Topic: A tragedy in New Zealand.....

[Dennis]

Re: the Vegemite, .............. If you like it, I'll send you some more. It's been banned in the US this year though, so be warned! Cheers, Terry.

OK Terry, tell us more! Banned in the US? What's that all about?
Is this one of those "harmful to your health things"?

Sorry to further hijack this.

[toycollector10]

So this is a hijacked thread or hasn't anyone noticed that the poor little bugger is dead and burried at the tender age of 20, the little guy never had a chance to live. He made a mistake but who hasn't, and he paid all right. It's about cheese-cutter barriers. Could have been your son, lover, father or yourself for god's sake......Do you guys notice now how armco is bloody sharp and is supported on 8 x 8 inch wooden stakes that will cut you and f*uck you if you bin it in a turn where it's been staked into the ground.......

[Raul CB750K1]

So this is a hijacked thread or hasn't anyone noticed that the poor little bugger is dead and burried at the tender age of 20, the little guy never had a chance to live. He made a mistake but who hasn't, and he paid all right. It's about cheese-cutter barriers. Could have been your son, lover, father or yourself for god's sake......Do you guys notice now how armco is bloody sharp and is supported on 8 x 8 inch wooden stakes that will cut you and f*uck you if you bin it in a turn where it's been staked into the ground.......

You are very right toycollector, this has been a good example of a thread hijack. It happens with any kind of thread content. The mind wanders, you start talking about the weather and end up talking about politics. Human also tend to avoid suffering discussions because you cannot avoid to make it personal. First time I was in an emergency room I thought how unconsiderate the doctors and paramedics were, joking and talking about unsubstantial things when there was people suffering pain and relatives fearing for their loved ones' wellbeing. Now I understand that if you work in an ER and suffer for everybody in there, your mental health will not last long.

There is a big bike rally against barriers this Saturday 10th in Spain. I'll be there, will post some links on the news -it will hit the news, that's for sure-.

[Terry in Australia]

So this is a hijacked thread or hasn't anyone noticed that the poor little bugger is dead and burried at the tender age of 20, the little guy never had a chance to live. He made a mistake but who hasn't, and he paid all right. It's about cheese-cutter barriers. Could have been your son, lover, father or yourself for god's sake......Do you guys notice now how armco is bloody sharp and is supported on 8 x 8 inch wooden stakes that will cut you and f*uck you if you bin it in a turn where it's been staked into the ground.......

Yeah TC, we did hijack your thread, so I'd just like to apologise for that, but like a lot of hijacked threads, it would have died a natural death after the first few posts, if it wasn't for the hijack.

By us dickheads jacking it, we've kept it alive so other members can read it and try to understand your concerns. I certainly don't feel that the young bloke deserved to die for fuccking around on his bike, I've done plenty of that over the years and (touch wood) survived, but I do believe that when your times up, your times up, so just like a lot of my friends before me, his time was probably up.

I've seen the aftermath of two serious bike vs car crashes on the notorious "Western Ring Road" here in Melbourne since you started this thread, I'm guessing one guy died, (although I haven't checked the news) so as sad as this story is, it's old news now. Cheers, Terry.  

[toycollector10]

Yes Tell, I've hijacked a couple myself so no worries. We come and then we go and in 12 months time this thread will be burried too and no one will remember it...

The end result here is that the local forum guys at www.kiwibiker.co.nz have organised rallies and there is an on-line petition to parliament. So it's not a case of us Kiwis just sitting around going 'oh dear how sad'. I saw somewhere that the NZ Minister of Transport was on-side with the concerns within the biking community so we will more that likely get some action on this.

[Raul CB750K1]

As I said, big rally this coming saturday in Spain against barriers.

[Terry in Australia]

Well to be honest Raul, if the barrier in the pic is what you Spaniards are protesting about, I think your heads are up your assses, I'd rather have that barrier there, than fly off that cliff?

The barriers that TC is worried about are made from steel cables, so those ones in your pic look quite sensible, to me? Cheers, Terry.

[Rocking-M]

The post are the killers in the barrier Raul posted. That's what we have round here.
Though not to many of them, mostly we just fly off the mountain.

As to the guardrails, a simply lower barrier would protect bikers from the post.

