U-turn cop to stand trial

[Fatjim]

Katman, The olde saying "it is better to keep quiet and be thought a fool, than open ones mouth and leave no doubt" really should be springing to your mind about now even though its too late.

MD has some personal insights into the said incident, it appears you are speaking from a position of ignorance.

[HenryDorsetCase]

The reason your comments annoy me is that they could have easily stopped in the clear lane of road that they could see ahead of them. That was until a car pulled out from an obscured position on the opposite side of the road to them.
Have a look at the scene photo I put on the original thread here back in December. They gave an understanding of what each party could see.
edit- here:
http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...=62178&page=27

Here's food for thought though. Why did a passing Doctor at the scene go public in the Chch Press, making a statement that she would take a private prosecution against the Officer for his behaviour at the accident scene, if the Police didn't?

That was my understanding, too. It must have come from the original thread.

The thing is, there are no winners here.

[Nade]

Having travelled that peice of road many times, and has been said by the locals, there are only 2 places to turn round safley in the gorge.....at the pub at each end. There is no room to turn a car 180 deg without doing a 3 point turn and no place ,to do it without a clear SAFE view of traffic from either direction. If it had been one of the coal trucks or a logging truck that came round the corner there would be nothing left of the cop car and I would say he would have been severly injured.
Speaking from 3rd hand info....my superviser is good friends with 2 of the cops workmates and they both have said and I quote "he's fucked".

Just my 2 cents.

[MD]

Pictures can easily be deceiving.

However, I'd like to see a photo taken from the position the cops seat would have been at prior to the turn looking towards where the bikes were coming from and also a photo from where the cops car would have become visible looking in the direction the bikes were heading. Can anyone post them up?

This is the view from the Riders direction. However, this was taken standing on the grass verge, not from the centre of the westward lane, so the Riders had less visibility.
The shadows against the hill (right side of pic) was where the cop was. He pulled well over onto the grass first, hard against the hillside (Red circle- car tyre marks showed that) to try and give himself more room to complete the u-turn.
I placed myself where the car driver would have been positioned before commencing right hand turn across the road. I can tell you, hard against the hill, you can't see far around the approaching bend. Similarly, you can't see far behind, so getting rear ended was also a possibility.
News photos with the car in the picture give a better perspective on how narrow the road was.
Notice there are no skid marks from the bikes.
edit- the road appears to straighten as it reaches the cameraman. It doesn't. It continues to curve at the same radius.

[Katman]

Have a look at the scene photo I put on the original thread here back in December. They gave an understanding of what each party could see.
edit- here:
http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...=62178&page=27

That photo shows absolutely nothing. It doesn't show what the cop might have seen and it doesn't show what the riders might have seen. Why you keep refering to it has me stumped.

[Badjelly]

That photo shows absolutely nothing. It doesn't show what the cop might have seen and it doesn't show what the riders might have seen. Why you keep refering to it has me stumped.

Jeez, mate, he's sharing the information he has in an effort to help you and others understand the situation. If the picture doesn't show what you want, go and take one yourself.

[munterk6]

Having travelled that peice of road many times, and has been said by the locals, there are only 2 places to turn round safley in the gorge.....at the pub at each end. There is no room to turn a car 180 deg without doing a 3 point turn and no place ,to do it without a clear SAFE view of traffic from either direction. If it had been one of the coal trucks or a logging truck that came round the corner there would be nothing left of the cop car and I would say he would have been severly injured.
Speaking from 3rd hand info....my superviser is good friends with 2 of the cops workmates and they both have said and I quote "he's fucked".

Just my 2 cents.

Too bad it was 2 bikes coming round that corner and not a logging truck, that glorified parking warden would have learnt a valuable lesson(albeit for a few brief seconds) NEVER NEVER NEVER do a 3 point turn on a narrow winding 100kmh road with VERY limited visibility....would have made all traffic cops(revenue collectors) sit up and take notice of the consequences....and he risked it all for what????? a few lousy dollars in fines..

[Headbanger]

That photo shows absolutely nothing. It doesn't show what the cop might have seen and it doesn't show what the riders might have seen. Why you keep refering to it has me stumped.

