Police crackdown angers motorcyclists

A Tasman district police blitz on motorcyclists in a bid to reduce road deaths has angered local bikies.

The 100-day campaign follows 11 fatal accidents in the district since last September blamed on motorcyclists.

Tasman district road policing manager Inspector Hugh Flower said that from July 1, police would be asked to spend 15 minutes of their shift time to stop and check motorcycle and moped riders.

This would enable officers to ascertain the rider's licence status, check their vehicle for road safety compliance, and pass on the message to take care on the roads, he told The Nelson Mail.

"We want to indicate to them that we don't want to be scraping them off the road."

However, Lorraine Lindsay, president of the Nelson Ulysses motorcycle club, Lorraine Lindsay, told the newspaper most accidents were caused by inattentive motorists rather than motorcycle riders.

"We are all pretty disgusted by this. I have been riding 47 years, and the only accident I have had is by a car backing out of a driveway. They are such bad drivers in New Zealand."

- NZPA