MOTO-NZ finally come up with something for all our money

[James Deuce]

Lights on works for every other motor vehicle except single track vehicles, e.g motorcycles.

During daylight hours it highlights the corners of a car,or truck or van, and makes it easier to gauge the approach speed of a vehicle. The wider the vehicle and the further apart the lights, the better.

On a motorcycle it is just a light of indeterminate speed, distance, and size and suffers from most of the issues that generate motion camouflage problems for unlit motorcycles.

[oneofsix]

Lights on works for every other motor vehicle except single track vehicles, e.g motorcycles.

During daylight hours it highlights the corners of a car,or truck or van, and makes it easier to gauge the approach speed of a vehicle. The wider the vehicle and the further apart the lights, the better.

On a motorcycle it is just a light of indeterminate speed, distance, and size and suffers from most of the issues that generate motion camouflage problems for unlit motorcycles.

Interesting point as a single light masks other factors that could clue distance and speed such as width of shoulders, length of bike etc. Many Bike manufacturers are trying to address the disadvantage of the lights on laws by providing dual lights, running lights etc but these are at best make do.

[Berries]

There used to be a truck, fitted with wheels & tires on a frame amidships. These wheels could be turned like any normal front wheels and were set at a slight angle to the truck's centreline. The frame measured and recorded lateral load. It's a simple rig that tests the road surface friction coefficient on the fly, at or close to normal speed.

May be something like that in service but I haven't seen that particular one for years.

Funny you mention it, but the truck that does the skid testing was parked in Mosgiel on Monday night.

Big yellow truck.

[Ocean1]

Funny you mention it, but the truck that does the skid testing was parked in Mosgiel on Monday night.

Big yellow truck.

Oh, right, nice.

So the assumption that the local councils and LTNZ don't know about the dangerous bits was a bit wrong. They just don't give a fuck.

[Conquiztador]

Funny you mention it, but the truck that does the skid testing was parked in Mosgiel on Monday night.

Big yellow truck.

Anyone know what the action is if a stretch of road/spot is found that is too "skiddy"? And...how long does it take to get action as a result of the yellow trucks results?

[Berries]

The action will depend on what caused the road to be "skiddy" in the first place because the remedial work may well differ. How long might depend on when the results come out. In some areas the results come out early enough that the programme for that year can be rejigged to make sure the worst sites are treated, in other areas the results are too late in the sealing season to do anything physical for six months.

Google 'NZTA skid resistance' and have a look at the T10 spec if you are interested.

[p.dath]

Funny you mention it, but the truck that does the skid testing was parked in Mosgiel on Monday night.

Big yellow truck.

Now that is really good to see! Proactively measuring the roading network and resolving issues, rather than waiting for an accident and an investigation to conclude that the road was a factor in the incident.

[Conquiztador]

Now that is really good to see! Proactively measuring the roading network and resolving issues, rather than waiting for an accident and an investigation to conclude that the road was a factor in the incident.

You got it wrong... the rider did not ride to the conditions, + speed and fatigue was also part of it. But the road...ha.

[MrKiwi]

Meant to post this a week or so back but I noticed those slippery lines across the motorway leaving Wellington are no longer that slippery, they have placed a chip seal on top of the original seal on the motorway joins.

[Ocean1]

Meant to post this a week or so back but I noticed those slippery lines across the motorway leaving Wellington are no longer that slippery, they have placed a chip seal on top of the original seal on the motorway joins.

Excellent.

Coincidence, shirly.

[MrKiwi]

Shirly - yep she manages to get a lot done...

[Bald Eagle]

Meant to post this a week or so back but I noticed those slippery lines across the motorway leaving Wellington are no longer that slippery, they have placed a chip seal on top of the original seal on the motorway joins.

Yep now they not slippery they just act like judder bars, which is almast as bad on the apex of a curve with a bit of lean on at mtorway speeds.

[MrKiwi]

Yep now they not slippery they just act like judder bars, which is almast as bad on the apex of a curve with a bit of lean on at mtorway speeds.

I guess that depends a little on what type of bike you are riding. My adventure bike tends to absorb those little bumps ok at 100kph, but I guess a sports bike might not do that so well.

[Ocean1]

I guess that depends a little on what type of bike you are riding. My adventure bike tends to absorb those little bumps ok at 100kph, but I guess a sports bike might not do that so well.

I haven't had occasion to check it out yet, but I don't generally have so much of a problem with lumps on either style of bike, perhaps because I've grown up with NZ roads.

Patches of near zero traction are definitely out of line, though, especially when there's little warning. Those strips might have been visibly different to the surrounding road surface but there was no warning in the appearance that the lack of grip might be so extreme. Good to see they've at least recognised there was a problem.

[MrKiwi]

I haven't had occasion to check it out yet, but I don't generally have so much of a problem with lumps on either style of bike, perhaps because I've grown up with NZ roads.

Patches of near zero traction are definitely out of line, though, especially when there's little warning. Those strips might have been visibly different to the surrounding road surface but there was no warning in the appearance that the lack of grip might be so extreme. Good to see they've at least recognised there was a problem.

I road over them this afternoon at 100kph and yes they do act a little like judder bars and I would imagine if you have a bike with firm sports suspension then you might get fractionally air born going over these. At speed in the wet I think that might cause a few unnecessary heart palpitations if you get momentarily, albeit fractionally, air born while in the middle of a corner.

How these behaved in the wet initially was in my view very dangerous and should never have been done like this. It created an unnecessarily dangerous situation for motorbikes. Careless in the extreme on behalf of the road owner. The current judder bar phenomena might reduce over time, but in the wet may still be hazardous, which is the point I think Bald Eagle is making.