Unthinking motor bike riders!

B

Bubbly Scot

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On a busy Saturday afternoon I was driving in slow moving traffic with a small junction coming up on the right. A motorcycle came along the outside to overtake me, I could see him coming in the side mirror and thought I would pull in a little as he was across the centre line...on the wrong side of the road.

Thank GOD! I also checked my other side mirror as his companion decided to overtake me on the left hand side at the same time!!

I drove behind these two for a couple more miles and was extremely nervous of the one immediately in front of me. Mr Bubbly (who rode a bike in a previous life..aka, before having children) said he was very in-experienced.

Granted, at the few miles per hour I was doing (the bikes were moving a bit faster) I probably wasn't in much danger but my car was, as were the riders. I didn't list them in any particular order of importance ;)

We're always being told to watch for motorcycles, take care around bikes and hearing how dangerous a motor bike can be but maybe more money should be spent on educating the motor cyclists who don't know or fail to observe the rules of the road and basic common sense.
 
I can really appreciate what happened to you and how frightening the situation was. I have been so frightened by some motorcyclists that I have said to my husband as they sped past at incredible speed that if we come across them laid out in a crash at the next bend that I will just pass on without helping them and that the loss of their genetic material will only be of benefit. Yes, OF COURSE , not all are like that , but they have frightened me badly and thank God so far , I haven't seen any of them in crashes , but some of them with their absolutely reckless cycling make me very angry!!
 
When cycling along the inside of a lane of slow-moving traffic, I frequently find that motorbikes travelling along the outside of the lane cause cars to pull over to the left, either intentionally or subliminally, and block my path.
 
Complainer said:
When cycling along the inside of a lane of slow-moving traffic, I frequently find that motorbikes travelling along the outside of the lane cause cars to pull over to the left, either intentionally or subliminally, and block my path.
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That's what I was checking for. I was looking for a bike, I just didn't expect it to be a motorbike.
 
Mrs P and I were driving on the Bundoran/Ballyshannon bypass last year and came to a part of it with a concrete divider in the middle of it. Suddenly 3 bikers passed us (distance between car and divider was approx 6' !!!) like we were standing still. Mrs P was driving and saw them approach in the mirror so kept that much distance deliberately but at the same time, it was a lunatic stunt !

A week or so later we saw that 3 or 4 bikers were caught on that road, that weekend, doing something like 180kph.

Morons like that do the biking community no favours !
 
While obviously that is lunatic stuff and no-one supports that, in fairness the greater problem tends to come from car drivers. Only recently I heard that 70% of motorcycle accidents have car driver fault as the major causal factor.

The other point about it is that, regardless of how reckless as motorbiker is he/she is much less of a danger to the lives of other roadusers than someone in a car or, worse, a truck. So if there were less boy racer cars and more bikers then accident stats might be better or, at least, it would only be the lunatic fringe or unlucky getting killed as opposed to the lunatic fringe getting killed and taking innocents with them.

There is talk of CBT - which I think is Compulsory Bike Training - being introduced shortly. Something like 12 hours training before you get out on the road. The only major gripe about it is that the cost is said to be €800 which makes it a bit prohibitive for someone starting out and having to get a bike and protective gear - words like "death knell of biking" are used, or that there would be greater benefits if car users were made do it as well/instead/first. In congested cities like Dublin motorbiking should be promoted not discouraged & theres less CO2 than a car (but more than public transport) if thats the focus.
 
Is it not people's general experience that motorbike drivers regularly way exceed the speed limit though?

Almost without fail, on an open stretch of road, if there is a bike rider, IME they will overtake 3 or 4 cars at once and travel at speeds of the order of 30 - 50% over the limit.

Sounds bad I know, but it is certainly my experience in the vast majority of cases.
 
Caveat said:
Is it not people's general experience that motorbike drivers regularly way exceed the speed limit though?

Almost without fail, on an open stretch of road, if there is a bike rider, IME they will overtake 3 or 4 cars at once and travel at speeds of the order of 30 - 50% over the limit.

Sounds bad I know, but it is certainly my experience in the vast majority of cases.
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the bikes that i see doing that are usually the more powerful bikes on the road where the power to weight ratio is greater. agree though that if they see the road open up and nothing coming the other way then its twist the wrist and let it fly. however i think that they are safer at overtaking than cars (most of the time). i often let bikes pass me by and move into the left to help them on. in fairness if you were driving a ferrari and came across a few audi's/vw's say 3 or 4 in front and the road opened up and nothing coming the other way would you not be tempted? i know i would and would probably do it too, cos i know i have the power to do so.

and thats my 2 cents, which probably doesnt make much sense.
 
A friend of mine is a biker and he openly admits to me that the thrill of it, for him, is in the speed. He thinks it's okay to speed as long as he's alone on the road and to that end he would get up extra early say on a saturday or sunday and go for a ride. He thinks as he is only endangering himself ( in his eyes) that that's okay. In all other respects he is a top bloke but I disagree with him fundamentally on that.

My sister in law is a biker too, she has a racing bike- but she doesnt go above the speed limit- and she says she still gets the thrill of it. But she's a very safe driver.
 
Vanilla said:
A friend of mine is a biker and he openly admits to me that the thrill of it, for him, is in the speed. He thinks it's okay to speed as long as he's alone on the road and to that end he would get up extra early say on a saturday or sunday and go for a ride. He thinks as he is only endangering himself ( in his eyes) that that's okay. In all other respects he is a top bloke but I disagree with him fundamentally on that.
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And that's why in the medical field they are known as "Donors"!
 
And if you visit a biker forum, you'll see similar threads on unthinking car drivers....doing u-turns or changing lanes in slow-moving traffic without looking for the biker, indicating one way but moving another (happened to me recently, car indicated right, I moved inside to the left, then the driver moved left instead...), not looking for bikers at crossroads, junctions....

