To be annoyed at 'Think Bike' posters and other ads telling drivers to be considerate to motorcyclists ??

[Tinkerbell7373]

Every time I see one of these posters or adverts on TV it really irritates me in fact totally pisses me off
We are continually told to look out for motorbikes etc - when motorbike riders are thee most reckless, dangerous, inconsiderate people on the roads !! They speed, weave in and out of traffic, cut in when they feel like it and generally think they can do whatever they like !!! How about posters and adverts aimed at them saying 'Think Car' or 'Don't ride like a dick and you won't have, or cause, so many accidents !'

Bit harsh. I look out for bikers as I imagine they would be more likely to sustain serious injuries than I would, if we were to collide.

I used to be a motorcyclist and it really is scary just how many cars don't seem to see you (and I used
to wear his vis and have a high vis helmet). Yes there are bad motorcyclists but there are dreadful drivers out there too. I almost got knocked off by a lorry when on a roundabout- I was already on the roundabout indicating right- he just didn't look/ see me. Still makes me feel cold thinking of it- I wouldn't have had a chance.

You're being intentionally obtuse OP. The roads are overrun with cars. Of course they don't need to be reminded.

There's filtering - then there's just blatantly going down the side of a single lane queue of traffic and cutting a car up when they aren't expecting you - and yes this may be where 'think bike' should come to the car driver. By how about the rider 'thinks car' and doesn't just cut in front out of nowhere.

I think both car drivers and motorcyclists need to be conscious that motorbikes are hard to spot. That means car drivers need to make efforts to look out for bikes before turning or changing lanes, but also that motorcyclists need to not put themselves in situations where a driver doesn't have time to spot them, e.g. speeding past a traffic jam or weaving in and out of lanes.

But I think the campaigns are aimed at drivers because motorcyclists are presumably constantly conscious of cars (being surrounded by them), whereas car drivers are not constantly conscious of bikes (as they're relatively rarer).

I know when I check my blind spot before turning, 99% of the time there is nothing in it. But it's about convincing people that they should still check nonetheless.

And why won't you get on a bike? (not judging as I won't either) - because it's bloody scary and you're EXTREMELY vulnerable. Point answered.

The most considerate motorists by far when I'm out on my horse are motorcyclists. I guess we know we are vulnerable road users

'Are motorcyclists continually told to watch out for cars ?'

When you do your CBT and bike training they really really do continually tell you to look out for cars. They teach you the lifesaver which is to always look again before doing a manoeuvre (and definitely not rely on mirrors).

OP you do understand the point that car vs bike the bike will almost certainly come off worse right?

Tinkerbell, it's unlikely they'll appear from nowhere. If you check your mirrors as frequently as you should be it's not likely you'll miss them

NerrSnerr - no, I don't think she/he gets it at all!

OP, with all due respect... You're being a twat.

There doesn't need to get a campaign to get bikers to look out for cars because that's ALL THEY DO. You're only noticing the small percentage of bikers that ride like dicks. Believe me, most of them are NOT like that.

Nobody wants to be road jam. Most of us are really fucking careful and spend rides dodging near misses from car drivers who don't know how to look where they're going.

Educate yourself.

My fil was killed by a skip lorry that 'did see him' despite high vis etc. Turned right into my fil path to turn into a petrol station. Got done for careless driving, 6 points and a fine. I was pregnant with dd at the time. My kids never got to meet their grandad.
That said, some motorcyclists do need to be much more careful as a minority ride like dicks. But being aware is not the exclusive responsibility of any road user, but motorcyclists are more vulnerable. So I think yabu

I'm terrified of hitting a bike. I'm always checking.

However, there is a fairly quiet B road near my house. There is a motorcyclist (he must live around there too) who, no exaggeration, must do that road at 100-120 mph. Even on a clear day, you really really can't see him until he's past you.

I do check, but this guy scares me.

Mum2 - nope I just have no desire to ride a motorbike. Being on a horse with a motorbike revving up your arse is much scarier and more vulnerable than riding a motorbike imo. Point answered.

Maybe I have just had shit experiences of motorcyclists weaving in and out of traffic and generally riding like idiots. But of course I appreciate there are sensible riders, wearing the right clothes, and following the rules of the road.

5O we have had bad experiences with motorbikes when out riding our horses, so I'm not just talking from a car drivers point of view.

I think car drivers should be warned to look out for other car drivers, to be honest. They are the most lethal things on the road.

