New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

Quite! A mate of mine (a Biker of some 10 years experience on bikes such as the R1) sighed and nodded when I told hiim how bikers are referred to in A&E departments.

The simple fact is that regardless of how good a rider you are and how well you ride defensively, you simply can't account for everything that might happen on the road and when you do have an accident, bikes afford very little protection (much less than cars). Concrete, lamposts, bollards etc and human flesh and bone don't mix!!

His words, not mine! I agree completely.

He's since switched to a BMW M3.

Condolences to the poster.

Sheepsplitter

There's a report here....
Motorcyclist Killed In Mitcham Crash (from Your Local Guardian)

Can't tell if a car pulled out on him and he had to swerve, or he just lost it.

It's all very well saying biking is dangerous, but so is driving a high powered car, but most of you still do it.
You could go ultra-safe and drive a nice little Nissan Micra, they don't go very fast.
Life is for living and doing what you want, sure you may come unstuck along the way, but you might also die of some horrible disease, completely out your of control.

Being a biker, and a diver, I guess my odds on survival long term are pretty bad, but both give me a great buzz, and I'd rather go out doing something I enjoy, than die as a frizzled old man wishing I'd done more with my life.

RIP fella.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

I like bikes but sometimes the culture that comes with them seems to drive people to get faster and faster bikes and take risks, they have utter contempt for all car drivers and ride way too fast sometimes, I hear them howling up the bypass, flat in fourth/fifth gear on a big bike is massive speed.

It always amazes me when I drive to Buxton via the Cat and Fiddle on a Sunday and there is the mad mix of pensioners in Honda Jazz's and Blokes on massive bikes getting frustrated stuck behind them, 200 hp Bikes and 60 bhp cars dont mix too well.

Some bikers do go for many years without incident, sensible blokes with beards and Belstaffs who ride BMW's, but clueless Sunday warrriors on R1's seem to have more than their fair share.

Condolences about your mate, terribly sad.

Sonic'

Condolencies to you for the loss of your friend

Around here the majority of the bikers are absolute idiots and deserve their fate, I dont even have to see them to hear them screaming up the bypass at ridiculous speeds, and then trying to get upto a ton going past my house in a 30 zone near a primary school

jjones

nothing like tarring an entire section of the community with a brush.

yes aboard those beastly contraptions by jove, those naughty scandrals

greenonedave

Condolences on you loss of your friend,
all bikers are aware of the risks involved in their pleasure, its the best thing you can enjoy doing with your clothes on ! its brilliant,
we all chose to ride or not,.

milf hunter

its a sad time when you lost you best mate
been biking for 20 yrs and seen a lot of my mates have life taken away
new bikes are really quick you must ride them with care as they will soon get you in to trouble

was out 2 weeks ago over the brecon beacons when a car driver took out four bikers and killed 2 of them. bikers not at fault car overtaking on blind crest and hit bikers ahead on ,was behind them it was my lucky day that day .not nice to see your fellow bikers all over the road and i did not know any of them R.I.P Both i think they where husband and wife who died

David Lock

I wouldn't let my son ride a road bike if I could possibly prevent it 'cos I am quite fond of him

If and when he gets married and possibly has kids I would tell him that riding a bike is not fair on his family.

Spoil sport I suppose.

I'm in West Sussex close to the London to coast roads. I would say there is a report in the local paper every week about a biking accident on the A23/A24 or similar.

Sorry to hear about your pal. dl

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

No, fair point, like I said, it isnt all bikers, just some.

Snazy

Cheers guys.

Readin that artical has sent a chill down my spine and a terrible picture thru my mind. But nice to know some facts at least.

heartbreaking to read of all the losses on this thread alone.

Kevin Greeley

I've not lost any friends in bike accidents, I can't imagine how awful it must be. Really sorry to hear about this. Will make me slow down and be extra careful in future on mine.

Leslie

I reckon that some drivers are just as likely to have accidents as some bikers. The consequences are usually worse for the biker naturally.

