To The ACC Levy Review Board.
I would like to speak against the currently extortionate ACC levies being born by Kiwi bikers via Motorcycle Registration, and make 3 points aimed to make the system fairer.
Though I personally would rather abolish ACC all together in favor of a Free-market in accident insurance, and that this would make for the best deal for ‘consumers’, I know this is not ‘on the table’ at present…. I make this small disclaimer for the record.
Clearly current Draconian method’s of ‘Zero tolerance’, lower drinking limits, etc have failed.
It’s time New directions are considered, which promote self-responsibility rather than mindless compulsions, and so I submit that ACC needs a new Game plan…
How Ironic…. This officially titled ‘ Safence’ is known as ‘Cheese cutters’ in Biker circles.
Like so many Safety issues…. eg in Industry… The Main hazards are generated on the drawing board… and could have been solved/ greatly reduced from the get go.
From a Bikers perspective it’s clear from the sections of Expressways in the Waikato, and BOP, and in general, that road design in New Zealand takes virtually no consideration for Motorcycles.
They are forever putting up Obstacles.
Dangerous Cable barriers are proliferating… not only on the median, but also often dangerously close on the outside as well… leaving no lane in which a motorcyclist can distance themselves from these vicious hazards.
They leave no room for bikers to take evasive action, and even at slow speeds any otherwise minor error can and does result in a catastrophic accident…
No doubt these cables work well for cars.
No doubt they are cheap to construct, yet as part of my submission, I would like to suggest that such poor designs, and short sighted cost savings on construction are born by bikers…barriers which may protect occupants of cars, are lethal to bikers.
These barriers serve as but one example that to improve statistics on Motorcycle accidents… Road design ought to be a priority.
Thus ACC and the Government who sign off on road designs need to take responsibility for the increased risk we Road users (motorcyclists) unfairly carry, and reduce our Levy’s… and instead spreading the cost across all road users (I also own 2 cars).
Though I personally think ACC should be shut down, while it behooves me to pay ACC I believe that it would be a farer system for ACC to spread all Road user accident expenses collectively… because of factors in my argument above about road design.
My second submission is that on State Highways that are of the best standards that The speed limit for motorcycles be raised to 120 kph.
I believe this would help lower Motorcycle accidents, by encouraging Bikers to enjoy using these ‘Better roads’, rather than thinking they are smart avoiding Mr Cop.… doing 140kph out on country lanes… where the roads are not well designed, and there are more ’Agricultural obstacles ‘ about…. From Cows to Milk Tankers.
I submit that if the Main Highways had a 120kph speed limit that this would result is safer riding… less accidents.
My Final submission is I that ACC itself implement a Bureaucratic cost cutting exercise, and significantly reduce the costs of running ACC.
Reduce the size of the Corporation, and abolish as much Red tape as possible…
This would obviously be expected to result in significantly lower Levies.
Thank you for taking the time to read my submission,and I am available to front up to make a verbal submission.
Tim Wikiriwhi
Read more from Tim….
Nat’s Orwellian Budget. Bikers pay the price for stupid Laws in more ways than $$$
Other World…The Right to Opt out. Biker Credos.
Update: I received a confirmation that ACC has received my submission.
🙂
Nice submission Tim. In total agreement. I also believe that whenever a motorcycle is involved in an MVA it is over whelmingly the fault of a cage driver. Yet the motorcycle is swallowed up in ACC data collection to justify their rip off levies.
NZ Biker Stats…. ACC (link below)
Definitely Interesting, and I suspect *weighted in favour* of ACC Levy’s and Police heavy handedness.
Only the Naive dont understand how politics gets ‘creative’ with Stats… sexes up numbers…. and dis-proportionately allocates blame…. An example of this is how Woman are looked upon as the victims of Male violence, when in reality it’s virtually a 50:50 deal…. there being multitudes of factors which underplay woman’s violence against men…. entire political apperati set up designed to make men ‘apologize’ for being men.
Even with this in mind it is interesting to see that of accidents causing injury they still admit that almost 50% are mot the bikers fault.
Also there is a glaring ‘convenient’ omission from these Stats…. I see no columns for deaths caused by criminally designed roads …. they will be hidden amongst ‘Biker errors…. not riding to the conditions’, etc….
And because of this Evil omission we can expect no improvement in road designs, and a proliferation of Cheep yet lethal cheese cutters, etc….
I’m sure we can get a wealth of Ammo against the system out of this…. Cheers for sharing.
P.S We can also gain a lot of information to help us ride safer as well.
🙂
http://blog.eternalvigilance.me/2015/10/tim-wikiriwhi-submission-to-acc-re-motorcycle-levies/
Re: The Following link….
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11579403
What really gets up my arse about this is that this sort of Police snipe-work on these good roads is one of the main reasons why we all choose to ride the less safe back roads to enjoy our bikes.
