Speedy biker’s 201kmh burst ‘reasonably high’

A man who toyed with defending a charge of driving at dangerous speed, after being clocked at 201kmh, has changed his tune.

Robert Albert Robinson was to have a judge-alone trial in the Palmerston North District Court on Wednesday, having pleaded not guilty.

At a previous hearing, defence lawyer Phillip Drummond said the law did not specify how fast dangerous speed actually was.

But Robinson pleaded guilty before his trial started.

Robinson was riding a motorcycle at 6.50pm on February 3 along Kawakawa Rd, Feilding, when he opened up the throttle.

He shot up to 201kmh along the road, which has a speed limit of 100kmh and one driveway into a residential property.

Drummond said it was a ‘‘quick burst of speed’’, which he described as ‘‘reasonably high’’.

‘‘There’s no argument it was getting up there.’’

Judge Jim Large described it differently.

‘‘It’s beyond reasonably high. It’s extremely high.

‘‘However short it was... it’s not to be encouraged at all.’’

He fined Robinson $450 and disqualified him from driving for nine months.

Drummond said the disqualification would be especially tough on Robinson, who lives in Longburn, but works in Feilding, in Manawatu.