to actually feel sorry for the driver of the car? WARNING- upsetting video.

[ToThePark]

Ok, so I've been a wimp and name changed in case I get totally flamed.

www.suffolk.police.uk/newsandevents/newsstories/2014/september/hardhittingvideolaunched.aspx

The motorcyclist was travelling at 100mph past a busy junction. I watched this video and thought, as a car driver, this could easily happen to me. What an horrific thing to have on your conscience.

What if it had been a child crossing?

I think if they are serious about cutting biker deaths something should be done technology wise to stop bikers from exceeding 70mph. Trouble is they wouldn't be able to sell the ridiculously powerful bikes.

It happened so quickly. Bloody hell…
I haven't read through the whole thread, but I do have a lot of sympathy for all involved, and very much so for the driver of the car.

I dont know this stretch of road so cant know whose fault this particular accident was but assume that those who prosecuted do and charged the car driver accordingly.

However, motorbikes scare the hell out of me. Im sure there are lots of responsible motorcyclists and lots of irresponsible car drivers but i do think that it is madness to be driving at those speeds when on a bike without much protection. They weave in and out of traffic and cut in front of you. I definitely think bike as i slow right down so they move further away from me.

a number of other drivers had seen both the motorbike and the other car

Were they all sitting on the driver's lap with exactly the same view?

Of course, we are not in possession of all the facts with respect to this and as such should accept that the judge/magistrate made the right decision based on those facts. Nevertheless, had the biker not been overtaking at 40mph over the speed limit, chances are the accident would have been avoidable. If he had been travelling at the speed limit all along, he would not have been at that point in the road as well as having more time to react and avoid the car.

Tragic for all concerned.

You make a very good point eauneau .

I had a car accident a few years ago. Turning right on a quiet residential road, across a blind bend. Indicated & paused, looked as far as I could and started to turn. Woman came flying round the blind bend at 60mph and wrote my car off, but nobody hurt. Big hoo-ha with the insurance afterwards as they insisted that I accept responsibility (or they would wash their hands of the whole thing and any and all legal costs would be mine) because I was crossing her path, not the other way around. I pointed out (and the other woman admitted) that she was speeding and was told, bluntly, that speed isn't a factor. I still can't quite get my head around that. Speed apparently isn't taken into account in the majority of insurance claims, I was told, as they don't have time to investigate, so decisions are made solely on who has right of way at the time of the collision. Not sure whether that is applicable in this case but it reminded me of it.

Im sure he was traumatised, he has paid a high price for his lack of care, I do feel sympathy for him. living and working in a semi rural area means he really needs to be able to drive, so the impact of him being disqualified is massive.

The police who investigated the accident and the court that dealt with the case obviously know more about it than any of us here.

David had been travelling from King’s Lynn towards Norwich when the collision happened at the crossroads with Woods Lane and Berrys Lane. The driver of the Renault, who admitted not seeing David or the car travelling behind, was prosecuted in April. While David was travelling above the speed limit, a number of other drivers had seen both the motorbike and the other car

Ch Insp Spinks added: “We know from the footage that David was travelling up to 100mph. Regardless of the speed of the bike, the car manoeuvre should not have been attempted. Clearly, he was taking a risk and has paid the ultimate price. The majority of bikers ride responsibly however, I’m sure many will relate to the riding style seen in this video. We know motorcyclists are a vulnerable group and this sad case is a reminder to all roads users to be alert to what is going on around you and to lower your speed

It is clear from the above statement, that the driver made an error and that even without the over the limit speed of the motorcyclist [which is indefensible], it was a manoeuvre that should never have happened.

Having heard what a busy and difficult road it is the bike rider seems even more idiotic to be driving at that speed

What was the driver's sentence?

I think the driver should have seen the bike, even at that speed. Taking that right turn meant that he would only have had to check in the direction of the oncoming traffic, so he should have been aware of the bike.

I can see how a momentary lapse of concentration would impact on that though. I know I've had many in my time.

Tragic for all concerned.

Also when I first saw this I assumed that this was a message to motorbike drivers, as in 'Don't drive at 97mph on a motorbike along a busy single carriageway approaching a junction - because if you do you will probably die'.

But I am astonished to see that that is not the case, but rather a message to car drivers to say 'be careful of bikes'.

It's been a long time since I read the Highway Code, and I have never driven or been on a motorbike, but all that overtaking on single carriageway is surely illegal, is it not?

I once saw a terrible accident in another country. Two motorbikes overtook a transit van on one side and another motorbike on the other side. The driver saw the one bike, and, being on a bendy road, moved a bit to let it pass, hitting the other two bikes and crushing them against the cliff face on the right.

It was DREADFUL.

Oh god, that's horrible, think it's really brave of the family to put this out there though.

Really hits home how easily fatal accidents can happen :(

Eauneue it's both.

The car driver pulled out of a junction, the bike was going too fast.

/\ yes the message is both.

Beware of speeding and look for bikes when making manouevres.

Eauneau I agree.

Also, even if there hadn't been a collision, driving along a road with someone weaving in and out of traffic at that speed near a junction would have been massivley distracting. Watching them to work out what they were going to do next would have taken your eyes of the other cars.

IMO the moterbike colided with the car (which is going at about 10mph at the poitn of the collision), not the other way around surely? If they had collided at the speed limit or below, there was a good chance the impact wouldn't have been fatal.

Maryz the bike had completed a perfectly legal overtake and was well on his side of the road when the car pulled in front of him.
yes he was going too fast and it is tragic for both parties involved but the blame should at least be 50-50

The car shouldn't have been in the position of the road he was in when the bike collided with the car.

That is the crux of it. The car driver made a manouevre he should never have made.

If you can bear to, watch again and pause just before it happens, go through it frame by frame and you will see that this happened because the car pulled out without looking and that the speed is irrelevant, the bike was so close to the car when the car moved into that part of the rd, he clearly hadn't looked in the oncoming traffic direction at all-as he admitted and as the investigation found.

I think the sentence was wrong. YES, the driver took a risk which backfired, he pulled out at the wrong moment, BUT, if the cyclist hadn't been doing 100mph then the accident could probably have been avoided.
I live on a long, gently winding bit of fairly house free road with a 40mph speed limit along the residential parts. We get a weekly motorcycle rally go back and forth all evening one day a week. I'd say 60 to 70% of the large number of riders exceed the speed limit by a LOT! Even on the 60mph parts. Its a simple matter of time before someone tries to pull off their drive and a motorbike hits them.
If motorcyclists rode sensibly then they'd get better press and a safer journey.

Isn't the point of the campaign "expect everyone else to drive like an idiot, criticise them all you like but no one deserves to die because they drive like an idiot"?

I feel sorry for everyone involved. The biker for thinking he was invincible, the driver for not allowing for idiot bike riders, and the people who had to clear up the mess afterwards.

I just watched it, I have to say it looks to me as though the car driver should have seen him coming, nothing 'appears out of nowhere', it is a long straight road, the biker was going too fast, yes, but the driver should not have been where he was in the road.
Terrible for everyone involved and I can't see how sending the driver to jail will do any good, it wasn't malicious and done on purpose and it's hardly likely he'll go out and do it again, if he ever even drives again.

I know this turning, it's lethal.

But the driver didn't take the time to look properly.