 6am and i meet cars on waerenga rd in nth waikato on corners. out of 100 cars on 100 corners, 99 of them are on MY side of the road.

Its sad to see the way motorcyclists are painted by the media. They think their readers will be infuriated by the comments that lean heavily towards the extremely negative. Motrcyclists are 18 times more likely to have a serious/ fatal crash. Well, motorcyclists dont have airbags, seatlbelts, infact very much at all between them and the road.
Maybe the media could obtain the information that tells us how the riders die, I bet a lot get run over by cars that follow too close. I also know that a lot of riders are killed by cars or trucks that cross the centreline, especially so when going around corners. Here in North Waikato, vehicles are famous for it, that, and only having one headlight. And if its dark, and the only working headlight is the passenger side headlight, "you're 18 times more likely to wipe out a bike, man"!

[Smifffy]

Lovely!

So is there a MAG view? Is there someone who may speak on behalf of the organisation, at the risk of possibly upsetting a proportion of the membership?

Or is this another typical NZ 'rule by committee & consensus" organisation that needs to thrash out every issue ad nauseum until the message is buried in PC doublespeak, and the issue has been forgotten?

I didn't view it as a negative. If you get caught on your bike riding faster than the posted speed limit then sucks to be you. Harden up and pay the fine, you earned it.
But, on a personal note, please dont anyone lump me in with that clueless knob and his nanny-goat partner. All I could say to Close-up is, ''you got some right fuckwits there didn't ya''?
And I would say this as Mark ..... not as a member of MAG!
It is my personal view only.

[Maha]

Had me thinking for a bit. The couple that is going for that massive diamond in the Michael Hill competition. Or were they the third story? I was busy getting the children hosed down in the garden before chasing them into bed so only focussed on the motorcycle piece.

I said Monday night, not last night.

[Pascal]

I said Monday night, not last night.

Ah, damnit. Busy week means it's only Tuesday in my head. So then no idea - I'd rather watch Shortland Street than Closeup. There's more real journamalism there.

[Maha]

Lovely!

So is there a MAG view? Is there someone who may speak on behalf of the organisation, at the risk of possibly upsetting a proportion of the membership?

Or is this another typical NZ 'rule by committee & consensus" organisation that needs to thrash out every issue ad nauseum until the message is buried in PC doublespeak, and the issue has been forgotten?

You probably want ask our president (Mom) ...she posted on here earlier. please feel free to search.
But to be perfectly honest, we have more pressing issues to talk about in the MAG forum than what was on TV last night.
I really dont see that there anything to chew over, some bikers got pinged, what of it?

[Katman]

Its sad to see the way motorcyclists are painted by the media. They think their readers will be infuriated by the comments that lean heavily towards the extremely negative. Motrcyclists are 18 times more likely to have a serious/ fatal crash. Well, motorcyclists dont have airbags, seatlbelts, infact very much at all between them and the road.
Maybe the media could obtain the information that tells us how the riders die, I bet a lot get run over by cars that follow too close. I also know that a lot of riders are killed by cars or trucks that cross the centreline, especially so when going around corners. Here in North Waikato, vehicles are famous for it, that, and only having one headlight. And if its dark, and the only working headlight is the passenger side headlight, "you're 18 times more likely to wipe out a bike, man"!

Maybe you'd like to go check the NZTA stats on serious/fatal motorcycle accidents. (Or maybe you wouldn't actually - they'd probably disappoint you).

[bogan]

Or is this another typical NZ 'rule by committee & consensus" organisation that needs to thrash out every issue ad nauseum until the message is buried in PC doublespeak, and the issue has been forgotten?

MAG is still only a few months old, so it isn't reasonable to expect all our commitee members are of the same opinion without consulting each other (would make for a boring organisation!). But i reckon we can get something done in days rather than weeks

[Banditbandit]

I watched it again online I am still trying to figure this part out, the only gang member was the bloke who admitted his mistake and had what appeared to be the most professional attitude. Can you let in on what ever I am missing that determines the majority were gang members.

I saw more than one of the riders stopped with colours ... various other signals between the group ...

I suppose, if we are going to talk about it, what got me most was that the patched members shown in the footage are unlikely to be the born-again bikers the police and media claim are being targetted ..

[Banditbandit]

140 fair enough , but 119 ,, on that stretch of road , in those conditions

revenue gathering

Stephen

So slightly breaking the law is OK ? But really breaking the law is not ? What about slightly breaking other laws .. such as .. oooo . Theft ? Murder ? Sorry officer, I only slightly killed him - so don't be revenue gathering from me today ...

[bogan]

Maybe you'd like to go check the NZTA stats on serious/fatal motorcycle accidents. (Or maybe you wouldn't actually - they'd probably disappoint you).

The opposite actually, he'd find out that the 18x is actually less than 4x, pity the numpties on close up didn't go to NZTA first.

[Banditbandit]

So what, as a part of the biking community, do we do about the semi accurate public perception?

Fuck 'em if they can't take a joke ..

[BoristheBiter]

I couldnt post this on the msn have your say page which shows the article, so here it is, i hope someone reads it, with the point being 1 bikers 18 more times die coz we dont have cage protection 2 cars kill us.
every morning i ride home at 6am and i meet cars on waerenga rd in nth waikato on corners. out of 100 cars on 100 corners, 99 of them are on MY side of the road.

"!

Fuck me if thats the state of driving down there no wonder there are so many deaths.
I would be taking another way home myself.
Or maybe buy a tank, lets see the fuckers cross the center line then.

[george formby]

Without searching for it, can anyone remember the 2nd article on Close-up on Monday night?

No. I leaped before i looked. soz

[Katman]

The opposite actually, he'd find out that the 18x is actually less than 4x, pity the numpties on close up didn't go to NZTA first.

I was actually talking about the 75% figure for the serious/fatal accidents that was attributable to the motorcyclist.

[Maha]

No. I leaped before i looked. soz

Point is, actually, what is the point? I have forgotten.....
Is it that the article showed several upset bikers?
or....is it that, the article showed more bikers not being stopped than were being stopped?
or even...god forebid, proved that there are bikers on the road that dont give a shit about how fast they are going at any one time?
...could the point be that possibly, and I think I have it now, that it showed those bastard cops picking on those poor unsuspecting lads out for a quiet cruise?