KEY POINTS:
Motorcyclists have hit back at claims they are "bleeding taxpayers" following a sharp increase in serious crashes involving motorbikes.
The Herald this week reported that claims for motorcycle crashes had risen markedly since 2001, and the crashes were now costing the Accident Compensation Corporation more than $52 million a year.
This did not include treatment injured motorcyclists received in public hospitals.
Police and ACC released the figures at the start of a campaign urging drivers to be more aware of motorcyclists, and motorcyclists to make themselves more visible to drivers.
Motorcycling New Zealand chief executive Paul Pavletich said he supported the campaign, but believed motorcyclists were getting "a bit of a bad rap".
"There are a lot of people who are really sensible people who just love riding motorbikes," he said.
"The key to it is that they get proper training so that when they're starting riding the chance of them having an accident is greatly reduced."
Mr Pavletich said New Zealand roads were increasingly busy and motorcyclists could help alleviate the problem.
"People should be encouraged to ride motorcycles. They're better on fuel [and] there's less congestion on roads.
"If you look at Asian countries, where they're heavily populated, the cities would grind to a halt if all those motorcyclists had cars."
ACC said motorcyclists comprised only 2 per cent of vehicles on the road but accounted for 18 per cent of road claims it received. Claims had risen from 669 in 2001 to 1049 last year.
Motorcyclists pay higher ACC levies than car drivers - $166.50 compared to $111 - and some riders argue this is unfair.
"ACC are complaining about the claims, but the motorcyclists would be covering their own butts, they pay so high," said Jos Mason, whose husband Leon and two friends were killed when a drunk driver ploughed into their motorbikes in April near Rotorua.
"Let's talk about upping the motorists' ACC levies to cover the crashes that the 75 per cent are causing," Mrs Mason said.
Police figures show that in 75 per cent of motorcycle crashes causing injury, the motorcyclists were not at fault.
But ACC said it was "absolutely not having a go at motorcyclists".
"We're just pointing out that if a motorcyclist is involved in an accident, whether there's a car involved or not, they're much more likely to get hurt - and that's also why their levies are higher," spokesman Laurie Edwards said.
According to Land Transport, the risk of motorcyclists being involved in fatal or injury crashes is more than 10 times that of car drivers.
In the current police/ACC campaign, motorcyclists are being encouraged to wear high-visibility vests and keep their headlights on during the day.
THE NUMBERS
* 2 per cent of vehicles on the roads are motorcycles.
* 18 per cent of road claims ACC receives come from motorcyclists.
* 75 per cent of motorcycle crashes causing injury are not the motorcyclists' fault.
