Letter to the Editor, Thursday January 14, 2016

Told you so

The observations made in your editorial in today's Age (Fun and fatalities, January 12) very definitely mirror those of most law-abiding residents of and visitors to Ahipara. Many will have remarked, " It had to happen," or "I told you so," after reading the front-page report of last week's quad-bike accident on the beach.

But might I point out to those who quite correctly remind us that the rules that apply to traffic on our roads must be also be observed on 90 Mile Beach, that their insistence is rather empty if those rules are blatantly ignored by many riding or driving around Ahipara's urban area.

A major metropolitan newspaper last week invited readers to submit items to their Rant & Rave column. You are asked to rave about something that pleases you, or rant about something that offends. This was my rant, sent before I was aware of the bike crash.

'The streets and beaches of Ahipara provide open territory for irresponsible vehicle use. Unregistered machines of many types and sizes, noisy, invariably without warrants of fitness where required, are operated at all hours, often by fearless minors as young as seven or eight years, usually without safety gear. Patrols are infrequent and glaringly purposeless, enforcement rarely applied.

'Speeds along the three long parallel streets and upon the beach at times undeniably exceed 100km/h. It is not unusual to observe a quad bike carrying three or four passengers perched precariously around its driver, or a mini-quad operated by an adult nursing an infant.

'When the inevitable tragedy occurs, perhaps a skateboarder exiting a driveway, or similar, many of those whose reports and complaints go strangely unheeded will justifiably, but preferably without satisfaction, be able to proclaim ... "I told you so."

Fixing the streets would surely go a long way towards fixing the beach. No "blue" areas, just go decisively by the book. Welcome spin-offs might be being able to listen to the TV undisturbed , or not needing to pause a conversation in the front room 'til a half-dozen straight-piped bikes blat past.

OCTOGENARIAN PLUS

Ahipara