Five dead, several injured in motorcycle crashes in past week as road toll nears 'crisis point'

Monday, 19 November 2018

One person died after a crash between a car and motocycle in Sydenham, Christchurch.

Middle-aged men riding motorcycles are 'chasing the rush' but don't have the necessary skills to avoid danger, a motorcycle safety instructor says.

Five riders died and several others were injured after a spate of crashes involving motorcycles in less than a week. Police are still investigating the causes of the crashes; one Christchurch case on Monday last week involved a driver turning in front of a motorcyclist on a hill, and another crash on Friday involved a driver in a stolen car. One on the West Coast and another in Auckland involved single motorbikes, while in Southland three motorcycles collided.

Two people died and a third was fighting for their life after a motorcycle crash in Southland.

On Monday, Police Minister Stuart Nash and Police Association president Chris Cahill said the road toll was nearing crisis point and in the case of motorcycle deaths, anecdotal evidence suggested middle-aged men who didn't have the experience to handle large bikes were involved in most accidents.

'Dare I say it, it's a lot of men going through a sort of mid-life crisis,' Nash told TVNZ.

Police Minister Stuart Nash says anecdotal evidence suggested middle-aged men, who did not have the experience to handle large motorbikes, were involved in most accidents.

Dan Ornsby says a lot of older riders get their licence earlier in life and then try to ride again without having the required skills.

* Disqualified driver crashes stolen car, kills passenger, injures motorcyclist**

*** Person dead after motorbike crash in Henderson, West Auckland

Dyers Pass Rd where motorcyclist Kyle John McKitterick died after colliding with a van on November 10.

* Safety training allowing motorcyclists to 'ride forever'

* Deadly deja-vu as toll soars with five more deaths across country**

'They go out there and buy a big powerful bike and they just haven't got the skills and experience to handle it when they get into trouble and they kill themselves.'

Christchurch man Dan Ornsby, who has been riding motorcycles since the age of 10 and has run safety training courses for about five years, says a lot of riders with bad habits were middle-aged men.

'The kids have just left home so a lot of them go out and buy a Harley and other big bikes,' Ornsby said.

'They are scared and intimidated of the bike because they don't have the skills and the confidence to ride them.'

Ornsby said a lot of older riders got their licence earlier in life and then tried to ride again without having the required skills or refreshing their memory of the road rules.

'People are out there chasing the rush and are not aware of the dangers out there.'

Motorcycling Advisory Council chairman Mark Gilbert said there was no denying people over the age of 50 was contributing to a high number of motorcycle accidents.

He said if more motorcyclists took part in professional training courses, equipped themselves with adequate safety equipment and stopped speeding they could reduce the risk of fatal crashes.

'We would definitely encourage more training. You'd be mad to come back and expect your old skill set to still be alive and well in your brain.'

Gilbert said he was opposed to enforcing regulations around the purchasing of powerful motorcycles, however riders could do a riding course to prove they could handle a powerful bike.

'You can't go and drive a race car without having a race car licence and some of these bikes are sort of off the shelf race bikes.'

Decreased stability, lower levels of protection and less visibility to other motorists gave motorcycling a higher level of risk than other modes of transport.

A Ministry of Transport study published in 2017 showed on average, the risk of being killed or injured in road crashes was 21 times higher for motorcyclists than for car drivers over the same distance travelled.

The largest group represented in motorcycle crashes was riders 40-years and over, it said.

The proportion of crashes which resulted in death was higher for larger motorcycles with riders of motorcycles over 500cc contributing to 49 per cent of all crashes and 75 per cent of all deaths. This could be attributed to larger bikes being used on the open road, the report said.

In 2017, 44 motorcyclists died and 1309 were injured in road crashes – making up about 10 per cent of all reported injuries on New Zealand roads.There were 116 injuries in the Canterbury region last year, with five people killed and 44 seriously injured. ACC received 4102 new motorcycle-related claims and paid out more than $94 million.

A $12.1m three-year investment in motorcycle safety initiatives was launched by ACC on July 1 last year.

The deadly week of crashes began when motorcyclist Kyle John McKitterick died on his 48th birthday in a crash on Dyers Pass Rd, in Christchurch, on November 10. McKitterick collided with a van that was turning into a driveway as he rode up the hill towards Christchurch.

Just six days later, a disqualified driver was behind the wheel of a stolen car when the car and a motorcycle collided in Sydenham, killing vehicle passenger Joshua Smith, 32, and injuring the motorcyclist.

The following day a further four motorcyclists were killed in crashes. Motorcycle passenger Jayne Jamieson, 52, was taking part in the Tribute 29 Pike River Memorial Run on the West Coast; two were involved in a charity event in Southland, which left two other riders injured when three bikes collided; while another rider died just over two hours later in Henderson, West Auckland.