Motorcyclists Last Seconds Captured On GoPro

[DampDog]

Unfortunately fate conspired that both rider a driver made errors at the same point in time. Had either of them altered or changed what they did at that moment in time it would have been another near miss.

Without doubt the driver didn't look properly and make sure the road was clear, for whatever reason didn't look properly on the day and will have to live with the consequences. I suspect those actions will be with them for a lifetime.

That said if that was riders the normal riding style I'm surprised he's lasted as long as he did. It's one thing saying the driver should have looked, it's also about giving yourself and other road users chance to see and react to you. 100mph on the approach to junction and then into it, is almost like having a death wish. Problem is you're not only gambling with your life but other road users, even pedestrians get taken out when it goes badly wrong. It's not beyond the realms of possibility that even if they had seen him may not have appreciated how quickly he was going. Lot's of driver and riders get away with stuff because the other parties involved are paying attention and driving sensibly. Sadly not the case on this day.

Would he have died had he been doing 60? We will never know, you can do all the calculations after the event you like. What we do know is that he'd have had more time to react, as would the driver, possibly enough time to avoid or lessen the impact with the vehicle.

If you have a look at the junction via Google Earth, what you can't appreciate from the video is that looking from the drivers view point the road is up hill and shrouded by trees on both sides. Not easy to pick out a rider at the best of times, if the car behind him did have it's lights on he would have been very difficult to see even driving at the speed limit. (I'm not making excuses for the driver. for whatever reason she didn't look properly on the day)

 

[Elixir]

Shocked how many people in this thread think it's dangerous riding with 1 hand lol, shame about the biker. Irrespective of speed, car drivers fault.

Totally bias obviously as i'm a biker.

Shocked that you think driving towards a junction at 100mph did not contribute in any way. This is not about being right or wrong or picking sides. Learn from his mistakes.

 

[Raikiri]

It's a risk you take going that quickly (especially in an area like that and on a bike??) but If I had to point the finger it would be at the car driver.

He is the one who pulled into an oncoming lane without looking properly, after all.

The driver made a mistake, could have been a momentary lack of judgement. The guy on the bike was continually exceeding the speed limit and willfully putting himself at risk.

The driver obviously should take some blame, which he did. But it isn't entirely his fault.

Without doubt the driver didn't look properly and make sure the road was clear, for whatever reason she didn't on the day and she will have to live with the consequences. I suspect her actions will be with her for a lifetime.

I love how it's instantly a woman that did it (it wasn't by the way).

 

[shadow_boxer]

Pretty shocking video!

Driver should probably have seem him but when the bike is going at that speed it probably would've been too late anyway if he's already started making the right turn. IMO both to blame to some degree but much more so the rider for going at that speed. Feels sorry for tthe car driver who has to live with this and its ridiculous he got done for dangerous driving!

 

[Uhtred]

my opinion is that the driver only glanced once and too soon before his turn. The situation changed in that time. I see people do this often.

Always look twice, glance once to get a feel for what's coming and then look a second or even a third time.

 

[leigh_boy]

Shocked how many people in this thread think it's dangerous riding with 1 hand lol, shame about the biker. Irrespective of speed, car drivers fault.

Totally bias obviously as i'm a biker.

no 1 knows if the car drive only had 1 hand on the wheel or 2. they might have been able to sterr out of it! but people love to slate something they dont know about / understand

 

[Swarfega]

Doesn't everyone treat every other car on the road as an idiot? I mean even crossing the road at a pedestrian crossing I make sure cars stop before I walk in front of them. If you treat every car on the road like they are going to drive in front of you then your going to be a lot safer.

 

[shadow_boxer]

Also if you watch the BBC video you can see the direction the bike comes from is over a crest so the driver of the car would've seen a clear road ahead and and the silhouette of bike coming at nearly 100 mph would definitely been hard to see.

 

[Spook187]

Can't see anywhere on how old the car driver is.

 

[Vegeta]

Stupid road to be over taking near a junction at 100mph if he drove like this all the time death as inevitable. I've been in a similar situations and from my take the driver may have approached the junction looking at it well before I turn in looking at the car ahead being very far away - then when her/she came to turn in just out of human nature/bad driving habits and making assumptions you will think that car is still miles away or easily safe to turn in - in that period that biker overtook the car and came travelling down the road at a much quicker pace than anyone expects.

Biker is at fault the most and the driver is secondary blame but nothing worth getting reprimanded for - the speed limit is there for a reason.

