Police drive motorcycle awareness

A motorcyclist was critically injured when his motorcycle and a four-wheel-drive vehicle collided on SH4 at Aberfeldy last year. PHOTO/BEVAN CONLEY

WHANGANUI Police are part of a safety campaign this month to make riding motorcycles on New Zealand's roads safer.

The Central District Police's annual Month of Motorcycles campaign is in its second week. The campaign is about talking and working with bike riders, and police report results so far have been positive "with many motorcyclists playing their part to keep our roads safe" said Senior Sergeant Kris Burbery, officer in charge of Central District Highway.

The campaign also wants to educate motorists on their part in making roads safer for everyone.

The campaign has been running for the last four years. Most bike riders are acting responsibly on the roads, Mr Burbery said.

"We have been really encouraged by the response we received over the past campaigns, and we believe it's a valuable initiative which has a key focus of raising road safety awareness as well as fostering positive interactions with the motoring public.

"Although we will deal with offences that we identify, the focus is on engaging with riders to raise awareness and remind them of their vulnerability."

All road users should respect each other and be aware that they each have responsibilities they need to uphold, he said.

To date, there have been four fatal crashes involving motorcycles as well as numerous crashes where motorcyclists were injured within the district.

"Our aim is to reduce those numbers, and to do that we need motorists to make safe decisions on our roads."

The campaign runs until December 16 and sees police speaking to motorcycle and moped riders, with a focus on motorcycle condition, safety equipment, clothing, licences, rider behaviour and legal compliance.

Checkpoints are also part of the campaign and these are supported by road safety partner agencies including ACC and Horizons City Council.

"During last year's campaign, 612 motorcyclists were stopped at police checkpoints, and while the vast majority were compliant, there were 46 notices issued for speed-related offences.

Mr Burbery said this was down considerably from the previous year, which was encouraging, however, motorists needed to be aware of the speed limits and stick to them.

"What was of some concern, though, is that there were still 31 riders who were in breach of their licence conditions and 30 motorcycles had vehicle faults.

"I cannot understand, as a motorcyclist, why someone would take the chance and ride a motorcycle that they shouldn't be on, or is not legal and has faults.

"We all need to play our part to keep the roads safe."