I wont admit to crossing double white lines as its obviously illegall but its far safer for a bike to overtake on double lines than a car, a bike can be out and in again in almost literally one second and takes up very little space, its not always 'dangerous' for a bike to overtake on double lines in the same way it is for a car. I drive/ride both
Think bike
- Thread starter Merlin5
- Start date
Both of which are legal* and perfectly safe, unless you get a blind car driver tearing down the road or one to obnoxious to realise that other road users have just as much right to the road as them.
Unfortunately the road is full of plonkers, my sister rides horses and the number of cars and bikes that just speed past her is way too high, obviously they haven't seen the mess a horse can make to their car/bike.
*As long as he cyclists arent in the other lane...
in truth this % depends entirely on the day of the week.
Monday to friday commuting in traffic this percentage is barely above 0 %
It only sky rockets when the weekend warriors come out to play.
Was forced to curb my wheels on sunday to allow a biker who had decided to do around 90mph through the middle of traffic on a 2 lane road to get past, he was coming directly towards me, swerved into a curb at around 30mph
and how many times do you see idiot drivers on the road ? every single day for me
idiot bikers only appear every few sundays
There are many many selfish idiots on the road in cars and on bikes and the rest of it.
I had a bike for 2 years while I learnt to drive at the same time. I did two full winters and about 15k miles in that time and learnt a hell of a lot. Now when im out in the car on my usual country routes and a biker approaches me I give them room to pass and always get a thankyou. First of all, I see them coming every time. I look and I'm always looking. I still do my lifesaver in the car out of habit and its saved me many times since. Second of all, bikers generally make faster progress and are easier to follow than have them follow you. There's no point sitting there getting made becasue a biker is all over the back of you. Have some common sense and let them through, it's not doing anyone any harm so long as you don't wave them past in a retarded place.
Bikers in towns and cities are generally worse from what I've seen but I aint had much experience of that, I rarely go into them myself as I hate it.
I had a bike for 2 years while I learnt to drive at the same time. I did two full winters and about 15k miles in that time and learnt a hell of a lot. Now when im out in the car on my usual country routes and a biker approaches me I give them room to pass and always get a thankyou. First of all, I see them coming every time. I look and I'm always looking. I still do my lifesaver in the car out of habit and its saved me many times since. Second of all, bikers generally make faster progress and are easier to follow than have them follow you. There's no point sitting there getting made becasue a biker is all over the back of you. Have some common sense and let them through, it's not doing anyone any harm so long as you don't wave them past in a retarded place.
Bikers in towns and cities are generally worse from what I've seen but I aint had much experience of that, I rarely go into them myself as I hate it.
There are adverts aimed at the riders, there is another one thats aimed at bikers blaming car drivers but I cant seem the find it on youtube, ive seen it loads this year surely others have? on about diesel etc..?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZPWNpSEdDs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZPWNpSEdDs
Indeed - I've long suspected the middle-aged "keep an R1 in the garage in winter and then go thrash it over the moors with the mates" biker is one of the main demographics that contributes to the high numbers of motorbike casualties.
This appears to be backed up by the data which suggests that most casualties occur in the 40-50 age group and on A roads. That said, I don't think that data's corrected, so I'm still looking into it
He obviously wasn't at a reasonable distance or he wouldn't have hit the car would he?
If that car did an emergency stop because a kid ran into the road you expect the car driver to check all his mirrors and give a warning he's doing a sudden stop? Not a chance.