 

[Vegeta]

Doesn't everyone treat every other car on the road as an idiot? I mean even crossing the road at a pedestrian crossing I make sure cars stop before I walk in front of them. If you treat every car on the road like they are going to drive in front of you then your going to be a lot safer.

Yes exactly this. In fact when I have passengers in my car I actively tell them 'watch out for this guy bet he cuts me up' or 'watch out for this woman bet she cuts that roundabout not knowing i'm there'. Once you've had a good few years of experience you can spot these things a mile off i'd never overtake on a road/junction like that.

 

[Django x2]

in that situation going slower or even faster would have put the motorcyclist in a different situation. a crash at 60 is still going to do damage.



why do you say this? the danger was caused by the person not looking down the road before moving.

if the motorcyclist had been doing the speed limit and the car turned across the path in the same manor it would have resulted in the same outcome.

Incorrect, the Clio would have completed it's move before the motorbike was anywhere near it. We are talking 37mph more than the speed limit for the road. The bike would have been 60ft further back down the road. A clio is not 60ft long.

The only reason this outcome, against the Clio happened, was because there was no motorcyclist left to prosecute and the Clio admitted that he hadn't seen the bike (or the car behind, which does surprise me).

Further more, even by the sketchy GoPro footage, you can see the Clio in the drivers view at 4 seconds, yet he makes no attempt to back off. A sensible rider would have been well aware of what could have happened there.

While I agree the driver of the car should have been paying more attention, the bike was doing 100mph, in heavy traffic, overtaking a car over chevrons, at a junction.

What do the Chevrons have to do with it, they are broken (not solid), so there is no issue here. He doesn't actually go over them anyway.

 

[DampDog]

I love how it's instantly a woman that did it (it wasn't by the way).

My bad, you are correct.

Not at all, I'm sure I'd read something about a conviction for the offence and it mentioned a woman. But having re-read it says motorist.

"The motorist admitted causing death by careless driving and got a 12 months community sentence in April and an 18 month driving ban.

He was also ordered to pay £200 costs with a £60 surcharge and do 130 hours unpaid work."

I think I read his mothers name and joined the dots, incorrectly.

It's quite a shocking video, his mother is pretty courageous in allowing it to be used considering the attention it get. That said that is probably the point and if it saves a life by getting someone to slow down or drive a little more carefully, (rider or driver) then it's served it's purpose.

 

[ZXSpectrum]

Yes the driver was at fault but so was the guy on the bike. If he was doing the speed limit he would have been further down the road and increase the chance of avoiding the car and reduce the chances of getting injured/killed if an impact happened.

Unfortunately I see it all the time that a great majority of motorbike riders do not seem to think the speed limit applies to them regardless of the road or conditions. Don't get me wrong, some car drivers are as bad but motorcyclists are often more prevalent.

 

[LordSplodge]

Shocked how many people in this thread think it's dangerous riding with 1 hand lol, shame about the biker. Irrespective of speed, car drivers fault.

Totally bias obviously as i'm a biker.

Erm, I'm a cyclist and I wouldn't have one hand on the bars at thirty MPH. You aren't fully in control with just one hand on the bars.

To do that, at 100MPH passing a junction shows inexperience, naivety or plain stupidity of the biker. Had he been gowing slower, in line with conditions of the road, he may be alive.

Nine if this excuses the car driver who turned into the path of an oncoming bike and car. Two oncoming vehicles they admitted to not seeing!

 

[~>Dg<~]

even at 60MPH that would have killed.

and the car driver still wouldn't have seen him.

you never know . ive come off at 60mph with no helmut on luckily didnt hit anything though.

 

[StonedPenguin]

Irrespective of speed, car drivers fault.

wow

Obviously the biker doing 100 odd mph had nowt to do with it.

 

[Django x2]

Oh and btw, he doesn't have one hand on the bike when he crashes, The only time he has one hand off the bike is to say thanks to car he's just passed for pulling left. You can clearly seem him put his hand back on the bike just after 2 seconds in, so let's put that one to bed shall we?

 

[Yaayuh!]

Well this thread turned out just as i thought.

Keep up the good work GD.

 

[Shadez]

Incorrect, the Clio would have completed it's move before the motorbike was anywhere near it. We are talking 37mph more than the speed limit for the road. The bike would have been 60ft further back down the road. A clio is not 60ft long.

This is my take on it as well, if the bike had been traveling at the speed limit the accident would not of happened. The car driver would have had time to complete the move, if necessary the bike rider would have had plenty of time to reduce his speed slightly giving even more time to complete the move.