Not the sort of news you want to read

[Jacko]

Good advice.

But ultimately the ride has to be worth it, we risk our lives every time we turn the key, if you're so worried about being killed you're not enjoying the ride then you need to sort that out or stop riding. I've told my wife and my family that if it happens I'm doing something I love and no one could take that from me, fear will not stop me. Accept it, do everything in your power to load the dice in your favour and just ride.

[Andy M]

Alex, you sound well ahead of me on the road to getting the groove back. Thank you for putting my mind to rest.

I find my enjoyment in taking something as dangerous as a bike and getting the best out of it in all sorts of ways. If I can cut across a big city in good time without frightening anyone, or get 300 miles out of a tank, or get in and out of a **** up in a field in Wales or Bavaria in a January blizzard without breaking anything, or get somewhere out of Beau Geste in time for a cold one, I'm happy. Fixing three flats in a day or having the back end get a bit flighty makes the beer taste better viewed from the tap room end of things. I do worry myself when I break the traffic laws though and there is a buzz to it that if you like it is maybe best saved for the track.

As a very natural coward though you can be assured I totally agree with the dice loaded in my favour plan    

Andy

[UK_Vstrom650]

Hope you get your confidence back soon Alex. I know a bike sales fella who only rides track days now as he's no longer happy riding on the roads anymore following his friend being killed in an accident.


I'm sorry for the rider killed and his family in the above article - never good to hear of a downed rider. I've had a few near misses in my time by people not paying attention. All I can do is be as observant all of the time, ride defensively and enjoy myself. I hope I'm not killed on a bike but equally I hope I'm not killed walking down the street by someone in a car too. We can only live our lives as each day comes.

[alex wight]

cheers lads, the dice are being loaded in very new way, from now on. You only live once, and life's for living. Even getting these comments/advice/support builds the confidence too. So thanks again

alex.

[Juvecu]

“The warnings about bikers riding responsibly are well documented, however, on this occasion, it was a car driver who was at fault.”

This little bit right at the bottom of the article just pisses me off! It's the "parting thoughts" of the article and they make it sound like bikers are irresponsible riders instead of stating the facts that more than 50% of bike accidents are caused by CAR drivers. Fekking British media should stop ragging us to bits, it's doing no one any good. Go to France, ride a bike, see how they almost drive into a ditch to let you pass. Sure you don't really want to be out on the roads just after lunch when everyone has had a drink, but it's still a helluva lot better than here and it's because their media don't constantly take ever opportunity to make bikers out as criminals. It doesn't make a difference what her sentence is, unless the media perception changes nothing much will change.

Alex, I had an accident when I was still on L plates. Woman looked me in the eyes and then pulled out of a T junction in front of me and only then she saw me. The T junction was on a corner, she had a clear view both ways and it was a sunny day. I tried to avoid her, managed to not hit the car, but fell and fractured my elbow. Low speed fall, maybe 20mph, was wearing all the gear, I just fell in a bad way. I was riding without confidence for months, scared of every junction and very scared of that specific junction. The confidence problem was fixed in an instant. I was riding around one day on a nice quiet road and thinking about all manner of things with the spare attention I had (as you do.) It suddenly occurred to me that all the riding without confidence was quite dangerous and that it's much more likely to cause an accident than the likeliness of someone pulling out of a side road in front of me. Instant cure, even when I've fallen again after that I've been able to pick the bike up, get on it again and ride like nothing happened within an hour (and no more scared of what might happen, just a little cautious after each fall )

Confidence in your riding ability is very important to be a safe rider. Over confidence or lack thereof will cause you trouble sooner rather than later.

[frez]

Even after 20 years I find I don't take right hand corners as well as I should because of an accident I had on a right hand corner, it's nothing conscious, I just know that I could have stayed left for longer or gone faster on most right corners. I'm sure you will get over it with time, but it may well always be in your subconscious and effect your riding in some small way.

[Juvecu]

To add to what frez said, something like that always stays with you, but should stay as "experience" rather than "fear", that way you benefit from it.

[Mr Nick]

I witnessed 4 incidents today that could all easily have ended up as fatalities and they were all due to someone either not paying attention or not doing their bit to protect themselves:

1. Bus stopped on my side, van coming the other way so I stop behind it: woman with a young kid looks at me, waves at me and steps out in front of the van. Lucky for her the van stopped. Pretty woman too: would have been a shame....

