Discussion
Dibble said:
10PS's thread should be mandatory reading for new posters to PH, and new drivers as well.
Agreed. You honestly can't calculate its true worth but I am sure that it has prevented more than a few incidents, and quite likely has already saved more than a life or two. I have found myself thinking "10PS" a few times over the years since I first read of what happened and checked myself accordingly.Edited by Rude-boy on Tuesday 18th January 11:18
For me, this thread has given me a fantastic insight.
I have been on ther 'other' side of the prison table... visitng a loved one as often as i could, writing endless letters to make sure they know we all still think of them, and sending silly things like scented paper of my perfume, to remind them of familiar smells on the outside world.
10p your writing has helped me understand what it was like for my partner when he was in prison for 10 weeks. And i thank you for that. He tried to express his feelings in his letters, but was more continuously trying to reassure me he was ok... when really, deep down, i knew it was mentally scarring him for life.
I read your diary exerts to him last night, and its amazing that pretty much everything you have written, he related to 100% the canteen.. the plastic plate...the sun creeping through the towel hanging up....
Very well written.
I have been on ther 'other' side of the prison table... visitng a loved one as often as i could, writing endless letters to make sure they know we all still think of them, and sending silly things like scented paper of my perfume, to remind them of familiar smells on the outside world.
10p your writing has helped me understand what it was like for my partner when he was in prison for 10 weeks. And i thank you for that. He tried to express his feelings in his letters, but was more continuously trying to reassure me he was ok... when really, deep down, i knew it was mentally scarring him for life.
I read your diary exerts to him last night, and its amazing that pretty much everything you have written, he related to 100% the canteen.. the plastic plate...the sun creeping through the towel hanging up....
Very well written.
10p, thanks for posting this. I'm sure that anyone of us on this forum, could have ended up in your position. We've all driven a little to hard at times, and it is just poor luck that resulted in you hitting the bike.
I'm sure that as a decent person, knowing what you did is punishment enough!
This will make me think twice the next time I want to push the car a little.
Thanks once again.
I'm sure that as a decent person, knowing what you did is punishment enough!
This will make me think twice the next time I want to push the car a little.
Thanks once again.
Jonathan27 said:
10p, thanks for posting this. I'm sure that anyone of us on this forum, could have ended up in your position. We've all driven a little to hard at times, and it is just poor luck that resulted in you hitting the bike.
I'm sure that as a decent person, knowing what you did is punishment enough!
This will make me think twice the next time I want to push the car a little.
Thanks once again.
Good post - just a minor correction, I think that 10PS was stationary (or very nearly) when the bike hit him.I'm sure that as a decent person, knowing what you did is punishment enough!
This will make me think twice the next time I want to push the car a little.
Thanks once again.
What a fascinating read, albeit I skipped through to 10p's bits, rather than the whole thread.
A sobering experience indeed, and there but for the grace of God go I !
Personally, I don;t know if I could have hacked it, so a big up to you 10p for getting through it.
As an ex biker myself, I find the details harrowing, I could have been wither party in this story, glad to say as of now, I have escaped both, but it is thought provoking enough to know that if I rake the mick in my car, I run the risk of living 10p's nightmare.
A sobering experience indeed, and there but for the grace of God go I !
Personally, I don;t know if I could have hacked it, so a big up to you 10p for getting through it.
As an ex biker myself, I find the details harrowing, I could have been wither party in this story, glad to say as of now, I have escaped both, but it is thought provoking enough to know that if I rake the mick in my car, I run the risk of living 10p's nightmare.
tezzer said:
As an ex biker myself, I find the details harrowing, I could have been wither party in this story
Indeed.I'm not really what you would call a biker, although I've had some quick bikes in the past, and we're always taught to ride (and drive) to be able to stop in the distance you can see to be clear, but in reality, do we always take heed of that (very sensible) advice? (I know that I haven't always done so in the past, and, unfortunately, the biker in 10PS's situation didn't.
