Another view: Driving skills vital

Motorcyclists say that motorists can be "twits".Photo/Thinkstock

A week with four motorcycle riders killed or severely injured across New Zealand has to be a jolt for the motorcycling fraternity, but it needs to be a hit to the motorist community as well.

I am in complete agreement with motorcyclists that motorists can be "twits", as New Zealand Motorcycle Safety Consultants chief executive Allan Kirk put it in a NZ Herald story. He said motorcyclists must always be prepared for the worst to happen - from car drivers doing stupid things.

But he also conceded there were a lot of motorcyclists out there with high performance bikes and lacking experience.

My stepson has had two motorcycle accidents - one his fault, a slide into a barrier, and the other with a "twit" backing his car out into a main road, into the path of his bike. I reckon in urban areas, bikers are constantly wary of "twits", and take care. But once on the open road it's down to their own skill.

Kirk says modern bikes are a different breed for "born-again" bikers, they are much more powerful.

It's interesting how this parallels the lament of youth in high performance cars, the "rice rockets" as the Americans put it. Bikes and cars have improved so drastically from the Hillman Avengers and Triumph Bonnevilles of the day that it takes an expert to properly use them. We can't expect a 20-year-old to seriously be in control of a Subaru Impreza, anymore than we can expect a 50-year-old in a mid-life crisis to handle a Ducati. Yet that's what's on offer. More power than we could ever need. Some might argue all that power saves you when in a bad situation. But the better rider - and motorist - never gets into a bad situation in the first place.