NZ Roads: Criminal Negligence?

[Hitcher]

Something that has been bothering me for a while...

After Transit destroyed my beloved Kaitokes, they created amongst the ensuing multimillion-dollar monstrosity, two off-camber corners that require a bit of care. The first is the sweeping left-hander at the top of the first passing lane (the one with the skidmark in) and the next is the left-hander just past the Incline turnoff. This isn't the only bit of recent new road construction where I have observed this phenomenon. And the silly thing is there's no excuse for it.

Put the Kaitokes back the way they were! You bastards.

[idleidolidyll]

lemur....my beef is not with difficult roads, its with roads that are dangerous when they dont have to be [see my bit on the "spilled" gravel on the kaikoura tunnel]
i love a good twistie road as much as the next person, but a twistie road with badly marked piles of loose gravel that should be speed limited or swept up if in fact it is a lost load, is a recipie for disaster. especially when its wet and on the other side of a tunnel.
i was going about 80k, but likely less, and even i nearly came off....any one going faster would not come out the other end in one piece.

that's it exactly

i haven't been a victim yet but plenty of mates have and i've come close to it.
if it is criminal negligence shouldn't the compoany responsible pay to fix your bike instead of having to file an insurance claim and lose your no claims?

[Goblin]

Lots of good shitty roads out there with fuck all traffic on them to boot.

Yes...I like a good shitty road as much as the next bloke but it's the roads to get to the shitty roads and the high density traffic roads that should be kept up to some sort of standard. When the monkeys around here rip up perfectly good peices of road and leave shitty bumps and loose seal when they're done it's just an accident waiting to happen.

A few years ago, the Hamurana road around Lake Rotorua used to have these two hum-dinga crests with some great corners(apart from the bumps) in between. After a young motorcyclist and his pillion went head-on into the school bus, instead of taking the bumps out, they flattened and straightened the whole road and now the cars honk along there and barely slow down for the 70k residential area and tight corners that follow, then end up in the ditch. In fact all roads out of this town are now fast, open and potential death trap roads....not to mention revenue gatherer's paradise. Wish they'd put them back to how they used to be.

[SuperDave]

"Drive to the conditions if they change reduce your speed"

Havn't you heard this, this shows just how much they care about us, they go so far out of their way to spend thousands of dollars on advertising to ensure that we are aware of dangers on our roads...

Oh but wait, you say the gravel is dangerous to those on two wheels even at very low speed? Really? Who would've thought?

Obviously not them.

They don't care man, good luck trying to change them.

[pritch]

maybe we could equip someones bike with a sweeper and send them out an hour before our rides

Like mount a broom on these?

(Don't ask me, I don't know, they appear to be "tow trucks"...)

[pritch]

Well these anyway...

[scumdog]

That's surely better than them being littered with bodies. It won't hurt the govt to get some unemployed to clean up. A one off blitz could teach 'em good not to pull unsafe stunts on us again.

I'm in. Support that is. Remember to destroy anything that could be used....
Criminogenic thinking, straight up lads. Must be needing to get scared straight.

But WHO is going to be the person who removes the paint after the road problem has been fixed???

Or do we all ride around saying "shit, I wonder if there IS hazard there - or has it been fixed?"

[padre]

"Drive to the conditions" - ya cannae always notice gravel ahead.

OKay Okay Scumdog. So we need some less permanent signal till the stuff gets skidded outa the way. We could put down warning neon flags to drop da hint to transit and works boys. Easily relocated to da next destination they don't sweep up.

Hitch - could also be used to mark perfectly good road sections they've screwed up.

[Ghost Lemur]

But WHO is going to be the person who removes the paint after the road problem has been fixed???

Or do we all ride around saying "shit, I wonder if there IS hazard there - or has it been fixed?"

Or we could just always ride as if there is a hazard around the corner anyway without the need to spraypaint every corner.

[sunhuntin]

"Drive to the conditions" - ya cannae always notice gravel ahead.

OKay Okay Scumdog. So we need some less permanent signal till the stuff gets skidded outa the way. We could put down warning neon flags to drop da hint to transit and works boys. Easily relocated to da next destination they don't sweep up.

Hitch - could also be used to mark perfectly good road sections they've screwed up.

what about something similar to the reflecta-sticks they have on roadside? cept have the sticks a different color where the real ones are red? maybe green?

[Biff]

Throughout Europe and the US you could at least take the local authority to court, and in the UK and US you could sue for millions if the road contractors failed to made the roads 'fit' for their intended purpose.

The laws protecting the contractors and local authorities stinks here in NZ. The govinmunters protect them at the expense of public safety.

People should stop making excuses for this lazy and dangerous practice. FFS - the rest of the developed world manage to clean up their shite after they've re-sealed their roads. Albeit they tend to make their roads out of decent materials, like tarmac, not the loose shit they predominantly use here.

[Bonez]

Or we could just always ride as if there is a hazard around the corner anyway without the need to spraypaint every corner.

Then you get classed as a nanna rider. Can't have that can we?

[crack]

RE: The roads! and laws protecting Councils, Doctors,Police etc etc.

My Question: What is a "DEMOCRACY",

Any political Professors, tutors amongst us?.

Some one said in a Thread some where, " bring on the revolution" I am 50, and after being back in NZ full time the last 2 plus years, I am shocked, by the GOVERNMENT CORRUPTION:

Any way I don't want to go into one of my rants, but I would appreciate an answer, be good to compare.

[Sanx]

Ingedients required:

- One biker willing to take one for the boys. Suggest Harley rider.
- One lawyer
- One munted bike, slid across the gravel
- One stretch of road, covered in gravel, no warnings

You can't sue for personal injury in NZ, but you can sue for damage caused to personal property. If anyone does come off and survive, sue for damage to the bike, plus leathers and helmet. Make sure there's lots of publicity around the case too.

Otherwise, it's back to writing letters and generally being ineffective.

[Ixion]

Throughout Europe and the US you could at least take the local authority to court, and in the UK and US you could sue for millions if the road contractors failed to made the roads 'fit' for their intended purpose.

,,.

However, "fit for their intended purpose" is driving or riding in a safe,prudent and law abiding fashion. Not racing.

Never quite seen the issue m'self. If you can stop in the clear hazard free length of road visible ahead, then , if you see gravel ahead, just slow down. If you can't stop in time, you are , by definition, not riding in a safe and law abiding fashion.

Only times gravel has scared me is when I've been riding faster than safe visibility. Which has happened. More than a few times. But then I blame myself for not riding safely. Nobody else is responsible for my safety. Just me. And my own observation is that it is rare for there not to be a "road works" sign at the beginning of the stretch. Usually with a 30kph limit sign, which everyone ignores.

So, if a rider doesn't see the gravel, why is he going to see something painted on the road? And if he can't slow down for the gravel, how is he going to slow down for a painted mark? Unless maybe the said rider is riding at excessive speeds?