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ACC - Source: ONE News -
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Motorcyclists say they are being blamed for accidents caused by other drivers and steep ACC increases are not justified.
They also question why, if accident figures were behind the decision, cyclists were not being pinged.
Motor vehicle levies are set to rise from $287 to $317.80. The increase will be collected in increased registration fees and petrol tax.
Moped owners face a $58.97 jump in the licence portion of the ACC levy to $257.58 in 2010/11.
All petrol powered motorcycles currently pay $252.69.
The portion for motorcycles under 125cc will increase by $5, for 126-600cc it will increase to $511.43, and for those over 601cc it will rise by $493.08 to $745.77.
Non-petrol powered motorcycles also face significant increases.
Motorcycle riders are 16 times more likely to be involved in a road crash than any other road user, according to ACC.
Phil Garrett, director of Street and Sport Motorcycles in Christchurch told Radio New Zealand that most accidents involving motorcycles were caused by another vehicle.
He said 67%of accidents involved another vehicle and of those Transport Ministry figures showed 62% were the other driver's fault.
"Most of them are actually caused by other car drivers."
He also says the argument that ACC did not look at blame, just the cost did not stack up as they did not target cyclists.
Garrett said in 2008, citing Transport Ministry figures, there were 1022 accidents involving cyclists and 38 deaths. For motorcyclists the figures were 1400 and 50 respectively.
"We pay a fortune in levies and cyclists pay nothing."
He said the motorcycling community would mobilise to respond to the changes.
"I do think ultimately that motorcyclists are being blamed for accidents that they are not actually causing."
He said motorcycles were less polluting than cars but were being taxed out of existence.
However, ACC says that in 2008/09 it paid more than $62 million for accidents involving motorcycles. It collected $12.3m in levies from motorcyclists in the same period.
ACC chairman John Judge says each car driver subsidised motorcycle and moped riders by $77 a year.
Future increases in levies for motorcyclists were likely to be higher, he says.
ACC Minister Nick Smith welcomed the fact that motorcycles under 125cc were not facing a big increase.
Proposed legislation changes will also enable safety incentives for vehicles and employers.
The incentives will not be enacted but could be in the future.
Drivers with a clean driving record or those with modern, safe cars could pay less.
A similar experience rating system for companies would allow those with good safety records or lower risk to pay less in levies.
More concerns
There is also suggestion the proposed changes to ACC will see more people going onto the sickness benefit.
The Council of Trade Unions is appalled the threshold for people to return to work will be rolled back.
Currently if you're unable to work up to 35 hours a week you're compensated accordingly, but that's to be trimmed back to 30 hours.
President Helen Kelly says that could leave workers incapacitated for 10 hours a week without compensation.
She says that will deny many workers the opportunity to resume their former professions, forcing them onto benefits.
Add a Comment:
Post new commentmouthguard said on 2009-12-10 @ 14:59 NZDT: Report abusive post
The unfair bit is this: the ACC forms for accident claims have a wee box that you fill in about how it happened. If you mention a motorbike, then that statistic goes on.This includes farm bikes that are responsible for a lot of injury claims, but are responsible for no ACC levies as they are not registered. That is why you are being screwed roadbikers. Blame the farmers, levy them, it is only fair.
Pucky said on 2009-12-10 @ 14:41 NZDT: Report abusive post
I'm sorry that Tiggy obvously doesn't understand bikers. I myself live in a family of bikers. All of whom are resposible, sensible riders. Why does this person believe if a car (or truck) hits US it is us who should pay? Does tiggy also believe if they get hit by a larger vehicle then they should pay for there own treatment? We already pay higher registration fees. Bikes also produce less greenhouse gases surely this should be taken into account.
tiggy said on 2009-12-04 @ 13:22 NZDT: Report abusive post
Bikers should pay up! If you choose to ride a bike and your involved in an accident you will suffer a more serious injury, doesnt matter if its your fault or not. Choose to ride..choose to pay!!
diogenes said on 2009-12-03 @ 00:51 NZDT: Report abusive post
I also am thoroughly disgusted with these antics and I am not a biker although have been and was contemplating selling our older second car and buying a new 250. Looks like that ain't now going to happen! Using cc rating as any sort of a yardstick anyway is a joke! I've known of souped up 125s blowing the pants off 250 cruisers. Somehow cc rating is being equated with speed. I'm with bikers all the way in opposing this iniquitous hike in charges! And .. last time I'll be voting National!
wasteoftime said on 2009-12-01 @ 21:07 NZDT: Report abusive post
Agree it is totally unfair, but we riders don't help ourselves by blaming others. Fact is a third of bike crashes only involve the bike, of the rest half are the riders fault and half the other drivers. So at least 2/3 are the riders fault, and you could say that if you get hit by a car you generally deserve it for not riding defensively. Sometimes we shouldn't shout too loudly - just give it the berries when nobody is watching.