Speeding motorcyclists under fire
A pair of motorcyclists who reportedly hit speeds of more than 300kmh as they tore through Upper Hutt have been slammed by a critic as potential candidates for the Darwin Awards.
Police reported two Japanese 1000cc sports bikes were spotted about midday on Saturday on State Highway 2 heading south of the Remutaka Hill base towards Upper Hutt where they were clocked by a stationary patrol car at 247kmh.
As they sped off, they reached speeds of more than 300kmh posing ‘‘unimaginable’’ risks to themselves and other road users and no attempt was made to chase them as they were going too fast, Wellington road policing senior sergeant Thomas McIntyre said.
‘‘At 247kmh, the riders would have been travelling at just under 70 metres per second - had they crashed they would have killed themselves and possibly other road users.’’
Bikers Rights Organisation New Zealand Wellington president Byron Cummins said the reckless speeding was disappointing and brought law-abiding motorcyclists into disrepute.
Cummins said the pair could become candidates for the Darwin Awards - a posthumous accolade given to people who die in an idiotic manner.
The vast majority of awards recipients have been male.
Reaching excessive speeds was in the grasp of any motorcyclist but it was down to skill level once they got there, Cummins said.
‘‘Anyone can twist the right wrist but what do they do when it’s going wrong?’’
Motorcyclists were just as prone to risky behaviour and poor decisionmaking as car drivers, he said.
Former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer Graeme Crosby said even on a controlled, closed and straight road on the Hauraki Plains near Auckland riders could only reach speeds of about 310-315kmh.
Crosby, who has ridden at those kind of speeds in race conditions, said all kinds of physical effects came into play. The sheer gyroscopic properties of wheels at that speed would make changing direction, even only slightly, a hard task.
A high-speed bike was comparable to navigating the Queen Mary around Rangi- toto Island against a low speed bike which had the manoeuvreability of an Auckland Harbour ferry.
‘‘You haven’t got the luxury of time.’’
Added to that, the aerodynamic effect at speed of the wind over the helmet could cause head buffeting and vision distorting and any draft into the helmet could become a blast of air in the eyes, which could cause tears, again hindering vision. ‘‘The noise would be horrific.’’ Police have appealed for information to find the motorcyclists.