http://www.google.co.nz/url?q=http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/3831632/Blitz-on-bikers-sparks-tension&sa=U&ei=ilAgTOfGJMWcceGcwDc&ved BkQFjAA&usg¯QjCNGtxlsd88SwzbdP3kZgq3fJTc7JIQ
Some Nelson motorcyclists say they are "disgusted" by a 100-day police
campaign to target riders even if they are not doing anything wrong.
The campaign is a result of a large number of motorcycle crash
fatalities in the Tasman police district over the past nine months.
Police say that, unusually, all 11 of the fatalities since last
September were the fault of the motorcyclist. In the five cases where
other vehicles were involved, the drivers of those vehicles were not at
fault.
Tasman district road policing manager Inspector Hugh Flower said that
from July 1, police would be asked to spend 15 minutes of their shift
time to stop and check motorcycle and moped riders.
This would enable officers to ascertain the rider's licence status,
check their vehicle for road safety compliance, and pass on the message
to take care on the roads.
"We want to indicate to them that we don't want to be scraping them off
the road."
However, the president of the Nelson Ulysses motorcycle club, Lorraine
Lindsay, said most accidents were caused by inattentive motorists rather
than motorcycle riders.
"We are all pretty disgusted by this. I have been riding 47 years, and
the only accident I have had is by a car backing out of a driveway. They
are such bad drivers in New Zealand."
Anger in the motorcycle community has also been stoked by comments by
Tasman district commander Superintendent Gary Knowles, who said
motorcycle crashes were a "middle-aged man thing".
"[Riders] just appear to be coming up here, if I'm brutally honest, with
their midlife crisis and riding around and dying," he said.
Mr Knowles said the region had a disproportionate number of motorcycle
fatalities compared with the rest of the country.
Last year, 13 per cent of all road deaths nationally, or 48 deaths,
involved motorcyclists, compared with 28 per cent of fatal road
accidents, or six deaths, in the Tasman police district.
Tony McIntosh, who was seriously injured by a utility turning into a
driveway at Pakawau this year, said most of the people he rode with had
owned bikes when they were younger.
"Then you get married and have kids and get rid of the bike. When you
get older, you buy another bike, but with my [accident], there was
nothing I could do. I had taken every precaution but still I got hit."
Mr McIntosh's right leg was broken and his pelvis was broken in four
places. In March, the ute's driver, Gary Climo, 56, of Pakawau, was
fined $2500 and disqualified from driving for seven months.
Mr McIntosh said the motorcyclists he knew took every precaution when
riding, including taking safe driving courses. "When you are riding a
bike, you a defensive driver plus. You have to be because you are that
much more vulnerable."
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Tasman District Council road safety co-ordinator Krista Hobday said
accidents were increasing as more motorcycles came on the roads. The
number of motorcycles and scooters in the Nelson region has increased by
70 per cent over the past five years, and the number of crashes
involving them has doubled.
"It's definitely not good, but we are continuing to run campaigns and
training courses to make sure motorcyclists know what the issues are,"
she said.
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