Biking Safety
- Thread starter Hamish
- Start date
I would say a large % of safety on a motorbike is down to you, not just gear but forward vision, reading the road and more importantly - reading others.
Naturally you cannot account for everything and there is the chance you will be left in a position that you cannot fix through no fault of your own. But you can mitigate in many ways.
Naturally you cannot account for everything and there is the chance you will be left in a position that you cannot fix through no fault of your own. But you can mitigate in many ways.
Having second thoughts about getting a bike now. On the dirtbikes out here a lot of my friends have broken bones in the last year, off the top of my head 3xcollarbones, 3xwrists, 1xfinger. That doesn't bother me, you can heal up.
The thing that really hit me was a friend of mine was riding in December with his mate behind him, riding along a road in the desert and crossing to get to the dunes on the other side. Mate looked and crossed, his mate didnt look. Got hit from behind by a landcruiser at ~120kph. From what I heard it wasn't pretty, he got tangled up in the wheelarch and twisted up pretty bad, killed almost instantly.
I know it was his own fault but I keep thinking that one little lack of judgement by you or someone else and that's it. I know anything could kill you and it probably won't happen to you, but when you're flying through the air into oncoming traffic at 50mph because someone pulled out on you, you're not going to be thinking that, just wishing you could turn back time.
The thing that really hit me was a friend of mine was riding in December with his mate behind him, riding along a road in the desert and crossing to get to the dunes on the other side. Mate looked and crossed, his mate didnt look. Got hit from behind by a landcruiser at ~120kph. From what I heard it wasn't pretty, he got tangled up in the wheelarch and twisted up pretty bad, killed almost instantly.
I know it was his own fault but I keep thinking that one little lack of judgement by you or someone else and that's it. I know anything could kill you and it probably won't happen to you, but when you're flying through the air into oncoming traffic at 50mph because someone pulled out on you, you're not going to be thinking that, just wishing you could turn back time.
Associate
- Joined
- 17 Jun 2011
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- 448
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- Devon
This really, a lot of it is down to yourself and the choices you make. Here's a few examples
I've been riding 5.5 years (since 16) and I've crashed twice, both on my 125 I went too fast in sketchy conditions locked the front and slid down the road. Both my own fault due to inexperience.
My Dad who's been riding longer than I've been around has crashed 3 times since I started. 2 times were his kinda own fault, he hit a gravel patch while braking to a roundabout and dropped it at low speed. Second time he went into the back of a car at a junction and just bumped it. The third accident was nothing to do with him, he was riding along at the speed limit and a taxi pulled out in front of him and he went over the bonnet and just suffered bruising too the ribs more than anything.
My friend who has been riding 3 years had one crash that nearly cost him his life. Went into a corner and lost the front, we were doing a good 80mph getting our knees down but he went a step further and ended up hitting the central reservation at that speed. 4 broken ribs, 3 broken vertebrae, broken leg and a lacerated liver later and he managed to just pull through. Again, no one to blame but himself.
Moral of the story, there will always be factors you can't control but for the most part it's down to yourself. It's not like you're signing your life away by wanting to ride a bike, it depends entirely how much you trust yourself more than anything.
Like anything in life there will be factors you can't control, but you don't refuse to cross the road because you MAY get hit do you? The statistics may not be in the favor of bikers but there's a lot beneath the surface of them that they don't tell you
If it was me I'd lose the image of a suit & a scooter for starters. You need to build up an image of a Police bike rider or Bike Instructor with Hi Vis on & Full leathers with armour protection sitting bolt upright on a sensible bike with his lights on.
Then you need to explain to her the process of becoming legal on a bike via CBT & the 2 part test for your full license.
This way you would sway her away from the unprotected loony on a scooter with wheels like rich tea biscuits towards a sensible way of commuting that will put more money in the kitty for house hold stuff & nights out with her.
Then you need to explain to her the process of becoming legal on a bike via CBT & the 2 part test for your full license.
This way you would sway her away from the unprotected loony on a scooter with wheels like rich tea biscuits towards a sensible way of commuting that will put more money in the kitty for house hold stuff & nights out with her.
If it was me I'd lose the image of a suit & a scooter for starters. You need to build up an image of a Police bike rider or Bike Instructor with Hi Vis on & Full leathers with armour protection sitting bolt upright on a sensible bike with his lights on.
Then you need to explain to her the process of becoming legal on a bike via CBT & the 2 part test for your full license.
This way you would sway her away from the unprotected loony on a scooter with wheels like rich tea biscuits towards a sensible way of commuting that will put more money in the kitty for house hold stuff & nights out with her.
Agree
The number of fools I used to see in Budgie Wharf on scooters in their suits. Sheesh!
But on a serious note, statistics show that 110% of bikers/scooter...ers entering London every day either die or catch fire*.
* They actually don't**.
** But it's probably close***
*** A bit.
While the chance of crashing is equal to or less than when driving a car by virtue of the extended training, the trouble is a crash on a bike simply HURTS MORE.
So yes you are less likely to crash if you are well trained and are not stupid, but the simple fact is that it will happen one day and its in the lap of the gods as to how much it hurts.
I came to an abrupt stop into the side of an SUV doing a mere 8-10mph after the kind lady decided to perform a U-Turn out of stationary traffic with no warning whilst i was level with the wing mirror of the car behind her. The trouble with an SUV is that you don't go over the top - you just splat into the side like a fly. I barely had time to grab a brake.
Slow speed and I still suffered for 4 months with 2 broken ribs. Had I have been doing 30mph? I dread to think.
The first point is had I been in a car and struck anything at that speed I would have got out and shook a fist - rather than laying in the road prone, winded and clutching my ribcage whilst wondering what happened. The second point is had I had been in a car I would have never been in that position where the kind lady could have wiped me out in the first place.
So yes you are less likely to crash if you are well trained and are not stupid, but the simple fact is that it will happen one day and its in the lap of the gods as to how much it hurts.
I came to an abrupt stop into the side of an SUV doing a mere 8-10mph after the kind lady decided to perform a U-Turn out of stationary traffic with no warning whilst i was level with the wing mirror of the car behind her. The trouble with an SUV is that you don't go over the top - you just splat into the side like a fly. I barely had time to grab a brake.
Slow speed and I still suffered for 4 months with 2 broken ribs. Had I have been doing 30mph? I dread to think.
The first point is had I been in a car and struck anything at that speed I would have got out and shook a fist - rather than laying in the road prone, winded and clutching my ribcage whilst wondering what happened. The second point is had I had been in a car I would have never been in that position where the kind lady could have wiped me out in the first place.
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Soldato
- Joined
- 5 Jun 2003
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when on your bike treat everyone else on the road as idiots
This is the sort of thing I keep coming back to. I am seriously considering a 125cc for the short commute I do (North London) to save a packet on petrol and parking, but jeeze there is a huge number of idiots on the roads. Got far too much to live for
Probably do it anywayThis is the sort of thing I keep coming back to. I am seriously considering a 125cc for the short commute I do (North London) to save a packet on petrol and parking, but jeeze there is a huge number of idiots on the roads. Got far too much to live for
In a city, a 125cc is perfect. Small, nimble and cheap to run.
