Police news release - "Matching rider skills to their bikes"

[hospitalfood]

to many to read, but lets be fucking honest boys and girls............
the coro is a race track, look at all the coro loop runs........
of course there will be crashes !!!!!
i dont for a minute believe it is all about old riders getting back on bikes.

[PCTC]

I am what you would call an oldie but instead of returning to bikeing I am doing it for the first time 7 months an am now on a SV1000 I have no ego problems an a woman to live for so I take no chances I guess a lot of crashes could be avoided if you backed off and just rode for pleasure and stopped trying to show off I probably sound like an old fart but ride to the conditions

[23226]

I rode ex blenheim through to taupo->matamata -> onto the thames highway ( 27 ?) this evening, I encountered an atrocious left hand section that dropped about a foot / 300mm for several meters, it also had the the added bonus of tramlining the bike futher off the road into no mans land , this is in an area where the works gravels spreading units seemed to have every OTHER section of those roads under "improvement plans" .

Who are they trying to kid here ?

Sigh and the endless base course , don' t get me started.

Why don't they work on sections such as the one i encountered and just close the road if need to be and get the damn thing fixed instead of complaining about older riders returning to larger bikes.

Why are section of SH1 northbound towards bombay ex the Thames highway running without the lights switched on ?

I am pissed off with there spouting about how we need to check ourselves.

If the roads, lights and associated works were fit for basic safety requirements perhaps things would be a little safer in that area in general.

end of rant.

[Ocean1]

If the roads, lights and associated works were fit for basic safety requirements perhaps things would be a little safer in that area in general.

No, they're right, it is your choice, and the outcome your fault.

I'm just saying you need to pay the bill for your own risk selection policy. As long as "they" pay the butcher's bill they figure they've got the right to dictate that choice.

They're wrong.

[Paul in NZ]

Sorry Paul, but tell your friends, with the greatest possible respect, to mind their own bloody business.



Yup, just 'cause auntie decided everyone was just as equal as the next dude don't make it so. Jeez the f'kin gall of it, stealing my money on the pretense of "lookin' after me when I need it". You figure anyone's getting a good deal there? Fookin' protectionism's what it is.

Um - they are not my friends - I do a little business with them and of course I'd like to do more... I'm reporting conversations with them in an effort to throw some light onto the topic. I couldn't really car a wit about the inventive ways we find to kill ourselves other than when it makes my riding more expensive.

Basically - this IS their business, they are responsible for road safety funding and effectively own the roads, you are playing in their playground and on their property, they MAKE the rules, how is this not their business?

I do agree with your second point - there should be an opt out clause for ACC etc. However the other side of that is when you need help and the ambulance turns up they may just say - sorry chum, none of our business, sort yerself out...

[mctshirt]

On the bright side does this mean if I stay away from the Thames- Coromandel and Hauraki District Council area I decrease my chance off an injury related accident by 50%

[davereid]

I always laugh when I see motorcyclists proposing stricter rules for "other" motorcyclists.

Its the very attitude that will see us all in cars.

Cars are getting safer and safer.

Some manufacturers (like Volvo for example) say they are on target to get cars so safe you will not die, or indeed suffer serious injury in any crashes below the legal speed limit.

Very soon, certainly within 20 years, virtually the only people dying on the roads will be on two wheels.

No amount of helmets, pink shiny jackets, headlight laws will help.

Only banning motorcycles will help.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At the Volvo Car Corporation, the vision is to design cars that should not crash.

In the shorter perspective the aim is that by 2020 no-one should be killed or injured in a Volvo.

"We don't accept that people lose their lives in airplane accidents, so why should we regard car accidents as inevitable?" says Jan Ivarsson, head of Safety Strategy at the Volvo Car Corporation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[dipshit]

I always laugh when I see motorcyclists proposing stricter rules for "other" motorcyclists.

Its the very attitude that will see us all in cars.

Errrr... no... you have kind of outlined it quite nicely below.

Cars are getting safer and safer.

Some manufacturers (like Volvo for example) say they are on target to get cars so safe you will not die, or indeed suffer serious injury in any crashes below the legal speed limit.

Very soon, certainly within 20 years, virtually the only people dying on the roads will be on two wheels.

No amount of helmets, pink shiny jackets, headlight laws will help.

Only banning motorcycles will help.

Shit for brains motorcyclists that can't see this coming will be our undoing.

[MarkH]

went on a toy run with them. they had a new member, an older guy whod hit his old-age crisis and got back into bikes. bought the biggest, most powerful bike in the shop. im at the end of the pack, like always. come over a short but blind hill, and heres mr big bike sitting in the ditch with his bike, which is facing the wrong way. still dont know how he did it, but am sure it could have been easily avoided had he been on a smaller cc bike. like many males, the little head led the big head into strife.

What if the sort of person that would buy the biggest, most powerful bike in the shop is also the sort of person that would push the limits too far for their skill level? Maybe this guy would also have crashed a 250cc in the same situation.

I recently got back into biking after around 20 years absence - I chose a 400cc scooter instead of a 750cc+ sports bike. I feared that I would go too fast on a sports bike and lose my license, but it is also possible I could have gone too fast into a corner and killed myself. I am enjoying my return to biking and have put over 9000kms on my scooter in less than 4 months.
Last Saturday I rode from Auckland to Kopu, Thames, Coromandel, Whitianga, Kopu, Auckland. I took it easy and enjoyed the twisties at speeds below the legal limit and within my scooter's capabilities. It was great and I would happily do the loop again (maybe other direction). I just went off for the ride by myself and didn't have to worry about keeping up with anyone else, I had enough time and was in no hurry.

I have also been to a RRRS course and bought the book "Total Control" by Lee Parks (Which I haven't read yet ). It occurs to me that there are people that just go out and by a big fast bike and ride it without any thought of caution, despite inexperience or several decades since previous experience. I don't know if you can do much to combat their attitude any more than you can change the attitude of anyone else that will always push their vehicle beyond its capability or their own capability.

[Bass]

No, they're right, it is your choice, and the outcome your fault.

I'm just saying you need to pay the bill for your own risk selection policy. As long as "they" pay the butcher's bill they figure they've got the right to dictate that choice.

They're wrong.

Why are they wrong?
I tend to agree with the "set your own risk level, but pay for the consequences" policy, but I've also always gone with the old "He who pays the piper calls the tune" thing.
So if I am to avoid hypocracy, as long as I am ready to accept ACC, I cede to them the right to dictate (at least some of) the rules

[Conquiztador]

With a $1 billion blowout in ACC the $3 mill for bikers is not the problem.

[Squiggles]

The problem isnt with the bikes, but with the rider when they return... Several have commented here saying how they worked their way back into riding, cleaning off the rust... They now share the same risk as the rest of us. Those who find strife will be the ones that dont take the time to get back into it, and arent as capable as they once may have been. They go on that quick group ride a weekend early, before they're back up to speed, and we have problems.

[Squiggles]

With a $1 billion blowout in ACC the $3 mill for bikers is not the problem.

But what the $3 mill represents is.

[MarkH]

You try to convince the girlies that theory applies to sex?

Just tell 'em you are like the worlds best racer - you always come first!

[davereid]

...one could suggest that the youth and inexperience (not to mention immaturity ?) of the average police officer does not match the size and power of their police cars? ...

Surely Not True !