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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Why don't they just accept that motorbikes are deathtraps and campaign against people riding them?

257 replies

GoshAnneGorilla · 26/04/2013 17:27

Instead of spending so much time and money going on at car drivers, wouldn't it be better to discourage people from using motorbikes in the first place?

OP posts:
BikeWife · 26/04/2013 19:11

It used to take DH 30 mins to get to work (filtering through the city traffic), £20 petrol a week and £15 road tax a year. In a car it now takes 45 minutes at best, approx £50 petrol a week and £120 road tax a year. His motorbike was really practical for us. It was some other road users that made it impossible in the end.

Yes motorbike riders need to be sensible though. I don't agree with dark helmets and protective clothing. My husband purposely bought a white jacket with reflective bits but was STILL not seen 3 times!

It does make me very mad when I see motorbike riders riding around with just a pair of jeans and a t shirt on. My husband's protective clothing (along with his helmet) saved his life in his last accident.

Original poster
GoshAnneGorilla · 26/04/2013 19:14

Ivy - but vastly more people drive cars then motor bikes, so of course the number of car drivers killed or injured is going to be higher.

A quick google would bring up some government figures think.direct.gov.uk/motorcycles.html

These figures show that: "Injuries to motorcyclists are out of proportion to their presence on our roads. Motorcyclists are just 1% of total road traffic, but account for 19% of all road user deaths."

That's just deaths.

When we include serious injuries, "Motorcyclists are 75 times more likely to be killed or seriously injured (KSI) in serious or fatal crashes than car drivers when casualty rates are compared per billion miles travelled."

Sleepless - Are you really, truly serious?

Well - I would just like to see people dead or with horrific injuries. Fewer people riding motorbikes would achieve that aim.

OP posts:
Original poster
GoshAnneGorilla · 26/04/2013 19:15

*Well - I would just like to see FEWER people dead or with horrific injuries. Fewer people riding motorbikes would achieve that aim.

OP posts:
LadyIsabellaWrotham · 26/04/2013 19:15

Two thousand Ivy, not six. And yes it does make a difference, that's thousands of people every year saved by the efforts of the nanny state in order to keep our roads among the safest in the world.

Freddiemisagreatshag · 26/04/2013 19:16

So would making car drivers do a day on a bike so they take some fucking care And pay attention....

Freddiemisagreatshag · 26/04/2013 19:17

I'd like to see fewer people posting twatty nanny granny threads on the Internet. I think I'll campaign for the government to ban twatty threads I don't like.

BikeWife · 26/04/2013 19:17

*Well - I would just like to see FEWER people dead or with horrific injuries. Fewer people riding motorbikes would achieve that aim.

So would more car drivers paying better attention to motorbikes on the roads.

WMittens · 26/04/2013 19:22

Sparklingbrook

Yes, I never seem to see a motorbike pootling along at the speed limit funnily enough.

Well, duh. If they're going in the same direction and travelling at the same speed as you, you never catch up with them/they never catch up with you; if they're going in the opposite direction you have no idea how fast they are going.

ParadiseChick · 26/04/2013 19:25

They don't come out of nowhere, they come from somewhere. If that somewhere looks like nowhere then you're not looking in your mirror enough.

Chiggers · 26/04/2013 19:28

All the bikers I know, are the more careful car drivers because they know what it's like to feel more vulnerable on the roads and look out for their own when driving their cars.

I used to own a bike and a car driver, who wasn't looking where they were going, slammed into the back of my bike and pushed me into the path of an oncoming car, on the roundabout I had stopped at. Luckily I saw it coming in my wing mirror and braced for impact. The driver then tried to cover her ass when speaking to cops, but luckily there were a few witnesses who verified my story and the driver was arrested for dangerous driving. It turned out that she was on her mobile when she slammed into me, but I didn't see that, I just saw her turning to see what was coming round the roundabout.

Anyway, I got up and walked away unscathed, but the driver's face was a picture and reminded me of the mask in Scream Grin. It was like this Shock. I was brokenhearted about my bike though as it was off the road for 3 weeks and I, personally, needed to put it through MOT so that I was sure it was deemed safe to be on the road.