Not wanting to go over old ground, just merely reiteriating that it was a very unfortunate series of events that, had they occurred a good few seconds earlier/later, the outcome would probably have been very different, and it is this, that makes none of us immune.
monthefish said:
but in reality, do we always take heed of that (very sensible) advice? (I know that I haven't always done so in the past, and, unfortunately, the biker in 10PS's situation didn't.
I dont think many people who are on a twisty A or B road ever drive or ride like this. The biker was in the wrong place at the wrong time, nothing more or less.The law obviously holds this position as well, as it has done in many other instances.
10 Pence Short said:
I'd kind of promised myself I wouldn't go down the route of publishing any more of the prison diary; I wanted to forget about the whole thing.
But a few months is a long time with my muddled thought processes, so watch this space for a couple of weeks and I'll see what I can do.
No worries mate, I remembered the thread from a while back and was just asking if there'd been any updates.But a few months is a long time with my muddled thought processes, so watch this space for a couple of weeks and I'll see what I can do.
Totally understand if you don't want to delve into unpleasant memories but I really would like to know how it all played out in the end.
In particular the main questions I had were
1. How did you cope financially while you were inside? (mortgage, CC bills etc.)
2. How did you cope emotionally while you were inside and did if adversely affect your relationship with your loved ones?
3. And in particular, what the end of your prison term was like and was it difficult (if at all) to adjust to the outside?
Like I said brilliant writing, and has to be one of the "best" threads I've ever read on any forum
10 Pence Short said:
Well, at last I've come around to looking at finishing the diary. It's 'interesting' being immersed back in those thoughts, especially now. If anything, being emotionally raw makes it all the more vivid for me.
As soon as I have things to post, this'll be where I put them.
Great News! - I look forward to it.As soon as I have things to post, this'll be where I put them.
Cheers 10PS.
10 Pence Short said:
Well, at last I've come around to looking at finishing the diary. It's 'interesting' being immersed back in those thoughts, especially now. If anything, being emotionally raw makes it all the more vivid for me.
As soon as I have things to post, this'll be where I put them.
Thank you!, I think i'll go back and read the first part again ready for the second part.As soon as I have things to post, this'll be where I put them.
Thoroughly looking forward to this, it's been a fantastic insight into something that I have no experience of written by someone who is completely normal and has no agenda, which is refreshing to say the least.
Your story is always at the back of my mind when I'm doing something stupid.
Your story is always at the back of my mind when I'm doing something stupid.
ked forever.
monthefish said:
Good post - just a minor correction, I think that 10PS was stationary (or very nearly) when the bike hit him.
Not so simple. Here's a response I made two years ago when people were queuing up to blame the biker:King Herald said:
Nic Jones said:
I have read that post before, but surely the basic principle of being able to stop in the distance you can see should be applied? I tend to go over blind brows slowly enough that if someone is stopped on the other side I can stop/avoid them if the need arises. Self preservation I think they call it. I still agree that 10PS was partly (mostly?) to blame.
Just my opinion, undoubtedly others have differing ones. (It would be boring if we all agreed).
Just my opinion, undoubtedly others have differing ones. (It would be boring if we all agreed).
10pence short said:
"...For about 50 metres down the direction I'd come from, were the tell tale black lines of a skidding car. These were only interrupted by gouge marks on the road surface where car had met bike. In the middle of this lay the biker, motionless, unconscious, a mess. Onlookers, other motorists, were out of their cars but nothing more than background fuzz...".
This indicates that the car had carried on sliding down the road in the direction the biker had come from, for a fair way after the collision. The car bounced the bike back the way it had come: 150kg bike meets 1000kg moving car, physics takes over.I always try to ride within my predicted stopping distance, but you can't take into account that someone might be coming towards YOU at a fair rate of knots, on your side of the road, round a bend, which removes ANY chance you have of planning escape routes or emergency stops. If you rode/drove like that you'd be faster walking!
This is very interesting reading. While its quite obvious the experience really made 10 pence re evaluate his behaviour on the road, and in life in general, I wonder if the many near misses that happen every day have similar consequences?
one Saturday morning a couple of years ago I was heading to work on my CBR600 at about 6am. Travelling from milton keynes toward J13 of the M1 there is a right hand curve with slightly restricted visibility. being on a bike I was able to position myself for maximum view, and to my horror, rounding this bend was a car in mid overtake of a truck.
