Motorcyclists say ACC rises unfair

Photo / Sarah Ivey

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 jump from $58.97 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 per cent of accidents involved another vehicle and of those Transport Ministry figures showed 62 per cent were the other driver's fault.

'Most of them are actually caused by other car drivers."

He also said the argument that ACC did not look at blame, just the cost did not stack up as they did not target cyclists.

Mr 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 said 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 yesterday said each car driver subsidised motorcycle and moped riders by $77 a year.

Future increases in levies for motorcyclists were likely to be higher, he said.

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.

- NZPA