We actually are forced to take *more risks* simply to aviod getting sniped by the pigs.
This is a classic example of why the Fix open road speed of 100kmph is counter productive with respect to biker safety.
Motorcyclists call for removal of ‘dangerous’ wire median barriers
Sat, May 7Share
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/motorcyclists-call-removal-dangerous-wire-median-barriers.html?autoPlay=4883627735001
Norfolk bikers’ safety fears over A11 wire crash barriers
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-norfolk-29762933
EU orders wire-rope barrier review
‘Cheese-cutter’ barriers branded lethal for motorcyclists
Read more: http://www.visordown.com/motorcycle-news–general-news/eu-orders-wire-rope-barrier-review/1610.html#ixzz48DvAuRyn
Motorcyclists call for ‘cheese-cutter’ median barriers to be banned.
Kilduff says motorcyclists would prefer it if concrete walls were used to divide the roads so that if they did come off their bike they would slide along the wall.
“Basically, if we slide into the wire barriers it kills us and it rips our arms or legs off,” he says.
“It’s not just our riders who want their safety recognised it’s also our families. We have mothers and children and they want us to come home safely.”
The New Zealand Transport Agency website says the fear of the “cheese-cutter” is unfounded.
It says a University of New South Wales study showed the barriers counted for a very small percentage of motorcycle fatalities.
In 2007, motorcyclist Daniel Luke Evans, 21, was severed at the waist after hitting a wire barrier on the Southern Motorway near Papakura.
His death sparked messages of outrage on internet forums and prompted calls for Transit NZ to abandon plans to extend the barriers and for it to dismantle those in place.
Riders protested at the time to ban the barriers, but they lost the battle.
Some parts of Europe have banned the flexible barriers because of the danger they pose to motorcyclists.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/bikes/79564943/Motorcyclists-call-for-cheese-cutter-median-barriers-to-be-banned?cid=app-iPad
Wire rope road barriers divide motorcyclists
“The primary concern of AMC over WRB is not the widely promoted ‘cheese cutter’ issue, but rather the damage done by the exposed (unpadded) posts, by the exposed ‘end posts’ at the end of each WRB section and by the uncapped and exposed sharp tops of each post,” he says.
“The potential for serious injury posed by these posts is substantial, and is already appearing in motorcycle accident data.”
However, he says the AMC would prefer concrete Jersey Barriers because of their inherent safety factors, which have also been noted by the Austroads report.
http://motorbikewriter.com/wire-rope-barriers-divide-motorcyclists/
Stop Installing Prehistoric Wire Medium strips on our Motorways
https://www.change.org/p/hon-simon-bridges-minister-of-transport-stop-installing-prehistoric-wire-medium-strips-on-our-motorways?recruiter=343596908&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=autopublish&utm_term=mob-xs-share_petition-reason_msg
How increased speed makes us safer
https://motorbikewriter.com/how-increased-speed-makes-us-safer/
Motorcyclist’s horrific death brings call to ban ‘cheese-cutter’ barriers
KEY POINTS:
Motorcyclists are calling for wire median barriers to be removed immediately from motorways and state highways after the gruesome death of a young Auckland rider at the weekend.
Daniel Luke Evans, 21, was killed after hitting a wire barrier – nicknamed a “cheese-cutter” by motorcyclists – on the Southern Motorway near Papakura about 3.30am on Saturday.
His death has sparked messages of outrage and sorrow on an internet motorcyclists’ forum and spurred calls for Transit NZ to abandon plans to extend the barriers and for it to dismantle those already in place.
A motorcycling friend of the dead man, Felix Tsang, said on 3 News last night that Mr Evans was following him when thrown from his machine and into the barrier.
“I stopped and raced back to the scene where it first happened and find that he has been severed, waist down, and was lying on the road – it was extremely disturbing,” Mr Tsang said.
“With the cheese-cutter … he had no chance.”
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10471320&fbclid=IwAR1FcSYnY6ZkCr1seBe5f8LXJ0dxWPX42UMAgvVEqRal7PqQwUKkSlL-Gqc
Tribesmen gang life member Riki Epiha dies in Waikato Expressway motorcycle crash
A motorcyclist who died in a crash on the Waikato Expressway yesterday was a patched member of the Tribesmen Motorcycle Club gang.
Police said emergency services were called after a motorcycle collided with a median barrier at Huntly about 3pm on Sunday.
A witness said other road users – including a doctor – tried to revive the man with CPR but were unsuccessful.
“Sadly, the motorcyclist died at the scene of the crash,” police said.
The Herald understands the man who died was Riki Taipiria Fabien Epiha, 64, also known as Kebab, Crash and Tai.
He was a life member of the Tribesmen MC Murupara chapter.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/tribesmen-gang-life-member-riki-epiha-dies-in-waikato-expressway-motorcycle-crash/NR2EFW4M4JCFZN5E3SVGICDVEQ/