Labour Party MP's message read out at Protest Ride - 3/11/07

[crashe]

I have been asked by some of the Protest Ride Organisers to post up the letter/message, from some Labour Party MP's, that I read out at the Auckland Domain after our protest ride.

I had spent all day (10am to 9pm) on Friday (2nd November) speaking to many Labour Party MP's, about the Wire Rope Barriers (cheescutters) at the Labour Party Conference, that was held at the Bruce Mason Centre in Takapuna on the 2nd -4th November 2007.

The MP's were all shocked and saddened by what had happened to Dan and wanted their condolances passed on to the family.
I did get a very good positive feedback from the MP's.
Some wanted more information, so I was able to pass on some infomation that Ixion had emailed to me the night before.


Here below is the message that Hon Judith Tizard asked me to read:

Hon Annette King, Minister of Transport, Hon Judith Tizard & Hon Harry Duynhaven, Associate Ministers of Transport send a message to the rally for Safe Motorway Barriers.

We are all at the Labour Party Conference and we regret we cannot meet you, here at the Auckland Domain.

We support your campaign for safer roads for all New Zealanders and will work with Transit New Zealand to make sure that the barriers separating opposing lanes on our motorways are not a risk for motorcyclists.

Judith Tizard
for Annette & Harry
(Friday 2nd November 2007)

The MP's asked me to let them know how the ride went and as to how many turned up.
They were all impressed that approx 350 bikes were on the protest ride, especially as it was only organised within the past week.
They all said "Well done".

[Devil]

Great work, seriously. Good on your for getting stuck in and doing it.

[jafar]

As the majority if not all of these barriers went in while labour was in office it begs the question as to why they seem to be doing an about face now

Election year have anything to do with it I wonder

[Sanx]

As the majority if not all of these barriers went in while labour was in office it begs the question as to why they seem to be doing an about face now

Election year have anything to do with it I wonder

To paraphrase an old political drama:

You might say that. I couldn't possibly comment.

[jafar]

To paraphrase an old political drama:

You might say that. I couldn't possibly comment.

Yes Minister,

[crashe]

As the majority if not all of these barriers went in while labour was in office it begs the question as to why they seem to be doing an about face now

Election year have anything to do with it I wonder

It is nothing to do with election year at all.

I guess like most people they believed the stuff that Transit NZ told them.
After all they were or in some cases still used overseas.

It just needed a few tragic cases to show them just how bad they are.

I have spoken to many car users over the past few days...... and they after listening to me have changed their minds about them.

Apparently Sweden have designed a new design to the upright posts of the wire rope barriers.... they are still in the testing stage.

I was shown the design in the weekend. When looking down on them from above: It looks like a huge 'S' (the curve over bits come right down) to stop people being sliced.

The existing ones look like a huge 'C' - from one direction you will get sliced, but from the other side you don't when you hit them.

Personally I want them removed.

[Sanx]

Yes Minister,

Right country. Wrong Drama. House Of Cards, starring Ian Richardson. Was remarkably accurate, actually, considering it was written by a former Chief of Staff under Thatcher.

[Paul in NZ]

I have been asked by some of the Protest Ride Organisers to post up the letter/message, from some Labour Party MP's, that I read out at the Auckland Domain after our protest ride.

And I say well done to you too - well done mate....

[janno]

A big thank you Crashe, for making a huge effort to speak to the pollies. I'm really glad you were able to to this. Let's hope it makes a big difference.

[jafar]

It is nothing to do with election year at all.

I guess like most people they believed the stuff that Transit NZ told them.
After all they were or in some cases still used overseas.

It just needed a few tragic cases to show them just how bad they are.

I have spoken to many car users over the past few days...... and they after listening to me have changed their minds about them.

Apparently Sweden have designed a new design to the upright posts of the wire rope barriers.... they are still in the testing stage.

I was shown the design in the weekend. It looks like a huge 'S' (the curve over bits come right down) to stop people being sliced.

It's always to do with election year, we are fortunate that as this IS election year, if we cause enough of a stink something MIGHT be done fairly soon.

To quote Winston Churchill:
This is not the beginning of the end , it is only the end of the beginning !!

[jafar]

Right country. Wrong Drama. House Of Cards, starring Ian Richardson. Was remarkably accurate, actually, considering it was written by a former Chief of Staff under Thatcher.

Bugger , Wrong again

I was sure that was one of 'humphries' comments

[Sanx]

It is nothing to do with election year at all.

I guess like most people they believed the stuff that Transit NZ told them.
After all they were or in some cases still used overseas.

It just needed a few tragic cases to show them just how bad they are.

I have spoken to many car users over the past few days...... and they after listening to me have changed their minds about them.

Apparently Sweden have designed a new design to the upright posts of the wire rope barriers.... they are still in the testing stage.

I was shown the design in the weekend. It looks like a huge 'S' (the curve over bits come right down) to stop people being sliced.