Les

Hoppy

This is a chilling thread

I knew Ronnie Smith. Top bloke. Great rider and bike racer, too. If it can happen to him, it can happen to anybody.

You guys who like to live on the edge for your kicks need to wise up. You owe it to your friends and family, and other roads users who get caught up in your stupidity.

Get off the road and on to a track. It's a heck of a lot more fun, too.

Richard.

zip106

A chap my wife worked with kissed his wife and 2 young kids goodbye one morning to go to work as he did every day (in his car). He was doing his usual drive down the M6 and a lorry crashed through the central barriers going in the opposite direction and wiped him out.

It can happen to anyone at anytime, driving or riding. There but for the grace of God....

My thoughts are with you and your mates/families, Snazy.

Hoppy

There are ten people killed on our roads EVERY DAY. 1% of road users are bikers; 18% of deaths are bikers. Work it out

unclebuck

There's some serious and disturbing prejudices at work on this thread – needless to say lead by the usual internet fruitloops indentified by their gigantic post counts (and delusions of self importance) who appear not to be a part of what more normal people would call 'the human race'.

Brit_in_Japan

How close were you to the accident, did you see it? My brother-in-law was on the scene about 60 secs after, helped pull one of the fatalities out from under his burning bike. Terrible business, it really shook him up as he's a biker too and was just riding home Friday afternoon as he does most days in the summer. The police have been asking for the driver of a van to come forward so perhaps we shouldn't condemn that car driver when we don't have all the facts.

I'm sorry to hear about your friend Snazy.

Sheepsplitter

Hoppy, I don't know what source you used for your statistics on road deaths, but the official figures from the Dept of Transport are as follows:-

8.769 persons killed per day - a total of 3,201
17.77% of deaths attributable to motorcyclists - a total 569
1.5% of cyclists made up the years carnage - 48 deaths

You seem to think that a minority presence by motorcyclists means they should be stopped/banned/eliminated completely.

I believe Adolf Hitler has similar aspirations with the Jews - any relation?

A more live and let live attitude might be advisable, it is supposedly a free country after all.

speedking

The car / motorcycle figures aren't really compatible though.

A vast majority of cars are owned as a primary means of transport, driven by people of all ages. Many working, doing short shopping trips, clocking up the miles on a daily commute.

Many motorbikes are effectively a hobby. Not taken out if it is raining. Clocking few annual miles. Many are bought to use for speed because of the thrill. Only used for entertainment.

A better comparison would be with other 'dangerous' sports, mountaineering, paragliding, scuba diving, etc. One in ten people that attempt Everest dies

StickyMicky

i love bikes, my heart wants one but my head says no.

last summer i watched a small 4v4 doing approx 30 hit a bike which was accelerating very hard head on right infront of the carwash.

i was outside anyway and heard the bike giving it some beans which is why i looked over

the biker left the roundabout, the 4x4 driver had pulled over to the right to turn into the carwash and let the traffic flow on the left.

i saw the biker cartwheel through the air

we ran over, bloke was lucky and landed on the grass, bike written off for sure, bloke just needed a new helmet and leathers by the looks of it, if he had of flown to the right instead of the left he would have hit the oncoming traffic for sure

this kind of thing just puts me off

FWIW the police said both parties were to blame.

STi wanna Subaru

iTrader: (1)

wanted to bring this back to the top as saw an incident this morning on the way to work.

I was on a busy road with traffic moving slowing in both directions. varying between speeds of a standstill to 10mph or so. there are side streets all along it as well as two petrol stations. coming up to the first petrol station on the opposite side of the road and traffic is at a standstill. I see a motorbike in my wing mirror overtaking down the centre of the road. guessing his speed at about 30 mph. There is a car waiting to pull out of the petrol station across the first lane of traffic into the lane I was in. A gap was left by a car so the car pulled out. The biker saw this late on but slowed quickly and the car pulled out. He then booted it again just as a car a few in front turns right into the petrol station and he goes into the side of the car. He managed to dismount with the bike hitting the car. the women in the car was shocked and got out saying how sorry she was with the biker clearly angry...

My feeling was he was the one being the ***** and it was his own fault.

