Should full gear be made compulsory? (Full-face helmet, jacket, pants, boots, gloves)

[HornetBoy]

YES but lots of accidents happen during that "nip down the road"

yep true but would you like to be forced to wear full kit(boots,gloves,jacket,pants,helmet) just to go a couple kilometers ? i reckon for most people its a calculated risk

[HRT]

It would be a bitch having to chuck everything on just to go for a short trip, more so on a hot day. Would pretty much discourage me using the bike if that was the case.

And likewise would discourage people from buying bikes in the first place if you had to add an extra grand or more on the top of the price of your first bike. And then the issue of safety standards on boots etc etc which would simply bump up the price of decent gear because it costs extra to get a standard on

Helmet is a must, sure. But on a hot day for a quick little trip you sometimes don't even want a jacket on

[Steam]

It would be a bitch having to chuck everything on just to go for a short trip, more so on a hot day. Would pretty much discourage me using the bike if that was the case.

And likewise would discourage people from buying bikes in the first place if you had to add an extra grand or more on the top of the price of your first bike.

Yeah that's all true true. But I reckon some penny-pinching politician is going to propose it soon, within 5 years or so. It'll be a battle to protect our biking freedom no matter who is in government.

[Ixion]

The other objection is that for such a law to work, all gear would need to be certifed. So, only goverment approved jacket, government approved boots, etc.

Firstly, do you want to trust the government in such matters. Secondly, since no other country in the world makes such demands, such certification would have to be done specifically for NZ. At what cost? and who would bear the cost? (No prizes for guessing). And the hassle would deter all but a very few manufacturers from staying in the market. Oligopoly means even HIGHER prices.

I will forstall the objection that it is not so with helmets by pointing out that many other jurisdictions require helmets and have provided statutory standards for them . There are no such standards for other gear (not statutory ones, anyway)

[JimO]

Yeah that's all true true. But I reckon some penny-pinching politician is going to propose it soon, within 5 years or so. It'll be a battle to protect our biking freedom no matter who is in government.

sue bradford would be the man for the job

[craneman]

its obvious from our comments that most of YOU havent worked out the meaning of life yet. Its a random series of events .ie; crash your plane into a helecopter ,get taken out by some tourist in a campervan ,or sit at home wraped in cottonwool and die of a heart attack(AND I dont think full protective clothing will save you from that) or be like paddy who smoked all his life,went through ww2 from start to finish ,rode m-cycles from the age of 13 and died at 96 when he got a zip off his toaster

[James Deuce]

I am amazed, I never thought the Make It Compulsory numbers would be so high. More than 20% of KBers!
They sure keep a low profile, I guess they are a bit afraid to speak out and get flamed down.

If that's the percentage amongst motorcyclists, imagine what percentage would be returned by the cage-driving public and even politicans!

Very very interesting!

It's not even vaguely interesting.

We don't represent NZ "bikers" on KB, mainly because we're the minority of Kiwi motorcyclists who aren't scared of electrical appliances or them damn computers and we're boring with far too much time on our hands.

Even thinking about protective gear beyond the legally mandated helmet means you're not a real biker, just an Interdweeb wastrel with wannabe syndrome.

Get outside, find some culs-de-sac, and go ride pocket bikes round in circles while wearing a pushie helmet, wife beater, boardies, and red and white jandals. Don't come in until you've crashed at least twice and there's road rash and blood everywhere and you're drunk and giggling like a 14 year old school girl with a copy of "Mandingo".

[Steam]

or be like paddy who smoked all his life,went through ww2 from start to finish ,rode m-cycles from the age of 13 and died at 96 when he got a zip off his toaster

Okaaaay.

Despite common sense telling you... well, most of us...
...that taking care and wearing the gear (etc) increases the possibilities of living longer and better.

And that lucky old Paddy is one in a thousand, one in ten thousand, who managed to survive despite all that.

But you, Craneman, are more than welcome to do whatever the fuck you like. Don't wear a helmet for all I care. Steer your plane directly for that helicopter. Smoke a pack a day and hope you dodge the statistics. Go fight at Gallipoli and be one of the few who returned to speak of it. Ride a bike at the redline around town, close your eyes as you run the red lights at 100k in a 50 zone.
Sit at home wearing not cotton wool, but a thin smear of bacon fat instead.

I mean, I understand your point, but your example was a fucking stupid one.

Please try harder in future.

[Motu]

Don't come in until you've crashed at least twice and there's road rash and blood everywhere and you're drunk and giggling like a 14 year old school girl with a copy of "Mandingo".

