A campaign to raise awareness of motorcycle safety has shown that the majority of riders are acting responsibly, although Police are disappointed with the levels of excess speed.
Month of Motorcycles ran from 14 November to 11 December in Central District, during which time Police were proactively speaking to motorcycle and moped riders with a focus on vehicle conditions, safety equipment, clothing, licences rider behaviour and legal compliance.
During the campaign a total of 645 riders were spoken to, some during day-to-day patrols and others during the 49 checkpoints that were held across the District during that period.
The most concerning issue highlighted was excessive speed with nearly a quarter (153) riding too fast. On the other side of the coin not a single rider was found to be drink and driving.
One motorbike was impounded for 28 days because the rider was forbidden to be driving. Another rider was forbidden to drive due to an expired licence. Notices were issued for 60 other offences. In the main these were driver licence issues (29) and vehicle faults (19) with offences such as out of date registrations making up the rest.
"We were pleased to find that on the whole riders are showing responsibility in regard to the condition of their vehicles, and most are driving with the appropriate class of licence," said the officer in charge of Highway Patrol for Central District, Senior Sergeant Kris Burbery. "The percentage of those spoken to who were riding at excess speed is disappointing and shows more work is needed to educate riders. Riding at speed increases the risk of a crash and evidence is clear that in a high speed crash a motorcyclist has a far greater chance of being seriously injured or killed. Overall, however, we are encouraged by the results of the campaign.
"The majority of riders were quite appreciative of our focus on motorcycles and we had positive feedback from our interactions with riders around safety. It helps us as police officers to learn a bit more about the issues riders face and with an understanding of those issues we can work to identify ways to prevent tragedies involving motorcycles."
Some key safety tips are as follows:
• Make sure you have appropriate licence for the size of motorcycle.
• Ensure the vehicle is safe, registered and warranted.
• Make sure you wear the appropriate safety clothing and footwear. No bare skin and jandals!
• Make sure you wear an approved safety helmet.
• If you are riding a motorcycle that was manufactured on or after 1 January, 1980, the headlight must be switched on at all times when on the road.
• Ensure you comply with any conditions of a graduated (learner or restricted) drivers' licence.
Media enquiries should be referred to Senior Sergeant Kris Burbery on 027 249 3624.