Nearly killed a motorcyclist this morning

[a311]

Ah another biker bashing thread-been a week since the last one after all.

When I attended some advanced training the instructor talked about how car drivers simply aren’t programmed to register a motorbike like they are with big square boxes with 2 lights on the front, cars, lorries, buses etc. It sounds simple but true.

I was knocked off my bike, no faulty of my own guy pulled out virtually on top of me at a roundabout-his response was the classic “sorry mate I didn’t see you”. He will have, his brain in its fuzzy state just didn’t quite register what I was…..

[Bluebarge]

shadylee said:

observation

You would need to be sat in the driving seat of every vehicle you pass to know where his "blind spot" is.

[RizzoTheRat]

Not necessarily, in daylight it's usually fairly easy to see the drivers head in their mirrors, not a lot of help at night though.

[B3ALP]

Only my last point to go

[morgrp]

Mintyhit said:

"appeared in my nearside blind spot."

You're supposed to check those before changing lanes.

Think you'll also find any biker who actually knows how to ride properly won't sit in them either and should expect a car not to see them

[Bluebarge]

Snowboy said:

Afaik there is no legal way at 50mph a bike should be able to get in front of the blue car.

If the legal limit is 70 and traffic is heavy such that L3 is travelling more slowly than L2 or L1 there is no obligation on the traffic in L2 to slow down to match L3. The OP stated he was doing 50mph in L3. So, bike could have overtaken blue car in L2 by moving into L3 and returned to L2 and then been travelling more quickly than the car in L3 - all legal.

Your supposition about whose fault it is doesn't match the law's I'm afraid - if you make a manouevre at 50mph and wipe out a motorbike who is alongside you then you will have great difficulty persuading a court that it was the dead motorcyclist's fault. However, by all means test out your theory and then write to us from prison to tell us how you got on.

[amancalledrob]

OpulentBob said:

FFS so the OP's in the wrong and the biker's a fking driving god?

Jesus Christ.

The biker was wrong. End of. Weaving through 50mph traffic is not filtering. Anyone thinking it is is either retarded or incredibly ignorant.

On the subject of ignorance, we've only got conjecture to tell us the biker was weaving through the traffic. Just a thought - it's not mentioned in the op

[JimmyConwayNW]

Was one of the cars you were overtaking a Mazda 6 ?

[trashbat]

a311 said:

When I attended some advanced training the instructor talked about how car drivers simply aren’t programmed to register a motorbike like they are with big square boxes with 2 lights on the front, cars, lorries, buses etc. It sounds simple but true.

I was knocked off my bike, no faulty of my own guy pulled out virtually on top of me at a roundabout-his response was the classic “sorry mate I didn’t see you”. He will have, his brain in its fuzzy state just didn’t quite register what I was…..

Not necessarily; have a read of this: http://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/raf-pilot-teach-cyc...

[AnotherClarkey]

This highlights the value of indicating before lane changes. No human inspection process is 100% reliable, despite what some here think and any information you can put out about your intentions may be valuable.

[GTIR]

Bikers should only filter between the outer two lanes.

Unless they have those mohicans things on their helmets, then they can do anything. Top riders those guys. :thumbnup:

[DaveCWK]

Bluebarge said:

If the legal limit is 70 and traffic is heavy such that L3 is travelling more slowly than L2 or L1 there is no obligation on the traffic in L2 to slow down to match L3. The OP stated he was doing 50mph in L3. So, bike could have overtaken blue car in L2 by moving into L3 and returned to L2 and then been travelling more quickly than the car in L3 - all legal.

The lane I was in, L3, was trvelling faster than L1/2, hence the overtaking.
Having thought about it the only way the biker got where he was was via undertaking/filtering between L1/L2 and then 'joining' L2 in front of the car I was overtaking at the point I was pulling in, such that I didn't see him do so.
After I was given the stare of death they proceeded to speed off filtering/weaving between the traffic in L3/4 so it's a fair guess that's what they were doing beforehand.

I didn't create the thread as a rant against bikes. we all take liberties, just hoped it might prompt someone to apply a little consideration before doing so.

[a311]

trashbat said:

ot necessarily; have a read of this: http://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/raf-pilot-teach-cyc...

Interesting read and probably what the instructor I was listening to was getting at-it wa sa long time ago so I'm more likely the one with brain fuzz.....

[Eddh]

N Dentressangle said:

It's hard for some riders to appreciate how invisible a motorbike is in the dark, I think. Sounds like he was ready on the horn for you moving back in, but you can't be expected to see everything, I agree.

If I'd made the maneuvre you describe on a bike, I'd be expecting you to pull back in (rightly or wrongly) and making appropriate space. Some riders are more 'assertive'...

I agree, when I used to ride a bike often I would be covering the horn going 'he hasn't seen me and is about to pull across me'.

[anonymous-user]

sinbad666 said:

RemyMartin said:

Your story makes no sense, things don't just appear. This is down to poor observation. Sure you looked but I bet you didn't give more than a seconds glance in your blind spot.

Lucky the motorcyclist has better reactions.

The motorcyclist would have also been undertaking which the Highway code says you should not be doing.

Not so.
See rule 163, item 8:
Here

"stay in your lane if traffic is moving slowly in queues. If the queue on your right is moving more slowly than you are, you may pass on the left"

[Andehh]

RemyMartin said:

Your story makes no sense, things don't just appear. This is down to poor observation. Sure you looked but I bet you didn't give more than a seconds glance in your blind spot.

Lucky the motorcyclist has better reactions.

You have got to be joking? Obvious trolling.

I love watching those cars with 'think bike' stickers. We think about them, because they don't think for themselves. They are small, weak, vulnerable road users yet they have no issues with darting around traffic, between cars and up the insides taking the sort of risks I wouldn't even dream about taking, despite sitting in a 2 ton metal cage highly visible to everyone.

[Eddh]

morgrp said:

Mintyhit said:

"appeared in my nearside blind spot."

You're supposed to check those before changing lanes.

Think you'll also find any biker who actually knows how to ride properly won't sit in them either and should expect a car not to see them

Sometimes in traffic it can't be helped, you can't go forward as there is a car there and if you drop far enough back you leave a gap that someone fills.

[toxgobbler]

GTIR said:

Bikers should only filter between the outer two lanes.

Unless they have those mohicans things on their helmets, then they can do anything. Top riders those guys. :thumbnup:

Nice work.

[Engineer1]

Bluebarge said:

shadylee said:

observation

You would need to be sat in the driving seat of every vehicle you pass to know where his "blind spot" is.

This is so true, infact you need to use his eyes and body a stiff neck may mean a bigger blind spot as the driver can't turn their head comfortably,

[oyster]

GadgeS3C said:

oyster said:

Can someone tell me where this is on a car, as apart from a soft top at the passenger side C pillar area, I have never had one in any of the cars I've driven?

Using peripheral vision and properly adjusted mirrors I can see all round my car.

"A" post?

A vehicle/pedestrian/object would have to be quite some distance away to be blocked out by the A post.
The only time an A post would get in the way is if 2 vehicles were on a converging path disected precisely by the A post. Can you think of a scenario involving this in a car? I can't.