R U Local, your comments if you please...
Discussion
I've copied this from another motorcyclists forum. I seem to be the only one on the thread that is of the opinion that this rider is prolly his own worst enemy. He seems sure that the responsibilty for his saftey rests with the other riders. But whilst we should all be conserate to others on the road with regard our actions, our own safty cannot be left to others...
[quote]There is a lot on the site about the antics of car, taxi and bus drivers but since returning to biking I have found the biggest hazzard I face is other bikers.
I am not a timorous rider and I use the full latitude around speed limits. Although I am a newbie to biking, I have 35 years experience of driving in London and was a fairly typical BMW driver. Yet pretty much every day when filtering I get a shock or a near miss from bikers that spin past me, only inches away at speeds 20-30mph faster than me.
For example, this morning on the elevated section of the A40 (3 lanes, 50mph limit) I was in the outside land as the road bent to the left I took the left hand side of my lane. I was then astonished to be overtaken only inches away by another bike actually in my lane. To avoid incriminating myself I will not say what my speed was but to have overhauled me that quickly he must have been doing 80mph. I keep a god lookout and check mirrors constantly but was not aware of him until he was alongside me. If I had moved back towards the middle of my lane he would not have been able to avoid me and we would both have been seriously injured, probably killed.
This kind of risk is his own affair when dicing with cars - but I would expect a fellow bikers to be aware of how limited the rear vision of a bike is and make allowances.
Am I being naive here?[/quote]
If he's having this problem nearly every day, summit is very, very wrong. I seem to be the only one that feels that he's missing the point. Could it be that this problem starts with the riders lack of information gathering prior to taking up his own road position. Everything else, including his positioning, is then built on p!ss-poor planning.
[quote]There is a lot on the site about the antics of car, taxi and bus drivers but since returning to biking I have found the biggest hazzard I face is other bikers.
I am not a timorous rider and I use the full latitude around speed limits. Although I am a newbie to biking, I have 35 years experience of driving in London and was a fairly typical BMW driver. Yet pretty much every day when filtering I get a shock or a near miss from bikers that spin past me, only inches away at speeds 20-30mph faster than me.
For example, this morning on the elevated section of the A40 (3 lanes, 50mph limit) I was in the outside land as the road bent to the left I took the left hand side of my lane. I was then astonished to be overtaken only inches away by another bike actually in my lane. To avoid incriminating myself I will not say what my speed was but to have overhauled me that quickly he must have been doing 80mph. I keep a god lookout and check mirrors constantly but was not aware of him until he was alongside me. If I had moved back towards the middle of my lane he would not have been able to avoid me and we would both have been seriously injured, probably killed.
This kind of risk is his own affair when dicing with cars - but I would expect a fellow bikers to be aware of how limited the rear vision of a bike is and make allowances.
Am I being naive here?[/quote]
If he's having this problem nearly every day, summit is very, very wrong. I seem to be the only one that feels that he's missing the point. Could it be that this problem starts with the riders lack of information gathering prior to taking up his own road position. Everything else, including his positioning, is then built on p!ss-poor planning.
Edited by SneakyMcC on Sunday 1st April 22:04
Sorry, I'm not Reg (obviously) but feel compelled to comment. The "I would expect a fellow bikers to be aware of how limited the rear vision of a bike is and make allowances" says it all really. Limited? Is his neck in a cast or something? If he is relying on the view in his mirrors alone (even in a car) then he is a danger to himself and others. His lack of decent observation and limited awareness of the traffic around him are the root cause of his "problems".
At the very least I can't beleive he has managed to get a bike licence without being made aware of the need for the "life saver" - it's not a fanciful name, it's called that for a purpose. I hope he sees the error of his ways before something larger and less manoeverable than a bike shares the same patch of tarmac with him (very literally).
