Death wish rider
Discussion
I nearly took out a biker on the A3 this morning and there was really nothing I could do. I feel quite sick. He must have been filtering at over 50mph and came barrelling through the stacked traffic as I was leaving the carriage way. He then nearly piled into the waiting traffic at the top of the slip road.
Horns blaring everywhere.
Why bother to wear hi-viz jacket and yellow helmet if you are going to ride like a bell end?
Rant over but his suicide ride is going to ruin his and some other poor sods day.
Horns blaring everywhere.
Why bother to wear hi-viz jacket and yellow helmet if you are going to ride like a bell end?
Rant over but his suicide ride is going to ruin his and some other poor sods day.
Kizmiaz said:
I nearly took out a biker on the A3 this morning and there was really nothing I could do. I feel quite sick. He must have been filtering at over 50mph and came barrelling through the stacked traffic as I was leaving the carriage way. He then nearly piled into the waiting traffic at the top of the slip road.
Horns blaring everywhere.
Why bother to wear hi-viz jacket and yellow helmet if you are going to ride like a bell end?
Rant over but his suicide ride is going to ruin his and some other poor sods day.
Sounds like he was filtering too fast if stationary traffic. Although it can often look much faster if the traffic is stationary. Horns blaring everywhere.
Why bother to wear hi-viz jacket and yellow helmet if you are going to ride like a bell end?
Rant over but his suicide ride is going to ruin his and some other poor sods day.
What lane were you moving to and from?
I've been riding for years although gave up riding into London for work some years ago as my circumstances changed.
I decided to ride in one day over the Xmas period as my trains were cancelled and was astounded by how dangerously people ride once in the capital.
I wont be making a habit of city riding now as it seems every man for himself
I decided to ride in one day over the Xmas period as my trains were cancelled and was astounded by how dangerously people ride once in the capital.
I wont be making a habit of city riding now as it seems every man for himself
Leave him to it - the fact that loads of horns were blaring tells me you weren’t the only one.
It makes me wince seeing people filter at speed - just not worth it. My own rule is that I go at a speed where if the car next to me pulls over or a door gets opened am I going to walk away from it.
It makes me wince seeing people filter at speed - just not worth it. My own rule is that I go at a speed where if the car next to me pulls over or a door gets opened am I going to walk away from it.
Dog Star said:
It makes me wince seeing people filter at speed - just not worth it.
Same. Whilst I do filter with reasonable confidence, it amazes me the faith some riders are will to place on other road users seeing them. To be fair though, I suspect many get away with for a long time to behave the way they do, perhaps filtering like a lunatic isn't as dangerous as it appears.
dibblecorse said:
av185 said:
Dog Star said:
My own rule is that I go at a speed where if the car next to me pulls over or a door gets opened am I going to walk away from it.
If not ride away from it.I would say a good 20 percent of car drivers i see in the morning are on their phone, eating, putting make up on, watching a film or simply cannot be assed to look in their mirror before moving or want to be obtuse because they are sour they are being delayed in traffic. That is from my commute from Bristol to London.
There are idiots in every walk of life...
dibblecorse said:
So whats that 7mph ? If I rode to work like that I'd be quicker in the car !!!!!
Stationary traffic it's about 14mph - something goes wrong then I should be able to stop, or at worst I'll have a small off.My only bike crash was in 2001 when filtering on a dual carriageway - car on the right, the passenger decided he wanted to get out and walk. Flung the door open literally feed in front of me, I hit it and ended up bouncing into the side of the adjacent car, a friend of my mum's in her five day old Clio. I walked away from that with a small scratch on my arm. You want to filter at 30mph? Fill your boots - you'd not have walked away from that one.
(Incidentally - a police car drove past the other way about a minute later, he called for a "proper" trafpol, who then actually arrested the guy that opened the door. This happened at 1pm on a Saturday - I was called by car drivers insurers on the Monday who took care of everything. No disputes.)
Dog Star said:
dibblecorse said:
So whats that 7mph ? If I rode to work like that I'd be quicker in the car !!!!!
Stationary traffic it's about 14mph - something goes wrong then I should be able to stop, or at worst I'll have a small off.My only bike crash was in 2001 when filtering on a dual carriageway - car on the right, the passenger decided he wanted to get out and walk. Flung the door open literally feed in front of me, I hit it and ended up bouncing into the side of the adjacent car, a friend of my mum's in her five day old Clio. I walked away from that with a small scratch on my arm. You want to filter at 30mph? Fill your boots - you'd not have walked away from that one.
(Incidentally - a police car drove past the other way about a minute later, he called for a "proper" trafpol, who then actually arrested the guy that opened the door. This happened at 1pm on a Saturday - I was called by car drivers insurers on the Monday who took care of everything. No disputes.)
vonhosen said:
Which if the speeds had been significantly higher would be less likely.