Mum2 - why so defensive and abusive ? It's a AIBU thread - a yes or no and quick reason why you think so would have sufficed.

Oh I'll tell you something that fucked me right off the other day right enough. I was driving to the supermarket and got stuck behind the worlds slowest driver (and I ain't exactly the speediest myself).

Sign on the back of car (like a baby on board sign) read: "elderly driver. Please be patient"

😒 Frankly if you need to drive at 20 mph on a 40 mph road, you shouldn't be on the road. I don't care how old you are.

There is a psychological phenomenon where you see what you expect to see and literally don't see what's right in front of you if you're not expecting to see it, famously shown by the amazing basketball video experiment. That's why so many bike riders report car drivers "acting" as if they didn't see them, and so many car drivers saying things like "they came out of nowhere".

"Think bike" is exactly right. Car drivers need to expect to see bikes more. YABU.

YABVVU. Your post is so stupid I'm just going to leave it at that as you've made me angry.

I used to go on the back of my husbands bike when we first met and the amount of cars that didn't appear to see us was scary. We weren't doing anything wrong, no weaving, no filtering, no speeding just driving down the street. People would pull out in front of us all the time at junctions then look at us like we were in wrong. Thankfully nothing ever happened and our biker days are long behind us but we had some really hairy moments which could have been prevented if people used their eyes.

YABVU and deliberately obtuse to the point of almost goadiness.

The reason that bikes don't need to "think car" is because cars are ~4 times the width of the bike, therefore considerably more visible than a usually-quite-narrow-bike; and a car driver is FAR less likely to be killed by a collision with a motorbike than the bike rider.

Motorbikes have their lights on full time to help them be more visible, because they are naturally LESS visible because they are narrower.

So the extremely bloody obvious reason for the posters/ads, is that many car drivers DON'T see the fecking bikes because of their size - hence "look again more fucking carefully and then you might actually SEE the bike and not kill the rider".

Being on a horse with a motorbike revving up your arse is much scarier and more vulnerable than riding a motorbike imo

Im sure drivers love being stuck behind you and your skittish having a shit in the road horse

AND it's not just motorbikes - pedal bikes are ignored too! My sister was knocked off her bike by an elderly car driver who "just didn't see her" on a mini roundabout, and I was narrowly missed by another elderly car driver who again, "just didn't see me" and proceeded to pull out of the side road almost into me (I cycled around her, luckily).

Tinkerbell, you are displaying an astounding amount of ignorance on the subject. Most motorcyclists hold a full car license. They drive cars regularly in addition to riding motorbikes. On the other hand, most car drivers have never been on a bike and have not been trained to ride a bike, yet they feel perfectly well qualified to tell trained, experienced riders how they should ride. "Think Bike" is of course, bollocks, because most car drivers don't understand what it means, but most bike riders can "Think Car" because they drive one regularly.

Yes, there are some pillocks who ride. There are also some pillocks who drive a car too. Should we judge all car drivers because some twenty-something year old idiot has a supped-up corsa with a loud exhaust and thinks he's Hamilton? No. Of course not. That would be ridiculous. So don't judge all bike riders by that measure either.

I am an advanced qualified rider. I ride several hundred miles a week and I also ride for an emergency service (not prepared to specify details on that). I encounter several situations a week where if I didn't take evasive action, a driver would have me off the bike. Please note that for the emergency work, I ride a fully liveried hi-vis bike in addition to the hi-vis I'm wearing etc. Still people pull out. Only a couple of days ago, a woman drifted across two lanes in front of me, I had to take evasive action and she still didn't see me. I personally know four advanced qualified, very skilled, very responsible and very experienced riders (some of whom work for the same emergency service and were killed whilst riding a hi-vis liveried bike and whilst on an active call-out) who died in the last year as a result of collisions with cars. In every case it was the car driver's fault. How many car drivers do you think I know who died in the same time period as a result of collisions caused by a motorcyclist?

And in answer to your question, Are motorcyclists continually told to watch out for cars ? - it's a fundamental part of training from CBT onwards. Those who don't look out for cars tend to die young. A small prang in a car could be hospitalization or death to a rider. However, there have been many adverts telling bikers to look out for cars. These are usually circulated within the biking community though (which is quite small), rather than being on main-stream tv. There is also a huge push to encourage bikers to take advanced training. Have you ever considered doing any in your car, if you are so intolerant of more vulnerable road users?