Mandy’s story: Back on the bike after a narrow escape
After a brush with death on the road, Mandy Peterson knows the value of motorcycle safety training and is urging others to complete a Ride Forever course ahead of the riding season.
Motorcycle enthusiast Mandy Peterson is in her happy place.
Perched proudly on her beloved Harley Davidson, she is cruising along a rural road in the beautiful Hawke’s Bay.
With the stunning scenery bathed in autumn sunshine and a powerful 1200cc engine rumbling away beneath her, there’s nowhere else Mandy would rather be.
But her serenity is about to be shattered. In a few seconds, she will very nearly lose her life.
She will end up with nothing worse than a badly broken leg but knows how close she came to being just another road death statistic.
Luckily, the 55-year-old had completed several Ride Forever courses – an ACC initiative aimed at improving rider skill through training and resources.
Had it not been for her Ride Forever training, Mandy shudders to think what may have happened.
“I would have died, there’s no doubt about that,” she admits.
Hidden hazards often lurk around corners
Mandy vividly recalls the day her life almost came to a premature end.
Last April, she was on a Sunday outing with partner Chris and adult son Casey, with the aim of scouting a potential circuit for a group ride her and a friend were organising.
“The boys had actually disappeared out of my eyesight. They’d stopped to have a chat and swap bikes while I went on,” she explains.
Now leading the way, everything was going to plan until Mandy approached a corner.
She was going at an appropriate speed for the 35km bend but, unbeknownst to Mandy, a hidden hazard was lying in wait.
“I learned later from the locals who came down to help me that they’d actually rung the police the night before,” she says.
“Apparently, some boy racers had been at that spot doing donuts and other bits and pieces. I’m not sure if they’d put some diesel down but there was definitely a lot of rubber from all their skid marks.”
That caused Mandy’s bike to slide, which didn’t initially bother the experienced rider.
“I knew from all my Ride Forever training to stay calm and my bike would just come to a stop eventually, so I wasn’t panicking,” she says.
Breaking a leg to save a life
The problem only came when Mandy realised what was just around the corner – an intersection that led straight into the path of oncoming highway traffic.
“I got a flash of a car coming from my right on that state highway – it’s an open road so they were coming at speed,” she says.
Mandy had just enough time to do some quick calculations in her head. Because her bike was sliding and she had no traction, she realised her life was now in danger.
“I was like, ‘Shoot, I’m going to go out in front of this car’. So I knew I had to make sure I didn’t go over that give way sign and into the intersection.”
The weight of the 200kg-plus Harley Davidson snapped her leg in half as she let the bike fall rather than ride through the intersection.
She ended up spending three months in a wheelchair and many more weeks on crutches, her leg finally getting strong enough to return to riding only in recent days.
But Mandy considers that a small price to pay, given the grisly alternative.
“It’s a really good injury to have considering what the outcome was going to be,” she admits.
ACC lends a helping hand
Mandy credits her Ride Forever training with saving her life.
"I didn't panic once I was sliding because I've felt that before on the course. They get you braking and sliding in different scenarios and situations," she says.
"If I'd panicked, I would've just hung onto the bike, gone out in front of that car and been hit. There's no way I would have survived."
Aside from helping save Mandy’s life, ACC then had a further role to play during her recovery.
“I’ve had great support from ACC,” she says.
“They made contact with me in hospital before I left and I came home with everything I needed. They’ve also kept in contact as to how my recovery has been going and I’m now on a back-to-work programme.
“So I’m really grateful that we’ve got ACC and that I was able to utilise it for how I needed to.”
Turning around the sobering statistics
Mandy is far from alone in seriously injuring herself while riding a motorbike on our roads.
Tragically, the lives of around 50 riders are lost in Aotearoa each year. The numbers are just as grim when it comes to all road users.
On average, one person is killed every day on New Zealand roads and another seven are seriously injured.
The sobering nature of these statistics is why ACC supports Road to Zero, a campaign led by Waka Kotahi which aims to reduce annual deaths and serious injuries by 40 per cent by 2030.
Road to Zero: It takes everyone to get to no one
We also partner with local and regional councils, as well as the motorcycle industry, every September to run Motorcycle Awareness Month, which celebrates the start of the riding season and encourages riders to get ‘ride-ready’.
Motorcycle Awareness Month is funded via the Motorcycle Safety Levy.
“I’ve been to far too many funerals”
While her passion for motorbikes burns as brightly as ever, Mandy is all too aware of the dangers of the open road.
Prior to her recent brush with death, she had never had a serious accident in four decades of riding. But the same can sadly not be said for some of her friends.
“I know quite a few people that have been killed on motorbikes and I’ve been to far too many funerals,” she says.
“If not killed, I know of lots of other people who have suffered injuries that have affected them lifelong.”
Safety is therefore something she takes very seriously.
“I’m the sort of person who is a bit pedantic about all of my gear,” she says.
“I’ve got guards on my knees, hips, elbows and back, as well as gloves with protection and obviously my helmet. So, even if I do come off the bike, I know I’m well protected.”
Learning how to Ride Forever
Mandy’s need to stay safe on the road does not end at making sure her gear and bike are in good condition.
It also led her to sign up for multiple Ride Forever courses over the years – she has been through each of the Bronze, Silver and Gold parts of the programme on more than one occasion.
“I can’t recommend it highly enough and you’re losing nothing by doing these courses,” she says.
“You’re learning things you don’t know you’re going to need to call on until you’re in that situation. And to have a fresh set of eyes looking at your riding makes a massive difference.
“It really makes you at one with your motorbike.”