As with anything - it's about risk/benefit.On a trip anywhere that involves filtering - I'd like to see the actual end of journey saving where someone has filtered fast vs someone careful. It's probably bugger all (especially if there are traffic lights involved).
Then not to mention the MASSIVE ballache of having a claim on your records. Me and Mrs DS had our bikes stolen in April 2014. We have had five years of absolute s
t trying to insure the bikes and cars (both named riders/drivers on each) with both of us having a total loss claim. Absolute pain in the arse - and an expensive one. I'd not go through that again just to get to the head of a queue 30 seconds earlier.supercommuter said:
Same, no way I am sitting at 5-7mph while filtering. I ride like everyone is trying to kill me, but at the same time people should actually look in their wing mirror before maneuvering into the lane next to them. I appreciate in the OPs experience this may not of helped.
I would say a good 20 percent of car drivers i see in the morning are on their phone, eating, putting make up on, watching a film or simply cannot be assed to look in their mirror before moving or want to be obtuse because they are sour they are being delayed in traffic. That is from my commute from Bristol to London.
There are idiots in every walk of life...
As a n00b rider maybe I'll get flamed for this, but if you admit 20% of drivers aren't paying attention, why would you just accept that risk rather than adjust your speed accordingly? you may be right and it is their fault if it causes an accident, but that will be of little comfort to you.I would say a good 20 percent of car drivers i see in the morning are on their phone, eating, putting make up on, watching a film or simply cannot be assed to look in their mirror before moving or want to be obtuse because they are sour they are being delayed in traffic. That is from my commute from Bristol to London.
There are idiots in every walk of life...
Dog Star said:
vonhosen said:
Which if the speeds had been significantly higher would be less likely.
As with anything - it's about risk/benefit.Some people don't give as much thought to personal safety & pain financial or otherwise as others.
Our personal views shape our choices, it's just sometimes there is no coming back from the consequences of some outcomes.
What often shapes that view is people can carry out the activity that 'potentially' has severe consequences with such regularity & have gotten away with it for so long that they don't see the risk as high at all. In other words it's not dangerous until it actually happens.
Risk is a function of both the severity of the outcome & the likelihood of it happening.
ozzuk said:
As a n00b rider maybe I'll get flamed for this, but if you admit 20% of drivers aren't paying attention, why would you just accept that risk rather than adjust your speed accordingly? you may be right and it is their fault if it causes an accident, but that will be of little comfort to you.
I'm not a n00b rider, but what you are saying is 100% correct. Filtering is (my view) the riskiest thing you can do on a bike.One of the things I have noticed recently (as a seasoned all year commuter) is the number of bikers who are more than happy to put another biker on offer. I've had people slicing into gaps I'm clearly already committed to, people passing with zero clearance (right up to clashing elbows with me), people chopping out from between cars without looking when you're already filtering there - definitely getting worse, no idea why though. I'm far from slow, and I'm definitely up for every half-reasonable filter opportunity going, but a lot of these are riding very quickly with no quarter given to anyone else. At times it's like having a hard pass put on you in a race. Just no need when we all just want to get home. And that's in the winter, god knows what summer will be like.
Well I've calmed down a bit since this happened but it has made me think about my own riding. I like to think I'm a good car driver and I look out for bikes constantly as I am a biker. I will be getting the Blade out of the garage next month and using it to get to work but I think i will be looking for other routes rather than filtering where it's avoidable.
Shame because the Hindhead tunnel is a bit of a high point of my journey every morning but the scenic route may be safer.
Shame because the Hindhead tunnel is a bit of a high point of my journey every morning but the scenic route may be safer.
ozzuk said:
supercommuter said:
Same, no way I am sitting at 5-7mph while filtering. I ride like everyone is trying to kill me, but at the same time people should actually look in their wing mirror before maneuvering into the lane next to them. I appreciate in the OPs experience this may not of helped.
I would say a good 20 percent of car drivers i see in the morning are on their phone, eating, putting make up on, watching a film or simply cannot be assed to look in their mirror before moving or want to be obtuse because they are sour they are being delayed in traffic. That is from my commute from Bristol to London.
There are idiots in every walk of life...
As a n00b rider maybe I'll get flamed for this, but if you admit 20% of drivers aren't paying attention, why would you just accept that risk rather than adjust your speed accordingly? you may be right and it is their fault if it causes an accident, but that will be of little comfort to you.I would say a good 20 percent of car drivers i see in the morning are on their phone, eating, putting make up on, watching a film or simply cannot be assed to look in their mirror before moving or want to be obtuse because they are sour they are being delayed in traffic. That is from my commute from Bristol to London.
There are idiots in every walk of life...
As i had adjusted accordingly doing 15-25 mph is fine.Gassing Station | Biker Banter | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff