I would just like to add at this point I once raced a Nissan Skyline up the A127, mid afternoon on a summery Sunday, and I rolled off at an indicated 137mph
My then girlfriend was riding pillion.
I know you don't want to admit it, but that actually does make me cooler than you.
137 ey ? Surely if you're going to try and be 'cool' then on anything actually speed orientated you should have had another two to three gears left if you were actually trying ?
Sadly this doesn't make you cooler in any way, in fact quite the opposite. Like you I ride, in fact i've spent a lot of time learning to improve the standard of my riding and right up until you posted the above I had in general agreed with the point you were trying to get across but you just lost all credibility with that post, and before you try and back out with 'it was a joke' it's not funny.
You see when you carry a pillion they have no say in how you ride, in a lot of cases they won't be a rider (few riders i've ever met have any wish to ride pillion). A blow out, a bird hitting you, some small furry animal running out on the road, someone pulling out, the skyline driver or yourself loosing it, the pillion shifting her weight, or in fact hundreds of other possible things could have easily ended it for both of you. So why the hell should the pillion suffer for your stupidity ? I've known significantly more talented riders than you or me who've got a proven record on the track to the extent they were going to be racing nationally who got it wrong and paid the ultimate price on a track so to read you think it's cool to do 137 with a pillion who has no say in the matter on the back shows the lack of respect you had for her let alone yourself or other road users.
Going back to the direction this thread was taking speed doesn't kill, time and time again the government has been asked to back this up with evidence and even the department credited with making this assertion denies it was anything to do with them.
What I think most people would agree is the inappropriate use of speed increases the risk of an accident, the problem is my perception of an appropriate speed for the circumstances and someone else's will most likely differ, that's why we have speed limits, so we all use them as the benchmark. I won't say I stick to them but on a road i'm not familiar with if it's marked as 30 i'll normally do the limit or less depending on the conditions.
We all like to say we can judge safely what is and isn't appropriate but everyone who's had an accident be it falling off a push bike when you were five and skinning your knee or misjudging a bend etc. will understand that they thought at the time they had made the right judgement up until the point it all went wrong.
Oh and i'm not naive enough to misjudge one thing, i'm a hypocrite, I break the speed limit on occasions, I just hope my stupidity doesn't lead to someone else having to suffer as a result.