The existing ones look like a huge 'C' - from direction you done get sliced, but from the other side you do.

Personally I want them removed.

We already use 'S'-shaped ones here. The barriers along Douglas Bader drive have them, though the curve at the top and bottom of the 'S' do not extend as far as they should. Regardless, the fundamental design of the legs is suspect. Making slight changes to the profile of them is akin to slightly blunting the edge of the meat cleaver, rather than replacing with with something a lot less damaging to the human body.

Secondly, the closed 'S' design isn't new. It is one of a number of alternate designs detailed in the FEMA Final report of the Motorcyclists & Crash Barriers Project. Research was done into the effects of different barrier leg cross-section designs in 1998 in a report entitled Motorcycle Accidents with guardrails by Hubert Koch and Reiner Brendicke of the Institute für Zweiradsicherheit. Incidentally, that same report recommended fitting impact attentuators to the barrier legs - essentially thick lumps of polystyrene insulation.

This government, and the various government departments, cannot claim ignorance of this issue. It's been raised before, and ignored. Transit, LTNZ and the government have simply assumed that motorcyclists' lives are cheap and put in barriers that don't actually work very well to stop head-on collisions, especially when they're not installed in line with manufacturer guidelines as is the case in the majority of installations I've seen, and that maim and kill motorcyclists in the event of an accident.

The slightest bit of lateral thinking on the part of any of these bodies would have come up with a number of solutions to the problem. Cover the bottom of the legs of the barriers with used tyres. In fact, string them along the wires too. Nail sheets of marine ply or plastic between the posts, provided a flat surface to slide down. Put a flexible W-shaped beam between the lower portion of the legs so bikers can't slide under them. Plant impact absorbing shrubbery either side of the median barriers (don't laugh - research carried out in 1966 showed that mature specimens of the Blackberry Rose, Rosa Multiflora Japonica, induced a deceleration of 0.45g on a car weighing 1125 kgs).

Harry Duynhoven has been Minister for Transport Safety for a while. Unless he is blatantly negligent, he could not have not known about this issue. If he was being fed a pack of lies by Transit NZ and accepted them without question, then not only should those responsible be held accountable but Mr Duynhoven should consider why he did nothing to research the matter himself. I'm no expert on all this, but a couple of hours with a web browser found me copies of research papers and links to other motorcycle lobby groups across the world. None of this is rocket science.

I sincerely hope that Duynhoven, King and Tizzard take the matter seriously and do something about it. However, considering this government's track record of chronic under-investment in infrastructure, their incredibly short-sighted approach to everything not to mention their general willingness to indulge in lightning-fast U-turns, I'll only believe it when I see the barriers starting to be made safe.

Crashe, none of this is to take away from your sterling effort in browbeating politicians with some cold hard facts. Well done of getting them to say anything.

[Ixion]

I sincerely hope that Duynhoven, King and Tizzard take the matter seriously and do somethign about it.

Duynhoven, King and Tizard won't do anything about it. that's up to *us*.

But what that letter DOES tell us , is that Transit won't get support from the ministers. Which means that they are vulnerable to pressure from the public (which is *us*), and MPs (responding to pressure from *us*)

This is *our* problem, nobody is going to fix it for us.

I cannot overstate the importance of that letter. It is quite true to say that the whole purpose of the Cheesecutter Ride was to provide a basis for those ministers to take such a position.

Of course Transit and the pollies have known about the problem for years. So have we. BRONZ has been arguing with Transit for years about it.

But with every issue , there's a moment when the time is right to strike . "There is a tide in the affairs of men .. ". Now I think is the time for the cheesecutters.

But *we* have to do it.

And now, we do it , not be riding but by writing (and phoning).

Write to Ms King. And Harry . And Judith . Nicely. Thank them for their concern and support. (bod, MP . C/- House of Representatives. Wellington. no stamp needed)

Write to your MP (or talk direct) Ask HIM (HER) to talk to Transit.

And write or email Transit (Mr Bates) . Point out that it is not just motorcyclists that think that barriers should be safe for motorcyclists. His ministers do too! And ask what he is going to do.

oOf course BRONZ will be writing and talking to. But politics is about numbers and noise. We need both. We need *you*

[Mom]

A big thank you Crashe, for making a huge effort to speak to the pollies. I'm really glad you were able to to this. Let's hope it makes a big difference.

+ 1

10 thingys

[Skyryder]

Yes well done guys. If a big enough noise is made and gets the polies attention things can change. I know there's been some shit flying round on this and for those of you who have been involved in organising the protest ride once again I say well done. Far be it for me to suggest the next move but I think this needs to get into the motor cycle communiity at large.

I remember saying something in another thread, something along the lines that these things take time and effort. There will always be downsides and the recent episode of those two clowns is proof of that. However the campaign is bigger that two dorks. Go out and enjoy for the win is worth all the effort and I suspect that this one is winnable reguardless of what Transit NZ say.

Skyryder