Extra police for bikers week

Southern police want motorists to be extra vigilant this week, with an emphasis on safety at intersections, as thousands of motorcyclists converge on Invercargill for the annual Burt Munro Challenge.

Sergeant Peter Graham, of the Southland strategic traffic unit, said police from Oamaru to Invercargill would be out in force this week and weekend to ensure motorists were behaving safely.

"Our main concern is traffic flows," Mr Graham said.

Police would be watching for speeding motorcyclists and careless drivers and riders, he said.

The Burt Munro Challenge draws more than 2000 motorcyclists to Invercargill every year.

Since the first Burt Munro Challenge in 2006, there had never been any serious crashes or traffic problems during the event, but that did not mean motorists should be complacent.

Invercargill was this year reported as one of the worst cities for intersection crashes, Mr Graham said.

According to Invercargill City Council's traffic light data, the city had the most intersection crashes in the country per head of population (17.6 incidents per 10,000 population), with 1430 crashes from 2004-2008.

"We had a motorcycle crash last week and the rider from that has only just got out of hospital ... the message is to expect motorbikes to be there at intersections," Mr Graham said.

"Southland is on show and we don't want people going back to the rest of the country and saying we are all lunatic drivers down here."

Take extra care and "double check for bikes", he said.

Police would also not tolerate speeding or drink-driving/riding.

Last year there were two police pursuits of speeding motorcyclists, which was disappointing, Mr Graham said. His final safety message was a reminder to motorcyclists to have their headlights on when riding.

The Burt Murno starts tomorrow with the Bluff Hill Climb Racing from 11am, followed by Beach Racing from about 6pm on Friday night at Oreti Beach, track racing at Teretonga Raceway at Sandy Point on Saturday, and the Wyndham Street Racing on Sunday.

amy.milne@stl.co.nz

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