Injured motorcyclist Davitt Lavery urges drivers to take care at intersections

Davitt Lavery says he's never been the same guy since his motorcycle accident in 2011.

In Manawatu–Whanganui there have been 1227 motorcycle-related accidents in the past five years.

The resulting injuries cost $30.3m to help people recover, with the cost of these claims $6.3m in 2019.

Motorbike sales have hit record levels and a motorcycle enthusiast wants to share his recovery story to help prevent others suffering the same serious injury he did on his motorbike.

You don't have to tell Davitt Lavery to take another look when he approaches an intersection – his "shark bite" scar on his right leg reminds him of his crash every single day.

In 2011, Lavery lost half the flesh below the knee of his right leg when a motorist failed to establish the road was clear at a Christchurch intersection and drove into him, pinning his leg against his bike.

"My accident is always in the back of my mind," he says. "It happened in a split-second, when a driver could have looked again and easily prevented it, and it changed my life forever."

The collision scuppered Lavery's prospects as a professional golfer, leaving him with what he says looks like a shark bite out of his leg. It took a year to build up the remaining muscle on his leg so he could walk normally again.

"Being a motorcyclist, you can't take anything for granted. When I ride, I go out there to survive," Lavery says.

In 2020, New Zealanders bought motorcycles and mopeds at the fastest pace in a decade. It is part of a global trend since the Covid-19 pandemic put a halt to travel and prompted people to spend their money on other things.

The buying spree means our roads are busier than ever, so it's timely to remind all road users to take more care at crash hotspots such as looking again to make sure the way is clear at intersections, ACC injury prevention leader Dave Keilty says.

In 2019, ACC accepted 4360 motorcycle claims and paid a total of $103.8m for motorcycle claim injuries.

There have been 2758 crashes involving a motorcycle or moped at urban intersections in the past four years, Waka Kotahi (NZ Transport Agency) data shows. Of those, 538 involved serious injury and there were 38 fatalities.

Drivers are at fault in 90 per cent of crashes between cars and motorbikes at urban intersections, Ministry of Transport figures show.

"We've got to be more aware of the dangers at intersections – all of us," Keilty says.

"Look again for motorcyclists, not just the gap. Be aware of your blind spots."