Had I been in my car a head on crash would have been inevitable, but on the bike I managed to squeeze through, with my wheels kicking up stones and grass from kissing the verge on the left hand side of the road - the car was completely filling my lane of the road. Fortunately, being on the bike i was able to get past, albeit very shaken on two feet of white line and grass.
I wonder if the car driver ever thought back to that instance where blind luck dictated it was a bike and not a truck that came round the corner he assumed to be clear, I know I think about it every single time i see anyone overtake on a stretch of road with limited visibility.
I also count myself very fortunate that I'm a relatively experienced biker, despite being comparatively young (32) and was able to deal with the situation to the best of my ability, that (along with a huge dose of luck), aside from a fright, resulted in no actual harm done.
As much as I like to believe the car driver learned from his (and my) lucky escape, the cynical part of me thinks it just didn't register.
one Saturday morning a couple of years ago I was heading to work on my CBR600 at about 6am. Travelling from milton keynes toward J13 of the M1 there is a right hand curve with slightly restricted visibility. being on a bike I was able to position myself for maximum view, and to my horror, rounding this bend was a car in mid overtake of a truck.
Had I been in my car a head on crash would have been inevitable, but on the bike I managed to squeeze through, with my wheels kicking up stones and grass from kissing the verge on the left hand side of the road - the car was completely filling my lane of the road. Fortunately, being on the bike i was able to get past, albeit very shaken on two feet of white line and grass.
I wonder if the car driver ever thought back to that instance where blind luck dictated it was a bike and not a truck that came round the corner he assumed to be clear, I know I think about it every single time i see anyone overtake on a stretch of road with limited visibility.
I also count myself very fortunate that I'm a relatively experienced biker, despite being comparatively young (32) and was able to deal with the situation to the best of my ability, that (along with a huge dose of luck), aside from a fright, resulted in no actual harm done.
As much as I like to believe the car driver learned from his (and my) lucky escape, the cynical part of me thinks it just didn't register.
Edited by philoldsmobile on Saturday 19th February 15:14
philoldsmobile said:
......I wonder if the car driver ever thought back to that instance where blind luck dictated it was a bike and not a truck that came round the corner he assumed to be clear, I know I think about it every single time i see anyone overtake on a stretch of road with limited visibility.....
That is something you see every day in the third world. My first few days riding a motorcycle in Thailand I was horrified at the sheer blatant mindless stupidity and ignorance of car and coach drivers who'd overtake on the wrong side of the road, blind bend, brow a hill etc. They weren't taking a conscious risk, but just doing it as a matter of course. Their whole mentality was that whatever will be, will be.I still see it nowadays in the Philippines, totally retarded driving, no obvious thought process going into what they are doing. No thought about possible consequences etc.
And occasionally you do see the result of a truck or coach hitting another directly head one. They post graphic pictures in the waiting rooms in bus stops in Thailand, as if to warn the passengers of the dangers.
Hey, how about giving the drivers a smack up the side of the head.
King Herald said:
monthefish said:
Good post - just a minor correction, I think that 10PS was stationary (or very nearly) when the bike hit him.
Not so simple. Here's a response I made two years ago when people were queuing up to blame the biker:King Herald said:
...
Nappa said:
To Nic Jones and Kentish who seem to think the biker should take some of the blame...
From the OP's original post.
......He was measured to have had only 36 metres to see my vehicle blocking the road (and still moving slowly towards him), .....
Hence my comment "very nearly stationary".From the OP's original post.
......He was measured to have had only 36 metres to see my vehicle blocking the road (and still moving slowly towards him), .....
monthefish said:
Hence my comment "very nearly stationary".
How many milliseconds does a vehicle travel at 'very nearly stationary' before it actually stops? Read the full story, and you'll see the details.
I guess that whenever a biker has been smashed by a car pulling out of a side road you argue that it is the bikers fault because he should have been going slow enough to stop if anything appeared in his path?
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