Thats because your pretty damn thick.

[Katman]

Jeez, mate, he's sharing the information he has in an effort to help you and others understand the situation. If the picture doesn't show what you want, go and take one yourself.

My post was in fact refering to the photo looking eastward. The westward looking photo was posted while I was typing my post. (It still doesn't show anything particularly relevant though).

[Stormer]

Too bad it was 2 bikes coming round that corner and not a logging truck, that glorified parking warden would have learnt a valuable lesson(albeit for a few brief seconds) NEVER NEVER NEVER do a 3 point turn on a narrow winding 100kmh road with VERY limited visibility....would have made all traffic cops(revenue collectors) sit up and take notice of the consequences....and he risked it all for what????? a few lousy dollars in fines..

My friend, that is so correct.
Out for the blood of another booking, and all thoughts of rationality and training go out the window...

[terbang]

Too bad it was 2 bikes coming round that corner and not a logging truck, that glorified parking warden would have learnt a valuable lesson(albeit for a few brief seconds) NEVER NEVER NEVER do a 3 point turn on a narrow winding 100kmh road with VERY limited visibility....would have made all traffic cops(revenue collectors) sit up and take notice of the consequences....and he risked it all for what????? a few lousy dollars in fines..

Hah, you are onto it. I can just see him standing at the pearly gates ¨Reckon I´m OK mate, it was the truckies fault, because he was going too fast and couldn't stop in the available distance, he´ll be the one geting the book thrown at him¨.

[Katman]

Hah, you are onto it. I can just see him standing at the pearly gates ¨Reckon I´m OK mate, it was the truckies fault, because he was going too fast and couldn't stop in the available distance, he´ll be the one geting the book thrown at him¨.

Can you not see how that works precisely from a motorcyclists point of view as well? Like has been said many times before - it's not much use saying "but it wasn't my fault" as they read you your last rites.

[imdying]

That photo shows absolutely nothing.

Well that's not entirely true. I do feel that the maximum safe speed of 30km/hr as estimated by another member earlier in the thread is quite a bit under what would be safe, as that's not particularly blind. Having said that, I am assuming that the preceding curve is of a similar radius to the bit we can see.

Love your point munter... the cop is very lucky that it wasn't a logging truck that wouldn't have been able to stop in time.

[MD]

That photo shows absolutely nothing. It doesn't show what the cop might have seen and it doesn't show what the riders might have seen. Why you keep refering to it has me stumped.

You are a stubborn prick aren't you.
You asked for, quote "and also a photo from where the cops car would have become visible looking in the direction the bikes were heading. Can anyone post them up? "


This is an intelligence test just for you. Pick which of the following images does THAT picture show;

a. Angelina Jolie naked
b. vanilla icecream in a cone
c. wiring diagram for a 1974 Ford Cortina
OR
d. a view of the road showing exactly where this accident happened taken in the direction the bikes were heading.

Look carefully again at the photo of "absolutely nothing". The grey stuff on the ground is called the road. The green bits beside it are called grass. The taller green bits are trees - none of them are absolutely nothing. If you want to check ,bash your head at speed against a tree to get a sense of the difference between nothing and a tree.

With your conviction being so strong of what happened, I trust that you have contacted the police with your eye witness account.

[Katman]

You are a stubborn prick aren't you.
You asked for, quote "and also a photo from where the cops car would have become visible looking in the direction the bikes were heading. Can anyone post them up? "


This is an intelligence test just for you. Pick which of the following images does THAT picture show;

a. Angelina Jolie naked
b. vanilla icecream in a cone
c. wiring diagram for a 1974 Ford Cortina
OR
d. a view of the road showing exactly where this accident happened taken in the direction the bikes were heading.

Look carefully again at the photo of "absolutely nothing". The grey stuff on the ground is called the road. The green bits beside it are called grass. The taller green bits are trees - none of them are absolutely nothing. If you want to check ,bash your head at speed against a tree to get a sense of the difference between nothing and a tree.

With your conviction being so strong of what happened, I trust that you have contacted the police with your eye witness account.

Go re-read post #129.

Fuck me, there's some dumbfucks on here.