Soldato
- Joined
- 17 Nov 2005
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- 3,120
- Location
- Swindon, UK
yes 'think bike', but 'think about driving' too.
as for filtering, if there's the room and it's not affecting me, then i'm not going to argue.
my main gripes with motorcyclists:-
tuning a 50cc so it can go faster than 30 mph with 'L' plates on
not wearing suitable attire, shorts and a helmet in hot weather
overtaking in illegal or unsuitable places
generally, if you're 100% legal 100% of the time, then fine. If not, don't pick and choose when to quote the 'highway code'.
but with car drivers:-
lack of courtesy and time
[I saw a lorry turn into a side road and there wasn't enough room causing him to shunt a car parked in a disabled space. He had nowhere to pull over to give details and was waiting for the owner to explain what had happened. The driver behind was getting more irate and beeping his horn. That's right beep away old man as that's going to sort this situation out promptly.]
lack of indication
[for crying out loud, how much easier do car manufactures have to make it so you indicate.]
as for filtering, if there's the room and it's not affecting me, then i'm not going to argue.
my main gripes with motorcyclists:-
tuning a 50cc so it can go faster than 30 mph with 'L' plates on
not wearing suitable attire, shorts and a helmet in hot weather
overtaking in illegal or unsuitable places
generally, if you're 100% legal 100% of the time, then fine. If not, don't pick and choose when to quote the 'highway code'.
but with car drivers:-
lack of courtesy and time
[I saw a lorry turn into a side road and there wasn't enough room causing him to shunt a car parked in a disabled space. He had nowhere to pull over to give details and was waiting for the owner to explain what had happened. The driver behind was getting more irate and beeping his horn. That's right beep away old man as that's going to sort this situation out promptly.]
lack of indication
[for crying out loud, how much easier do car manufactures have to make it so you indicate.]
Not everything is so black and white. I don't much care if anyone thinks he was in the wrong or not, I only posted to highlight how careless some car drivers can be.
And no, that car didn't stop because of a kid- we never found out why the driver stopped like he did. must have been something moronic because he never gave any kind of explanation.
As a car driver, this irritates me no end. Like, if I'm waiting at a T-junction to turn left or right in my car, and there's a car coming from my right, I'm waiting for him to drive past me before I can move forward. Then he turns left into the junction I'm at with no indication. Had he indicated that he was turning left, I wouldn't have been kept waiting.
Slightly off topic, but as a biker I find those 'to die for?' warning signs approaching a bend very distracting. The last thing I want to see whilst seeting myself up for a corner is a poster telling me I might die whilst going round it! It wouldnt be so bad on the straights, but I dont want any distractions round the twisties thanks very much!
Slightly off topic, but as a biker I find those 'to die for?' warning signs approaching a bend very distracting. The last thing I want to see whilst seeting myself up for a corner is a poster telling me I might die whilst going round it! It wouldnt be so bad on the straights, but I dont want any distractions round the twisties thanks very much!
The first time I seen these signs I thought the people they are designed for are the people who hoon about, they are going to look at them and think yeah it is to die for thats why I do it lol
As a bike rider and a car driver, I've seen my fair share of bad road users over the years. As mentioned already, you get some people on bikes who come out during the summer and are a danger to themselves as well as everyone around them. I think these are in a minority compare with the rest of the motorcycle community. The "think bike" stuff is, I assume among other things, to remind you to look properly at junctions for bikes as some car drivers observational skills are terrible, as I'm sure everyone who rides a bike will attest to. The number of cars that have pulled out at junctions nearly wiping me out when on the bike over the years doesn't bare thinking about. It is far less when in a car, I suspect because they have just glanced looking for other cars. The only way not to have an accident is to assume that any given vehicle is going to turn into your path and make sure you've got some sort of plan for dealing with it should anything happen.
With regards to filtering, while completely legal, I can fully understand car drivers frustration when some bikers filter inconsiderately. But again I'd say when I'm out in the car I see way more riders filtering sensibly than the crap ones doing something stupid, be it filtering at 80mph through traffic moving at 30mph, or trying to fit through gaps that are too small, knocking your wing mirror as they try and get past.
There are crap drivers and crap riders. The difference is crap drivers kill more people on bikes than the other way round, hence the advert aimed more at drivers than bikers.