2. Cyclist on a narrow country lane going the opposite way from me almost gets wiped out as the car coming behind him drew closer to the verge to give me room and couldn't see him: what possessed the tit on the bike to have stealth black panniers and wear full camo gear in the countryside???  :wtf:

3. Car stopped across a peilcan crossing on an urban dual carriageway to drop someone off who threw the door open and started to get out of the car on the live lane side then almost had it taken off by an artic that mounted the offside verge to avoid the daft bint.

4. Car parked further down the same stretch of road decides, as I'm almost alongside, that he suddenly needs to be in the outside lane, where I was intending to be a second or so later....

Has today changed the way I ride? Yes, it will have ever so slightly - they all go into the 'experiences' box in my head that can help me anticipate things happening in the future. But like the chaps say, it's not fear: just an awareness.

Let's see what tomorrow brings...

[alex wight]

I'm looking at these comments/advice, in a totally different way now. All we can do in our lives is do what we deem to be safe. However there will come a time that we won't be expecting something to happen, that we havent faced before. After the event, we take out of it it what we can, to prepare us, should it happen again, (if we get out of it in one piece), experience. I'm sure I'll get back to where I was, just a pity this bloke won't.

[Juvecu]

Sounds like you'll be fine, Alex, you've got a good way of thinking about it now

[Jay2]

If you cause the death of another person by car, bike, van, lorry, and you are 100% at fault whether by drink, drugs, bad driving or lack of care then lifetime ban.

Driving or riding isn't a right, its a privalege.

How many people do you have to kill before your licence is taken off you?  

Incident recently in the area where a new young driver had passed her test a few weeks before, pulled out on a biker and killed him instantly, through no fault of his own.  She admitted not seeing him and pulling out, but again got a similar sentance to the other driver.  So in twelve months time she could be out driving as if nothing had happened, but the riders family have lost a father, husband, grandfather.  The driver then posted on Facebook how she was going to struggle getting to work without her car and it will affect her social life....................

[Jacko]

Poor love...

[loggamatt]

So what if you're filtering past a vehicle and a kid jumps out from between stationary vehicles and you kill him or her? Court rules you should have anticipated the crossing pedestrian and bans you from driving or riding forever. Maybe sends you to prison. Is this fair?

Obviously this is an emotive subject and many will have a hard line "hang em all" attitude to it on a motorcycle forum. But I think that the road is a dangerous place and there will always be some accidents. What a court needs to determine is whether it was wilfully negligent driving (driving while texting for example) or whether it was just a freak momentary lapse. If the driver has an otherwise unblemished driving record, then there is no evidence of a pattern of dangerous driving. Only evidence of a freak split second moment that could have happened to anyone.

Things need to be done to improve road safety, no doubt, but ruining a person's life (as taking away their licence can do if their employment depends on it for example) doesn't help unless you can prove they are a danger to others and not just someone who made a freak split second mistake that anyone could have made.

I don't buy the eye for an eye argument either. Fine if you want to go that way, but just remember that one day it may be you having your licence taken away.

***EDIT***

You know what I would do in this sort of situation... the driver loses their licence instantly. However, they can get it back at any time by completing a serious, tough, hardcore driving assessment. I'm not talking some toothless driver improvement course here, I mean you spend a whole day out with an assessor at your own expense having every single aspect of your driving scrutinised. If the expert says you're generally a safe driver but had a split second inexplicable moment of madness, you get your licence back; if not, you don't. You can retake this assessment as many times as you like, but at your own expense.

Note, this is for people where there is some doubt over whether they were driving dangerously or just had a freak incident. For people where it is already established that they wilfully drove dangerously by texting or something like that, they should get a lifetime ban and serve jail time.

To be honest though, I think people should have follow up driving tests at certain points anyway... every 20 years or something.

[Andy M]

Immediate bans while the investigation takes place (as happens with airline pilots and supposedly surgeons) would make an interesting experiment in collective responsibility IMHO. I would also favour shorter bans instead of fines as they use in Germany for things like running red lights. A week on the bus concentrates the mind on the possibilities before it gets that serious while the price of a trip to a good restaurant hardly hits a far bit of the population. All the questions in the office about you being on the peasant wagon etc. help the cause.

When I filter and see a child I question myself about the chances of it going wrong. I change my behaviour when I conclude the risk wasn't worth it. I would take my punishment if required.

Re-training would be acceptable if there was also the possibility that the ones who couldn't do it would be failed. My next door neighbour is too old to see and her reactions are a mess. She won't admit it and just keeps crashing, fortunately only into carpark furniture so far. I hope and believe I would quit, but I hope we prove neither at least for another 40 years.

Andy

[kissofdeath]

some good points there andy

[MartinW]

That German system sounds good ...