Regulars already know how I feel about diesels, but whereas my usual reasons stem from the fact they are noisy and rubbish to drive compared with petrol, I have finally come up with a safety reason.
Diesels make the road dangerous.
Anyone who rides on two wheels will probably have had that "interesting" moment when riding across a petrol station forecourt, where some clot has spilled their diesel. It's not fun. Also there have been instances of locals chucking diesel on the road in order to "discourage" bikers from speeding... some have died because of this.
However, in the past I have noticed several places where I have a job pulling out onto the road in a hurry without wheelspinning. Those places are the exit roads of builders yards' car parks and my local Wickes. Why? Vans. Most vans are diesel. And when you give a diesel some welly, such as when pulling out onto a road, it spits out unburnt fuel through the exhaust downwards onto the road. That's what all the foul black smoke is. Being diesel it just kinda sits there. Making the road slippy.
I just thought it was annoying. But, as my brother entered a roundabout yesterday he found out that it is a real problem for two-wheeled vehicles. Luckily all he suffered was a dislocated thumb, although his Bonneville will need a LOT of work. One of the first people on the scene, who also witnessed, was an off-duty policeman. He didn't think my brother did anything wrong and the traffic cops he called didn't even breathalyse him (I thought they had to breathalyse everyone). Speed was appropriate, braking was timely. Bike just dropped out from underneath him.
I have seen the roundabout a few times and every time there have been vans, LGVs and HGVs queueing up to pull out (it's next to an industrial estate). So, it's no doubt dripping with diesel (perhaps this is why HGVs have elevated exhaust stacks, so they don't spit it all down onto the road?)
So there you go. If you drive diesels, not only is the airbourne benzene giving children cancer but you are also making the roads more dangerous, thus reducing the speed limits and increasing the number of speed cameras they will put up.
Diesels make the road dangerous.
Anyone who rides on two wheels will probably have had that "interesting" moment when riding across a petrol station forecourt, where some clot has spilled their diesel. It's not fun. Also there have been instances of locals chucking diesel on the road in order to "discourage" bikers from speeding... some have died because of this.
However, in the past I have noticed several places where I have a job pulling out onto the road in a hurry without wheelspinning. Those places are the exit roads of builders yards' car parks and my local Wickes. Why? Vans. Most vans are diesel. And when you give a diesel some welly, such as when pulling out onto a road, it spits out unburnt fuel through the exhaust downwards onto the road. That's what all the foul black smoke is. Being diesel it just kinda sits there. Making the road slippy.
I just thought it was annoying. But, as my brother entered a roundabout yesterday he found out that it is a real problem for two-wheeled vehicles. Luckily all he suffered was a dislocated thumb, although his Bonneville will need a LOT of work. One of the first people on the scene, who also witnessed, was an off-duty policeman. He didn't think my brother did anything wrong and the traffic cops he called didn't even breathalyse him (I thought they had to breathalyse everyone). Speed was appropriate, braking was timely. Bike just dropped out from underneath him.
I have seen the roundabout a few times and every time there have been vans, LGVs and HGVs queueing up to pull out (it's next to an industrial estate). So, it's no doubt dripping with diesel (perhaps this is why HGVs have elevated exhaust stacks, so they don't spit it all down onto the road?)
So there you go. If you drive diesels, not only is the airbourne benzene giving children cancer but you are also making the roads more dangerous, thus reducing the speed limits and increasing the number of speed cameras they will put up.
Even if I come out of 