With regards to filtering, while completely legal, I can fully understand car drivers frustration when some bikers filter inconsiderately. But again I'd say when I'm out in the car I see way more riders filtering sensibly than the crap ones doing something stupid, be it filtering at 80mph through traffic moving at 30mph, or trying to fit through gaps that are too small, knocking your wing mirror as they try and get past.
There are crap drivers and crap riders. The difference is crap drivers kill more people on bikes than the other way round, hence the advert aimed more at drivers than bikers.
Associate
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- 10 Sep 2008
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- 1,658
I always let bikes filter but I'm not happy when a moped passes me at trafic lights. Nothing like everyone been stuck behind him while he has the clear road to trundle along at 30mph.
Sorry for the necessary edit ‘VS’, I guess I could have worded it clearer – the ‘you strike me as…’ was my way of not directly aiming it at Merlin5; and thus causing a personal insult. I messed up that one!
Anyway, it’s shocking some attitudes car drivers here have towards bikers, the way they automatically assume that the biker is in the wrong, because he or she is a biker, and that they obviously own to road due to that fact. That’s just a completely idiotic and crazy mindset to go out on the road with, you should be wary of everyone regardless of what they are riding/driving, not take an immediate dislike as it’s a category of road user you personally detest.
If I were to define myself in ‘biker’ terms – I have all the gear and some idea. I will always wear full protective clothing and will heed speed limits where they should be rigorously adhered to – built up areas etc. Like many car drivers I speed, but I have, and always will, do this where there’s no chance of it interfering with another road user or pedestrian. I filter, but do so when it right; so that’s stationary traffic and/or slow moving traffic – although I have no fixed rule, I’d say anything over 10-15mph is not correct for filtering through. Other than this I obey the rules of the road and I still practice 95% of everything I was taught back in 2008.
As for being a car driver, I relaxed many years ago, I lost all interest in being competitive, which I think many drivers in this thread are still affected with, and being a bike rider has certainly improved my driving skills massively – rather than sit there looking straight ahead and listening to the radio (like most I expect), my eyes are darting everywhere looking for hazards – I think one of the reasons I’m a more relaxed driver now is due to this constant state of awareness; odd as that sounds!
I think Fireskull is right about staying out of these sorts of threads though, much as I like to voice my opinion, especially when reading through such biased, narrow-minded trash some driver here are spewing, it’s falling on deaf ears – I just pity the poor rider some of you lot will probably end up hitting off…
Anyway, it’s shocking some attitudes car drivers here have towards bikers, the way they automatically assume that the biker is in the wrong, because he or she is a biker, and that they obviously own to road due to that fact. That’s just a completely idiotic and crazy mindset to go out on the road with, you should be wary of everyone regardless of what they are riding/driving, not take an immediate dislike as it’s a category of road user you personally detest.
If I were to define myself in ‘biker’ terms – I have all the gear and some idea. I will always wear full protective clothing and will heed speed limits where they should be rigorously adhered to – built up areas etc. Like many car drivers I speed, but I have, and always will, do this where there’s no chance of it interfering with another road user or pedestrian. I filter, but do so when it right; so that’s stationary traffic and/or slow moving traffic – although I have no fixed rule, I’d say anything over 10-15mph is not correct for filtering through. Other than this I obey the rules of the road and I still practice 95% of everything I was taught back in 2008.
As for being a car driver, I relaxed many years ago, I lost all interest in being competitive, which I think many drivers in this thread are still affected with, and being a bike rider has certainly improved my driving skills massively – rather than sit there looking straight ahead and listening to the radio (like most I expect), my eyes are darting everywhere looking for hazards – I think one of the reasons I’m a more relaxed driver now is due to this constant state of awareness; odd as that sounds!
I think Fireskull is right about staying out of these sorts of threads though, much as I like to voice my opinion, especially when reading through such biased, narrow-minded trash some driver here are spewing, it’s falling on deaf ears – I just pity the poor rider some of you lot will probably end up hitting off…