At the very least I can't beleive he has managed to get a bike licence without being made aware of the need for the "life saver" - it's not a fanciful name, it's called that for a purpose. I hope he sees the error of his ways before something larger and less manoeverable than a bike shares the same patch of tarmac with him (very literally).
*Phhhhwww* (The sound of Reg puffing out his cheeks and shaking his head slightly)
I'm flattered by the question being directed at me, but I'm not sure I'm the best person to answer if I'm being honest, as I'm not a motorcyclist. Not enough wheels for me I'm afraid - my motorcycling days ended on the 13th November 1986 when I passed my driving test, and immediately disposed of the Honda Camino Moped I'd been using as transport.
I'll have a go, but the answer will be based on knowledge I've picked up from bike instructors I've worked with.
I'm pretty sure that motorcyclists (those on Police courses anyway) are taught to keep central in their lane when riding on a motorway. Positioning a motorbike is different from positioning a car, as there's obviously more scope for a rider to move left and right across the width of the road. This is an advantage on single carriageway roads, but no real advantage on motorways, so they're taught to ride centrally in their lane, irrespective of whether they're on a straight or a corner. If this particular rider remained central in his lane, it'd obviously give the more brain-dead motorcyclist less opportunity to pass him. Bikers will also take a move to the nearside as a sign that someone is letting them past, so he should be aware of how his sideways movements can be interpreted.
Another problem appears to be his lack of appreciation as to what's happening behind. Mirror checks on a bike should be carried out just as often as in a car, and most people don't do it enough. Remember that (depending on how fast you go) a lot of the problems you can encounter on a motorway will come from behind, so if you drive or ride at a middling speed (overtaking and being overtaken), then you need to pay almost as much attention to what's happening behind as in front. This rider seems to be seriously lacking in that aspect if he hasn't seen a bike approaching from the rear at what, from reading his post, probably wasn't a particularly fast closing speed.
I'm flattered by the question being directed at me, but I'm not sure I'm the best person to answer if I'm being honest, as I'm not a motorcyclist. Not enough wheels for me I'm afraid - my motorcycling days ended on the 13th November 1986 when I passed my driving test, and immediately disposed of the Honda Camino Moped I'd been using as transport.
I'll have a go, but the answer will be based on knowledge I've picked up from bike instructors I've worked with.
I'm pretty sure that motorcyclists (those on Police courses anyway) are taught to keep central in their lane when riding on a motorway. Positioning a motorbike is different from positioning a car, as there's obviously more scope for a rider to move left and right across the width of the road. This is an advantage on single carriageway roads, but no real advantage on motorways, so they're taught to ride centrally in their lane, irrespective of whether they're on a straight or a corner. If this particular rider remained central in his lane, it'd obviously give the more brain-dead motorcyclist less opportunity to pass him. Bikers will also take a move to the nearside as a sign that someone is letting them past, so he should be aware of how his sideways movements can be interpreted.
Another problem appears to be his lack of appreciation as to what's happening behind. Mirror checks on a bike should be carried out just as often as in a car, and most people don't do it enough. Remember that (depending on how fast you go) a lot of the problems you can encounter on a motorway will come from behind, so if you drive or ride at a middling speed (overtaking and being overtaken), then you need to pay almost as much attention to what's happening behind as in front. This rider seems to be seriously lacking in that aspect if he hasn't seen a bike approaching from the rear at what, from reading his post, probably wasn't a particularly fast closing speed.
SneakyMcC said:
Thank you VM & R U Local. I was starting to doubt myself! ;-)
R U, some interesting observations. You really do focus your attention front/rear as speed increases/decreases. I'd never identified that as a technique, it just seems to happen naturally if I'm paying attention...
R U, some interesting observations. You really do focus your attention front/rear as speed increases/decreases. I'd never identified that as a technique, it just seems to happen naturally if I'm paying attention...
Probably because the faster you go more of your situational awareness is taken up looking ahead (potential problems will approach faster from the front than behind) so whatever capacity is left gets used to monitor the rear.
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