Rise in fees a ‘crippling blow’

Press, 26 April 1978, Page 2

Rise in fees a ‘crippling blow’

A rise in njotor-cycle registration fees to provide for higher Accident Compensation Commission levies would be a crippling blow to many young people, a lot of whom were unemployed or “on the breadline,” said the member of Parliament for Sydenham (Mr N. J. Kirk) yesterday.

Mr Kirk said this after meeting local motor-cycle dealers and the Auto Cycle Union in Christchurch.

“Apparently, the Govern* ment blames motor-cyclists for gettmg run over by cars,” said Mr Kirk. “The discrimination is very serious, and tends to lump all accident responsibility on the user rather than the person who causes the majority of accidents — the driver affected by alcohol who drives the vehicle,” said Mr Kirk. “Mr Gordon, the Minister in charge of the Accident Compensation Commission, says the fee may be set on three scales according to cc rating. This is an ignorant comment, because he should be well aware that no matter what size it is, a mo t o r-cycle’s fuel-saving ability is always three-quar-ters better than that of a car.”

Statistics did not support the theory that motor-cycl-ists were having accidents in increasing numbers.

Quoting from figures supplied by the Auto Cycle Union, Mr Kirk said that in the five years from 1972 to 1976, there had been a fall of 57 per cent in the number of accidents involving motor-cyclists as a percentage of all registered vehicles. In the same period, accidents involving cars fell by only 37.5 per cent. “The Accident Compensation Commission is there to provide cover for all,” said Mr Kirk. “At the time of its inception, it was not set up to become a tool of a greedy and revenuegathering Government.” Added to the 7| per cent increase in Customs duty, the levy would cause some owners to give up their motor-cycles, while it would also add to the costs of the family man who used a motor-cycle to get to and from work. Christchurch and Auckland motor-cyclists will hold mass meetings tomorrow, while Wellington riders will converge on Parliament Buildings and present a petition on Friday.