What can happen when it all goes wrong

[SoliD]

Is there anyone on this forum who can honestly put their hand on their heart and say they've never had a single 'oh crap' moment when out driving? Ever? The sort of thing where pure luck and circumstances were the only thing that either kept you on the road or, if you left it, didn't leave you in the situation this bloke was in?

Can honestly say I have had a few of these moments, well one I can remember where I took a roundabout too fast in the wet, car just understeered and understeered, eventually gripped in and got round, lucky it was a nice big roundabout.

 

[helpimcrap]

ive managed to stick my car into a ditch before now on a spirited drive. if i had cut the corner though i would have been ok... touched the gravel on the outside of the bend and it just pulled left and boom into the ditch.

very very sobering story though.

i honestly cant remember seeing a 'proper' criminal who was out with intent get that kind of sentence recently though.

it sucks the biker got hit, and the guy deserved a sentence of some sort, but it has to be relative to other crimes, and this just isnt...

 

[moss]

Just reading this thread and some of the links posted here, I realised the biker involved is my girlfriends friends dad.
He lives a couple of miles from me, Ive not actually met the bloke but when it first happened I kept in contact with my gf's friend to see how he was.
Hes very lucky to be alive, he spent a good while in intensive care.
I cant imagine he was riding too fast as his wife was behind on her motorbike, and she isn't a particularly fast rider.

I heard a slightly different account of the story than what the guy who caused the crash posted, mainly that he was racing, although it was the guys mate that told me that, so he may have sensationalised it a little.

 

[Dangerous Dave]

Is there anyone on this forum who can honestly put their hand on their heart and say they've never had a single 'oh crap' moment when out driving? Ever? The sort of thing where pure luck and circumstances were the only thing that either kept you on the road or, if you left it, didn't leave you in the situation this bloke was in?

I think every driver has had this, personally 8 years ago I missed a car by 2" when going backwards at around 60mph on the wrong side of the road before a crash barrier slowed me down, as I went round a corner way too fast. It certainly slowed me down following this.

You have to look at this another way if your dad was on the bike would you feel the same way ? From reading the post the car was still moving when the bike hit it and to be charged with dangerous driving over careless driving excessive speed generally well over the speed limit needs to be proved. I would assume if the driver had been going under the speed limit and crashed he would have been charged with careless driving which would likely happen in the example with the lady driving the Ka.

However big respect to the car driver in the way he has dealt with it.

 

[pitchfork]

Also, did anyone see the story on the news yesterday about a 96-year-old man who was attacked and beaten on a train? Yet, the defendant was given no jail time and actually walked out of court grinning...

We need to bring back the lynch!

Poor bugger, I feel for him I really do, it was no ones fault, and the corrupt ignorant and infact useless court system has once again given an innocent man a pointless sentence.

 

[Fr0dders]

I heard a slightly different account of the story than what the guy who caused the crash posted, mainly that he was racing, although it was the guys mate that told me that, so he may have sensationalised it a little.

to be honest

i think he probably was doing a bit of spirited driving with his mates and was going above the speed limit

he got it wrong, went in too fast, and locked up trying to slow down. He's skidded onto the wrong side of the road

how many of us have had incidents like that ? ninja badger jokes aside, i think most people that enjoy a spirited drive above the limit will have had this. I had it twice when i was younger, and both times crashed into other cars. not motorcycles

at the time my parents told me how stupid i was but said "at least its only bent metal"

it wasnt much consolation back then (the 2nd time especially) because i felt such a plonker. Funnily enough, it seems to make more sense now looking back. If it hadnt have been a car comming the other way, it could have been a completely different story ......

 

[moss]

to be honest

i think he probably was doing a bit of spirited driving with his mates and was going above the speed limit

he got it wrong, went in too fast, and locked up trying to slow down. He's skidded onto the wrong side of the road

Tbh, im not placing blame anywhere, seems it was all an unfortunate accident, the guy obviously had no intent to cause harm.

 

[volospian]

In a perfect world yes. I treat driving with a certain level of respect, and it would be great if everyone did. But, there are idiots out there, and I know I could be killed by one tomorrow, yet I'm still happy to chance it and drive.

Also, a moments lack of discipline in a Reliant Robin could put you inside. They're all potentially lethal (And if anyone calls a car a weapon I'll run them down, it's not a weapon, it's a potentially dangerous tool).

Yes, there are idiots out there, but I still maintain that we shouldn't have to accept the fact.

weapon (wep′ən)
noun
an instrument or device of any kind used to injure or kill, as in fighting or hunting

So, if you deliberately ran someone down with a vehicle (maybe for calling your car a weapon), that vehicle could then be classed as a weapon. So, the act of deliberately using your vehicle as an instrument used to injure or kill makes that person correct in describing your car as a weapon. So you shouldn't run them down as they are correct... except they wouldn't be if you didn't run them down as you wouldn't have then used the vehicle as an instrument used to injure or kill... Oh, the paradox!