TheFallenNinja · 26/04/2013 19:30

If your not a rider you will not understand.

WMittens · 26/04/2013 19:30

When we include serious injuries, "Motorcyclists are 75 times more likely to be killed or seriously injured (KSI) in serious or fatal crashes than car drivers when casualty rates are compared per billion miles travelled."

Did you consider that some people like to ride because it's dangerous? It's fun and exhilarating. Some people jump off a bridge with a rope round their ankles, others jump out of a perfectly good plane tied to a sheet.

BikeWife · 26/04/2013 19:30

Glad you had witnesses to agree with your version of events Chiggers. DH's second accident, the driver tried to say he didn't see him as he didn't have his lights on. The lights come on automatically when the engine was switched on. Nice try though.

pinkmagic1 · 26/04/2013 19:32

I havnt got time to read the whole thread but I do agree that many motorcycle accidents are caused by twatish car drivers. DH has a motorbike and has had had 2 accidents both caused by drivers pulling out of side roads directly in front of him. You get some idiotic motorcyclists just the same as you get idiotic car drivers, van drivers, cyclists etc. Don't tar eveyone with the same brush.

WMittens · 26/04/2013 19:32

It turned out that she was on her mobile when she slammed into me,

It's shocking the number of people I see trying to navigate roundabouts and junctions with one hand on the side of their head.

claudedebussy · 26/04/2013 19:35

biker here.

you are more exposed on a bike. unfortunately in the neuro-disability clinic near me, 70% of the patients are bikers.

when you get on a bike you accept the risks: the idiots, the state of the road, the weather, the cow pat etc.

OhLori · 26/04/2013 19:37

Bikes often speed up so fast to overtake that you don't see them in your mirror, they just loom out of nowhere. They come so close to the car that even moving 2 inches to the right would knock them over - and you have had no chance to see them. But perhaps its just a minority that drive this way - however they don't seem to feel they are in danger, which I find very strange.

OhLori · 26/04/2013 19:39

p.s. I have only ever had these horrible "near miss" experiences with motor bikes, never cyclists for instance, and I would also consider myself to be a careful and conscientious driver.

wigglesrock · 26/04/2013 19:41

They are not my cup of tea but tbf I've never seen a motorbike rider as other posters have said use their phone, change a CD, get distracted by their kids, eat or anything else twatty that I see eejits driving cars do.

WMittens · 26/04/2013 19:51

Bikes often speed up so fast to overtake that you don't see them in your mirror, they just loom out of nowhere.

They don't come out of nowhere, they come from somewhere. If that somewhere looks like nowhere then you're not looking in your mirror enough.

WMittens · 26/04/2013 19:53

They are not my cup of tea but tbf I've never seen a motorbike rider as other posters have said use their phone, change a CD, get distracted by their kids, eat or anything else twatty that I see eejits driving cars do.

The other morning while driving, I saw a woman happily squeezing some toothpaste on to her brush and proceed to brush her teeth. This was on a dual carriageway near Leeds city centre.

Pan · 26/04/2013 19:54

What a really absurd OP!

By 'having a go at drivers' I suspect you mean 'demanding that drivers are being forced to take note of other road users'.

I drive, and the biggest thing that improved my driving was riding a motorbike. I now cycle, a lot and that has also increased my awareness whilst driving.

and yes of course the speed some bikes go at makes it a potentially dangerous way of getting from A to B. But ime drivers tend to think everyone on the road should be 'just like them'. When that isn't the case at all.

Paleodad · 26/04/2013 20:01

I,d be interested to know peoples opinions of carrying children on the back of a bike.

I was surprised to see a kid no older than 7 or 8 riding pillion through the city centre today, and was equally surprised to see on the RoSPA website that it's perfectly legal as long as the child is old enough to hold on properly. can it really be safe?

Freddiemisagreatshag · 26/04/2013 20:02

Paleo - afaik it's legal as long as their feet can touch the foot pegs, not if they can hold on properly or not. Since "holding on properly" is subjective, iyswim?

Pan · 26/04/2013 20:08

What's legal and sensible are often two different things. I'd never have taken a child on my bike - it's too much of a risk when as a rider I am too vulnerable from car drivers tbh.