There are some reckless drivers out there, they drive bikes, cars, vans, buses, trucks.....even bicycles!

I don't agree with speeding bikers, I'm not a speeding biker (my bike isn't powerful enough anyway!), please don't tar us all with the same brush!
 
I have nothing against any biker but they terrify me on the road.

gipimann said:
changing lanes in slow-moving traffic without looking for the biker
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On hundreds of accasions I have indicated correctly, checked all my mirrors several times and just as I am about to move, a motorcycle appears out of nowhere scaring the life out of me.


Two of my friends are bikers and they do it for the thrill even though one already lost a leg (and survived by the skin of his teeth) in a nasty accident caused by an oil spill on the motorway.
 
Yachtie said:
On hundreds of accasions I have indicated correctly, checked all my mirrors several times and just as I am about to move, a motorcycle appears out of nowhere scaring the life out of me.
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Maybe they were wearing their invisbility cloak, when I'm on my bike it seems I have one ;)

Mirrors don't show everything.
Did you check your blindspot?

The most dangerous place for a biker is alongside someones back wheel. As they can switch lanes they most likely won't see you.
Strangely enough bus drivers are far more predictable and do this check even though I'd imagine a bus is more difficult to manage then a car.

But then they are far more trained then most car drivers. And most problems come down to lack of training.
A reason they were planning to introduce CBT (Compulsory basic training) for all bike riders. Though why announce a scheme for 2% of road users and ignore everyone else, I'm not sure why??

Lol, I'm sure you are a good driver but bikes do not appear from nowhere.
 
micmclo said:
Maybe they were wearing their invisbility cloak, when I'm on my bike it seems I have one ;)

Mirrors don't show everything.
Did you check your blindspot?
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It's got nothing to do with this, it's the bike going too fast and changing lanes like there is no tomorrow. I am not saying that all bikers drive like lunatics (there are plenty of lunatic car drivers too) but some really do.
 
micmclo said:
Maybe they were wearing their invisbility cloak, when I'm on my bike it seems I have one ;)

Mirrors don't show everything.
Did you check your blindspot?

The most dangerous place for a biker is alongside someones back wheel. As they can switch lanes they most likely won't see you.
Strangely enough bus drivers are far more predictable and do this check even though I'd imagine a bus is more difficult to manage then a car.

But then they are far more trained then most car drivers. And most problems come down to lack of training.
A reason they were planning to introduce CBT (Compulsory basic training) for all bike riders. Though why announce a scheme for 2% of road users and ignore everyone else, I'm not sure why??

Lol, I'm sure you are a good driver but bikes do not appear from nowhere.
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See here's the thing. I understand for bikers that car drivers etc can be unpredictable. As a cyclist I'm at the bottom of the food chain, even pedestrians are above me, so I know all about how unpredictable and dangerous all other road users (including fellow cyclists) can be.

But... the difference is I take that into account and don't put myself in situations where I can be at risk. Sure most of the time I'm in the right and have right of way, but that small moral victory won't suit me too well wrapped around someone's wheels. Bikers know there are blind spots in cars, so why do they hover in those areas? Why not make sure you're always in the visible spots? Just because you can squeeze through traffic, is it worth it when you've a hundred frustrated cars ready to pull out at the exact second you hit their blind spot?

Safe driving/biking/cycling is as much about planning what others could do as much as taking your own driving into consideration. Each and every road user finds someone else to blame to excuse their own lack of judgement. Me: lorries, buses, cars, etc can all do far more damage to me than I can to them, so let them got on with it. It still only takes me 35-40 mins to cycle home, whereas it's as good as an hour at peak times in the car. For the sake of letting a bus or car go, I'll still be home before them.

Having said all that, if I get my hands on the biker who cut into a cycle lane two weeks ago and knocked me off before speeding away leaving me with €200 worth of damage to my bike, I may not be so compassionate. Much thanks to the taxi driver though who had left enough room behind me to stop in time and who went off to catch the biker but failed.
 
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Brianne said:
I can really appreciate what happened to you and how frightening the situation was. I have been so frightened by some motorcyclists that I have said to my husband as they sped past at incredible speed that if we come across them laid out in a crash at the next bend that I will just pass on without helping them and that the loss of their genetic material will only be of benefit. Yes, OF COURSE , not all are like that , but they have frightened me badly and thank God so far , I haven't seen any of them in crashes , but some of them with their absolutely reckless cycling make me very angry!!
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Angry is an understatement, surely you mean callous, cold hearted or just mean spirited....."I will just pass on without helping them and that the loss of their genetic material will only be of benefit" wow thats a scary sentiment. You don't drive a VW by any chance do you?
 
micmclo said:
Maybe they were wearing their invisbility cloak, when I'm on my bike it seems I have one ;)
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This is actually a very valid point. My OH rides a bike. Its dark coloured. One fine sunday afternoon I was driving behind him in my car and he was on said bike wearing black leathers. His boots have reflectors and so does the jacket but on a bright day they dont reflect anything.

He was practically invisible on the road in front of me, the combination of dark leathers, dark bike and tarmac all blended together and once he had pulled away a bit he just mingled into the colour of the road.

I pointed it out to him when we got home, he now wears a high vis over the dark clothing.
 
It's unfair to brand all bike riders as dangerous and unthinking. As a driver I come across far more reckless car drivers than bike riders. Most of the riders in the city are fine, it is the ones on high speed bikes on country roads that pose the greatest risk to themselves and others. My son is a motorbike rider and thank God he hasn't had any accidents so far (touch wood). He has had a few close calls though, particularly involving cars turning left and not indicating.
 
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