On the road to nowhere!

Thousands of bikers are expected to roar into Wellington this week to protest the proposed rise in ACC levies.
This follows on from last weekend’s sorry sight of hundreds of ageing, leather-jacketed riders and pillion passengers around New Zealand revving up their Harleys and other machines to let the government know they are unhappy about it plans to raise ACC charges.
These rebels with out a clue say they will be hit hard by higher fees and are even claiming discrimination. The new rates are proposed alongside cut backs in other ACC entitlements as the Government tries to bring under control huge deficits at the department.
Not to miss out on a possible sound-bite in Auckland these geriatric easy riders were joined by Labour leader Phil Goff. Supposedly a motorbike fan and rider himself, Goff said imposing large increases was "unjustified, unfair and divisive".
Goff joined the Auckland part of the Ulysses Motorcycle Club's protests ride. He said the levy for bikes over 600cc would treble from $252 to $735, a jump of just under $500 a year. "That's unacceptable, outrageous, and unwarranted."
Unfortunately rather than creating a picture of uber-cool – a la Peter Fonda, Jack Nicholson and Denis Hopper from Easyrider back in 1969 – it came across more like Ride of the Desperados of 2009.
Actually Mr Goff; what is unacceptable, outrageous and unwarranted (apart from the tragic sight of you in leathers) is the desperate attempt by an ever-increasing, irrelevant Leader of the Opposition trying to gain political mileage out of this issue – especially when you have failed to explain how you would pay for the growing costs of ACC.
Sorry Phil, but it is you and your whingeing motorbike mates who are out of line. Contrary to claims made by these leather-clad losers, motorcyclists are not being singled out. ACC’s proposed levies are going up for a number of groups and not just for motorcyclists.
Maybe Phil would like to explain just how – if he won’t put up ACC levies or decrease cover – is he going to pay for accident insurance cover? Or is he being economical with the truth – just like him and the rest of Labour were with the real ACC figures before they got tossed out of office last year?
The fact is motorcyclists are being asked to pay more because the levies they pay don’t cover the cost of the injuries they have when they fall off their bikes! It is as simple as that. Motorcycle riders are 16 times more likely to make an ACC claim than other road users.
So will the levy rise mean motorcyclists will now be paying the full cost of their injuries? No. Even with the levy increases, motorcyclists will still only be meeting 21% of their claim costs.
Guess, who’s been covering their costs? That’s right you and me – other motor vehicle owners. Even with the proposed changes, we car owners will still contribute $77 to cross-subsidise motorcyclists. So stop your whingeing and start paying your way!
Meanwhile, why haven’t Phil’s political-minders told him that while it might have been kind of cool and edgy to align himself with biker image when he was at university back in the 1960s? Today it looks just too try-hard and sad having him squeeze into leathers along with his fat, balding, grey-haired, pony-tailed, motor biking mates.
However, given Goff’s appalling poll ratings and motorcyclists real costs to other ACC users – it is appropriate their theme song should be that Talking Heads hit “On the Road to Nowhere” as summed up by the following lyrics:
WELL WE KNOW WHERE WE'RE GOIN'
BUT WE DON'T KNOW WHERE WE'VE BEEN
AND WE KNOW WHAT WE'RE KNOWIN'
BUT WE CAN'T SAY WHAT WE'VE SEEN
Says it all really!