How would you view it?

stilover

^^^^^^

Clearly the bikers fault. If it was me in the car and he decided to get angry with me, I'd get angry back and do the job properly

Snazy

Yeah thats definatly a tough one mate I have to say. If the car was indicating his intention and the bike was able to I would say he should have backed off and let the car go. After all overtaking is not a right of way.

Seeing this thread back reminds me. I passed the spot where John died the other night. Touching to see so many flowers etc. But shocking to see the damage to the fencing and post that his body and bike caused.
Horrific to picture the scene with them there.

davegtt

Bikes fault. I find that because theyre in a smaller mode of transport it gives them the right to whizz in and out of traffic and anyone who pulls out on them is to blame.

Ive had an idiot recently who whilst on the A1 in very bad rainy, windy weather drove between me (outside lane) and a lorry (inside lane). I couldnt believe the risks some of them take. He could have waited another 10 seconds I would have been past the lorry and pulled into the inside for him to have a full lane to himself

Snazy

Mate at works who rides his R1 quite aggressivly just frowned when I told him about this, and says he feels totally the bikes fault, definatly if the car was indicating, which I assume it was ?

Some bikers do indeed ask for trouble, sadly the concequences of a collision are far worse for a bike.

tronlc

The car driver clearly looked to make sure the path was clear for her to move......

STi wanna Subaru

iTrader: (1)

that's the thing. I couldn't see if the 205 (car) was indicating but I'm sure the bike couldn't either due to the car that had just pulled out obscuring his view. He'd just slowed sharpish for the first car then accelerated pretty hard it looked (think he'd have been a bit pissed at the car pulling out) and went into the side of the 205. time between the two incidents was nothing when you think of the length between the entrance and exit to a forecourt.

The lass in the 205 was only young and I carried on with the traffic but then felt bad thinking I should have stopped and given my details as a witness.

sorry to bring up the memories again with this thread but it seems you're reminded quite often seeing the scene as you did.

Snazy

No worries mate, rather remembered fondly and regularly than forgotton and lost forever

Sounds a tough one without knowing if they were indicating.
Plain and simple fact is, the outside of traffic on a road with multiple right turn possibilities is not a safe place to be.

Not somewhere I would put myself, and certainly not with the view that its my right of way.

Andy Porter

I'm glad I'm off them now, but as others say I still miss the 'buzz'. I dont miss the pain of crashing and lengthy rehabilitation though. I had 12 good years on bikes then 3 stacks in 18 months, third time unlucky in my case.

RIP your friends Snazzy

Hoppy

The statistics came off the top of my head - seems like I wasn't far out either

I am a complete hypocrite, but I do believe that some sports bikes should either be banned or the rules changed so that only those people who know how to ride safely are allowed to do so, and are regularly tested. I have ridden bikes for 35 years and worked in the motorcycle industy for over ten years; I have been to too many funerals and witnessed the massive distress that a death causes to dozens of relatives and friends.

I find your remark relating my post to Hitler and the Jews ridiculous and offensive.

"Live and let live" - is that supposed to be funny? This is NOT a "free country" and never has been. That is a stupid and untrue cliche and every day some new law restricts our freedom.

To clarify my position, it is simply that the roads today are much more dangerous for bikers than they were, say 20 years ago. In those days, a bike was mainly 'poor man's trasport'. I rode my bike ten miles every work day into the cenrte of London and back, come rain, shine, fog, sleet, snow. I had no choice. That is how you learn to ride safely. But today, bikes are massively fast (most superbikes capable of 170mph or more) and are ridden by middle-aged men for a couple of hours on a sunny weekend. They don't know how to ride safely, or understand the risks.

Also, there is much more traffic today, and car drivers feel safe with their air-bags and anti-lock brakes etc etc. The standard of car driving has fallen.

I love bikes and biking, but if your motorcycling is a road-based leisure activity when you get a buzz out of thrashing the fastest machines on the planet just for the hell of it, you are living on borrowed time. Stick to track days - they are much more fun and infitely safer.

Richard.