 

[Durzel]

My thoughts exactly. Alright he lost control of his car and crashed and it ended up in the middle of the road. Then a bike comes tear arsing round a corner and of course cant stop in time... What if there had been a tractor turning in the road? or some other form of obstruction? How can it be the car drivers fault if someone else cant stop in time?

That's conjecture to be honest. Don't sensationalise the story when you're not in possession of all the facts.

By all accounts (including Dan - 10 Pence Short) the biker was totally innocent and ended up with a permanent disability. Fair play to Dan he took it on the chin, even though he was made an example of.

Definitely a sobering read and a good lesson to all of us that going too far in our cars and involving other people can lead to things like that.

 

[AtreuS]

That's conjecture to be honest. Don't sensationalise the story when you're not in possession of all the facts.

By all accounts (including Dan - 10 Pence Short) the biker was totally innocent and ended up with a permanent disability. Fair play to Dan he took it on the chin, even though he was made an example of.

Definitely a sobering read and a good lesson to all of us that going too far in our cars and involving other people can lead to things like that.

If you read the whole post i did say that what i was saying was based on the account from the car driver and to be taken with a pinch of salt. From his account it sounded like the car was stopped in the road and then the bike came along. It appears the true facts are a little different, as the bike was already coming round the corner and he dumped the car in front of it ( or something to that effect ).

 

[Simon]

Let's not get into a debate.

Just read and digest what can happen with a bit of spirited driving.

 

[AtreuS]

Let's not get into a debate.

Just read and digest what can happen with a bit of spirited driving.

Maybe we need to think about what "spirited" driving really means.

To some it appears to mean "goes that little bit faster and letting caution goto the wind a little", and to others it means to "drive like a bloody fool and wrap their car round the nearest tree". Hopefully everyone here is of the first type.

 

[Jonnycoupe]

Maybe we need to think about what "spirited" driving really means. To some it means goes that little bit faster and letting caution goto the wind a little, and to others it means to drive like a bloody fool and wrap their car round the nearest tree.

Same difference?

Unless TomTom now has destinations such as oak tree 123 on the A5?

 

[Simon]

Maybe we need to think about what "spirited" driving really means.

To some it appears to mean "goes that little bit faster and letting caution goto the wind a little", and to others it means to "drive like a bloody fool and wrap their car round the nearest tree". Hopefully everyone here is of the first type.

We don't have to think anything as a group.

Just people need to read it and reflect, regardless of definitions.

 

[Durzel]

Dan fully admits that he was driving "beyond careless", he was driving too fast for the road and lost control. The accident that ensued was later proven to be unavoidable for the biker, who apparently would have only had 1-2 seconds to react. The biker was also found to be travelling below the speed limit.

Bottom line - Dan knows he was fully in the wrong, didn't expect the sentence he was given (although when you consider the biker was left with a permanent injury it's not wholly unreasonable). It's obviously taught him a very valuable lesson and it's one that particularly resonates with me - there's such a fine line between putting your foot down on a country road, losing control and involving someone else (an innocent party) in your accident.

To echo what others have said on the PH thread - Dan really needs to get it published (even if it means the money goes to the biker/air ambulance service or whoever, Proceeds of Crime Act means he couldn't do it for profit). He's got a really good writing style and I was thoroughly hooked reading his diaries of the first days of "everyman" in prison cells....

 

[Fr0dders]

Maybe we need to think about what "spirited" driving really means.

To some it appears to mean "goes that little bit faster and letting caution goto the wind a little", and to others it means to "drive like a bloody fool and wrap their car round the nearest tree". Hopefully everyone here is of the first type.

dont see the difference tbh

driving that little bit too fast and not being cautious is what causes cars to get wrapped round tree.

 

[AtreuS]

dont see the difference tbh

driving that little bit too fast and not being cautious is what causes cars to get wrapped round tree.

Thats kind of my point. You see a fair few people say "i love to go for a spirited drive" and yet what do they mean? We see people in this forum get slated for careless driving but "spirited" driving seems to be looked upon as some kind of right that must be defended.

Im just wondering how come "spirited" driving is seen as something thats acceptable when in reality it means that you are driving more recklessly than the law demands of you ( on a public road at least ).

 

[Simon]

Im just wondering how come "spirited" driving is seen as something thats acceptable when in reality it means that you are driving more recklessly than the law demands of you ( on a public road at least ).

It is until it goes wrong, and that is what happened.

 

[[TW]Fox]

Im just wondering how come "spirited" driving is seen as something thats acceptable when in reality it means that you are driving more recklessly than the law demands of you ( on a public road at least ).

Of course it doesn't. You can go for a spirited drive without driving in such a way that a court could convict you of careless of dangerous driving.

 

[Jez]

Very good read, thanks for posting simon