[Raul CB750K1]

The post are the killers in the barrier Raul posted. That's what we have round here.
Though not to many of them, mostly we just fly off the mountain.

As to the guardrails, a simply lower barrier would protect bikers from the post.

Exactly. The "double-T" posts act as knives. At 30 mph you can get a leg or arm severed with the post. I rather fall down the cliff than hit against the post. With a helmet on and bike gear I can get some broken bones, even a broken spine, but the odds are better than against the barrier. As you can imagine, the barrier is there to keep the cars from falling down the cliff, not to keep a sliding body to fall down the cliff. What we are asking for here is a double barrier.

[andy750]

Very convincing post Raul and thanks for illustrating your point so well. Keep us posted.

cheers
Andy

[Terry in Australia]

OK mate, I understand now, I guess I should have translated the text. I still wouldn't want to go flying off the cliff though, so maybe a "triple barrier" would make more sense? Cheers, Terry.

[my78k]

Yeah I could have doen without the visual but it certainly made your point!! 

Actually that bottom one wasn't really funny at all but when I looked at it I laughed because I instantly remembered when I was about 5 years old getting my leg stucked while sliding down a bannister and when the gap betweeen the bannister and the wall narrowed my leg got pinched and stuck not unlike that dude's helmet!! Kinda sick for me to laugh but it is certainly good insight as to just how messed up I really am...

Dennis

[Raul CB750K1]

All of those pictures are from spanish newspapers, and believe me, they don't publish the most bizarre ones. There is one that is fake, a guy is laying besides the post so people can get the idea of what is it like the actual accident.

The last one happened just a couple of months ago. The man was an important man in Mallorca island, being the president of the isle trains. When he got out of the tunnel, a puddle of water made him lost control of the bike. What could have ended up with a rash and maybe some broken ribs ended up with him in need of CPR due to the severe facial and craneal injuries... he died a couple of days later.


http://www.diariodemallorca.es/secciones/noticia.jsp?pRef=1635_10_288032__SUCESOS-presidente-Tren-Soller-fallece-causa-accidente-moto-sufrio-miercoles

[Raul CB750K1]

I just returned from the national Rally in Madrid against the barriers. It has been a big success, the one with the most attendance of the previous four. It seems that the bikers are getting convinced that it is important to show unity so the administration will do its part.

[Terry in Australia]

Good pics Raul, reminds me of some of the "Motorcycle Riders Association" (MRA) rallies I attended years ago. Looks like the weather was nice too. Cheers, Terry.

[dustyc]

Great looking turnout.  Has anyone proposed a plan to change the barriers?  I wonder how much it would cost?  You might be able to get the insurance companies on your side considering it costs them money in the form of life insurance claims.

[Raul CB750K1]

There are alternatives developed some years ago. Barriers that comply with quality standardas as ISO. I can't tell about the cost, I guess they are more expensive than doing nothing.

It all comes down to electoral reasons. Ten people claiming for barrier replacement doesn't make much sound. One hundred people make more sound, but the expenditure of the replacement is not worth the votes. As soon as politicians realize the the biker community is united and that they can use public funds to get some votes for them, the barriers will be replaced.

Politicians are very sensitive in Spain about public will. According to many surveys, the change of government in Spain is a matter of 1.5 million people. That is, as in many countries, Spain is bipartidist. Most of the people will vote to his favourite party regardless of who the candidate or the program is. 1.5 million people is not faithfull to any party and will change the vote regarding of the situation of the moment, the candidate or the program.


The most important thing, even if we can't get the politicians to act this time, is that we are getting a lot of media attention, and car drivers start to realize that even when there are madheads out there that crash and burn, motorcyclist are the victims in the accidents, and that nobody deserve to die because of oil or sand on the road, or simply because you take the curve at a wrong speed. It is a very high price for such a mistake.


I personally can't blame politicians this time. Barriers were designed and installed when the number of bikes on the road was small and the bikes were not that powerful. The power and number of bikes was on the rise every year, and the fact that the barriers were proving lethal was difficult to see. I can't blame politicians to think twice before taking decisions that affect public funds. They always try to satisfy the most people.


I guess we should start a campaign over here in the line "You meet the nicest people on a bike"....