Bike Crash

[securespark]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring...s-last-moments-used-in-road-safety-video.html

Tragic, but the mother is placing so much emphasis on drivers taking care to look out for motorcyclists.

Fair point in general, but with reference to her son's accident, he was travelling at 97mph at the time of the accident, just over 43 m/s.

Even if the driver looked (which I'm sure they did), they may well not have seen him because he was not there.

It seems to me like there is a lot of blame being placed on the driver here.

1. If the biker had been adhering to the speed limit, he would have had much better chance to take avoiding action.
2. Similarly, if he had been adhering to the limit, he would not have been at that junction at that time, avoiding a potential collision.

 

[JBR]

I completely agree. There are always two sides to a coin.

Of course, I feel sorry for the woman and her dead son, but that is a ridiculous speed to be travelling. She suggests that motorists should slow down and watch out for motorcycles, but I think it is clear that this cyclist should have been the one slowing down.

I feel sorry for the motorist, as a bike travelling at that speed must have been difficult to see in time. I hope the motorist wasn't charged because I suspect the cause of this accident was the speed of the bike.

 

[gregers]

my best m8 got killed like this about 6 years ago in france.there was 3 bikes staggered and a car pulled across my m8 who was 2nd in line and BANG game over.they were not speeding,just a moment lapse of concentration by the car driver.


if the biker in the link had been doing the speed limit,would there be enough reaction time by him and the driver not to have had an impact?.
i assume the driver saw the bike(probably had lights on?)and thought it was doing the speed limit and decided they had time to pull across the junction.

at the end of the day many lives have been ruined.

for the grace of a higher being go all of us.

 

[Norcon]

The mother said motorists should slow down and her son was breaking the law travelling at nearly 100 endangering other road users.

My da was nearly killed on a motorbike so when I said to him I might buy one he told me to buy a new home when I was at it.
Cos he would have kicked me out.

 

[cajar]

I'm an advanced motorcyclist, and I think the biker could've easily avoided that collision.

Obviously he was going too fast overall, but watching the footage, you can clearly see the junction ahead, and the black car approaching it - i would have anticipated the black car may turn in front of me so i'd have slowed down, and moved to the left of the lane to give myself reaction time in case he does (and increase visibility by creating lateral movement that the eye can pick out easier) and passed at a speed that would allow me to take evasive action if he did make the turn, or to accelerate and make progress if I was confident he'd seen me and intended to give way.

The mother can't bring herself to campaign for greater biker training, because although it would help avoid such incidents it would mean admitting her son was a wreckless tool. life's tough.

 

[noseall]

"M8". A busy mortoway in Scotland.

"Mate" A friend or buddy.

You are not charged per letter on DIY not.

 

[Dextraneous]

My best friend was killed by riding his motorbike home under the influence on new year's night many years ago ( he was 17) and another friend lost half his leg after hitting an oil patch around Hyde Park (he was 17 too). Bikes offer no protection in the event of human error and anyone riding them would be foolish to forget this.

I am sure that we can all feel sympathy for the mother, but is it really my responsibility to assume that all other road users are reckless buffoons?

 

[Bodgeitandleggit]

sad but could have easily been avoided... speed limits are there for a reason ... I like bikes and would love to have one but will never get one as the last poster said there is no protection...

 

[Burnerman]

An adrenaline fuelled ride, that one.....popping wheelies right from the off, was he?
One hell of a tragedy (for everyone concerned) but riding at speeds like that is just asking for trouble. I don't think a collision like that could have been avoided - its anticipation of other road users that keeps us bikers in one piece.
I have to say I'm frequently up at speeds like that, but not in situations like that one.....I don't ride in packs, (one of the big areas where some bikers are riding above their abilities) and don't use a helmet cam either.
Bike awareness amongst car drivers is improving to some degree - remember the 'Think Bike' advert - but as we can travel much quicker than everyone else on the road, we need to anticipate that we are not always seen, and that isn't always the car drivers fault. (Who looks in their mirror every 5 sec?)
John

 

[Norcon]

People pull out in front of cars all the time at junctions because they don't see them and those cars can be going slowly.

Approaching a junction on a bike at nearly 100 is suicide.

 

[mattylad]

And they like to drive black bike & dress up like a ninja, all in black or camo (as can be seen from the video) so not exactly making themselves highly visible - given that they do not have the size or width of a car.

Not entirely their fault, a lot of bike gear comes in a choice of colours, as long as it's black.

So then against the background, at certain times of day etc they can be harder to see in the brief time you have when looking to see if the road is clear.

 

[Brigadier]

While I have sympathy for the bloke who lost his life, and his bereaved family, at least he didn't kill or seriously injure some blameless other, while out "enjoying" himself. That would have been a real tragedy.

 

[footprints]

To be fair in the interview she is saying bike riders should take care as well.
She seems to have released the video in a genuine attempt to make both types of road user sit up and take note.
For what it's worth I suspect the car driver misjudged the speed of the oncoming bike.
I am not one for the nanny state but perhaps HI-VIZ jackets or at least Sam Browne reflective belts made mandatory would be a useful idea.

 

[Bosswhite]

IMO >The Mother should be campaigning for Motor Cyclists to ADHERE to the SPEED LIMITS

 

[Whitespirit66]

"Mate" A friend or buddy.

And what would you know about those?