I think what is sadly lacking from these people is the skill to crash safely.Closing your eyes and saying ''oh shit'' is going to give you a story to tell other riders about ATGATT.Active crash management starts before ''oh shit'' happens,is on going during the crash process and isn't over until the final outcome meets your objectives.Do it often enough and it's second nature.

A few weeks ago I watched my daughter get out of control on my TLR200 - she took off at 90 deg to her intended course (Poor throttle control,I thought I had explained the sudden lurch) and launched the bike off a metre high bank into a rocky stream,the bike ending upside down on it's handle bars.She landed on her feet giggling like a school girl.She was wearing jeans,gumboots and a T shirt....no helmet even.I was a pretty proud Dad....

[twotyred]

It would be a bitch having to chuck everything on just to go for a short trip, more so on a hot day. Would pretty much discourage me using the bike if that was the case.

And likewise would discourage people from buying bikes in the first place if you had to add an extra grand or more on the top of the price of your first bike. And then the issue of safety standards on boots etc etc which would simply bump up the price of decent gear because it costs extra to get a standard on

This is exactly why someone will eventually propose it in parliament,cause gubmints would love to see bikes cease to exist... I'm sure it's on someones list somewhere..

[Grumpy]

I voted yes for the simple reason that I've seen the results after some mates binned while not wearing the right gear. At some stage all were heard to say the words "it's my life and I'll do what I'll fuckin' like". In part this may be true but the reality is the aftermath affects more than just themselves. Friends and family also feel the effects. Maybe not the same sort of pain but it's not nice having to watch a partner or mate or family member go through the agony of recovering from a skin graft while you are helping to care for them. It is our life and we should be able to do what the fuck we want. Motorcycling is a dangerous hobbie but I think we do owe to those others that an "off" is going to have an impact on to be a little sensible when kitting up for a ride.

[Swampdonkey]

Just the word "compulsory" scars the shit out of me. The present government use it way much,the greens just love it!! Lets keep it out of the bikeing community.

[Ocean1]

I think what is sadly lacking from these people is the skill to crash safely.Closing your eyes and saying ''oh shit'' is going to give you a story to tell other riders about ATGATT.Active crash management starts before ''oh shit'' happens,is on going during the crash process and isn't over until the final outcome meets your objectives.Do it often enough and it's second nature.

A few weeks ago I watched my daughter get out of control on my TLR200 - she took off at 90 deg to her intended course (Poor throttle control,I thought I had explained the sudden lurch) and launched the bike off a metre high bank into a rocky stream,the bike ending upside down on it's handle bars.She landed on her feet giggling like a school girl.She was wearing jeans,gumboots and a T shirt....no helmet even.I was a pretty proud Dad....

Nice. I couldn't agree more, and that's the perfect environment to learn ACM.
When I started crashing a fairly high percentage of learners rode dirt bikes and crashed mostly in the dirt. Don't think that's true any more. How many times does your average learner need to actually crash to learn those skills? And can you learn them on the road and survive?

As for compulsory specified riding kit? Hell no, NZ is just possibly the worst society in the world for prescriptive legislation "controlling" minority behaviour. We've even advanced to allowing a rabid minority to dictate an overwhelming majority of parental behaviour. Be very carefull of anything that starts with "they orta", it always defines a statement intended to intefere with someone else's rightful choices.

If you want to "control" other people's behaviour start by removing systems that encourage bad behaviour. If the cost of bike related accidents is high then allow riders to pay those costs through free-market insurance. If you then want to ride without sensible protection you'll do so with the knowledge that you've either payed the appropriate premiums or you'll be paying for health care in cold hard cash.

[Animal]

ATGATT in Perth appears to mean closed sneakers with your shorts and singlet, whereas riding in jandals is considered 'reckless'. However, it is appropriate to still wear your >$800 helmet because the cops fine you if you don't.

Wearing the NZ interpretation of ATG is a daily challenge here because it's so fuckin' hot and leather everything makes for a mobile sauna, even on a short trip! I've had to adapt my thinking somewhat, so nowadays I don't roll the bike out of the garage unless it's for a reasonably long ride. There is a bonus to this... I now take the longest route possible to get to work to justify the loss of sweat.

In reply to your question, Mr Steam, I'd rather not give away another of my personal liberties for The Government to make money out of. They have enough things that they can fine us over already, methinks.

[Jiminy]

Voted no.

Defining the mandatory gear will not be an easy task. Plus, there is a (very subjective) line that you need to draw between plain stupidity and calculated risk.

The other day, I drove my bike to the dealer through the whole of 6 crossings wearing only my helmet and my fingerless gloves. I felt a bit naked and put on my jacket when picking up the bike two days later, but I find that a law telling me what to wear would be too intrusive.

Mind you, I also think that helmets on push bikes are really annoying and should be optional.