Well its nearly riding season again, a little of a misconception, there really isn’t a non riding season here, you can ride most of the year with caution in the winter due to ice etc, and spring normally has some high winds which one has to be pay attention to.
So what are the plans for this year, unfortunately no major trip around New Zealand, just a few trips around the South Island, and a couple of rallys.
Rallys are certainly becoming an interesting topic, well more the number of them that are no longer happening due to the legal requirements around alcohol and event organisation making the costs prohibitive for many clubs. At the current rate there might be only two or three left in the next few years. OK that’s my personal opinion, but observation at the ones I managed to attend last year would appear to play this out, many folks saying they feel the numbers are down at some of the major events, it will be a shame. On that note, rumours are around that the Brass Monkey Rally held in the middle of winter is not gong ahead, this was once one of the biggest events in the South Island and the only rally held over the winter.
Another factor that might see motorcycling in New Zealand become a wealthy persons hobby, (I strongly hate the idea it’s a hobby, to me a hobby is something you do on a cold winters night to fill in time), is the potential that the costs are going to rise above the levels most of us can afford due to changes in the ACC system. ACC is short for Accident Compensation Corporation, (it used to mean Accident Compensation Commission but our government changed it into a corporation a few years ago), there is more information in the Wikipedia link. The basic system is now screwed, it’s run as a corporation now, the figures used to cost out some of the data have been proven flawed, with accidents off road being counted as on road, even the in some instances the vehicle involved not even being a motorcycle. ACC claim to have made changes in the way the data is recovered and recorded but they still quote data from prior to this change. While there is an organisation called the motorcycle safety advisory council,(MSAC), and while they are trying to improve some of the things and having minor success, an example of which if the changes in the way data is recorded, they are still back the company line, I guess they kind of have to being funded by ACC.
Here is an example of the way I see the system as faulty, previously I reported here that Kerry and I had a fairly major crash in Kawakawa, Kerry’s injuries were more substantial than first thought with damage to the tendons and ligaments in both her knee and elbow, while undergoing treatment for her knee the elbow had been masked due to the pain relief, but her strength was just not getting better, now ACC covers the cost of treatment and rehabilitation which is what insurance is for and that’s what ACC is. Here is where things fall over as I see it, there were multiple factors in this incident, but the biggest was the condition of the road surface, sure had we been in a car there may have been no issue, but the fact multiple motorcycle crashes had happened at the same place previously over a few weeks indicate there was an issue with the road. According to ACC however, we were involved in two crashes, with no other party involved as no cars hit us, thus it becomes motorcycle at fault, there lays one issue ACC is supposed to be a no fault, no blame system, the other is the fact the road should be considered as a factor, but it is not.
On discussions with other motorcyclists there are many similar incidents, from Diesel/oil on the road, roads not swept after resurfacing, stock/animals on the road, or avoidance of a worse a collision due the actions of other motorists, the examples are endless, but as a group we have limited voice, sure the MSAC is supposed to represent us but discussions with past members lead me to believe they are not interested, and there is no singular political voice, there has been attempts at this in the past with BRONZ, but they don’t seem to act with a singular voice, there is not even a branch in Canterbury where we are based. I would have to suggest motorcyclists are an apathetic lot when it comes to our rights, I guess because for many it is just a hobby.