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 !'

[ironmanslady]

[glintwithpersperation]

This is the MOST ignorant OP I've ever seen. I can't believe that anyone could actually say something so moronic.

[carefreeeee]

YABU. Just because some of them break the law doesn't mean you have the right to kill all of them with your car.

Plus, if motorbikers/cyclists are more likely to ride dangerously, that's even more reason to be aware of them - cos if you hit one they may be killed - but more importantly your car may be damaged and imagine how annoying that would be! Far better not to actually hit one but be able to keep them safe, thus claiming the moral highground due to your virtuous and considerate driving, giving you the right to moan about down the pub!

[NoBetterName]

How refreshing to see a thread on MNet about motorcyclists that doesn't involve giving us a massive bashing .

[SharkiraSharkira]

I'm lucky in that I've never had an accident on my bike, just a few close calls.

Every rider rides defensively, we have to!

Yes some ride like idiots, they ruin it for the majority who are sensible.

Yabu op but I think you know that now!

[auntyhiro]

YABU 75% of motorcycle accidents are caused by car drivers pulling out in front of us at T junctions.

Thats why the adverts say that.

[snapcrap]

YABU but I do have sympathy with your position.

I, of course, know that bicycles and motorbikes have as much right to be on the road as cars, but I wish they weren't there! It's terrifying as a car driver when you genuinely can't see a cyclist (yes it happens while being as careful as humanly poss - there is such thing as a blind spot).

Also, I live in London, where cyclists really are arrogant and reckless and constantly jump red lights - cliche but absolutely true.

[BlurryFace]

YABU. I know someone who got hit while on her bike giving her a concussion and ongoing problems with her wrist and someone I went to primary school with came off his bike and a driver ran over his arm while he lay stunned in the road, destroying all the nerves/muscle control in it. Both times the driver was found at fault.

[midcenturymodern]

Whenever I have seen SMIDSY (Sorry mate I didn't see you) written on patients notes it's always a biker. Not once have I seen a driver in A&E who was hit by a bike who didn't see them. Bikers notice cars. Cars don't notice bikes. Not all drivers, not all the time, but the campaign is a generalisation, not a personal attack on individual drivers.

[OdinsLoveChild]

Yabvu.
I think car drivers should be required to take their bike cbt as a minimum before getting behind the wheel of a car
I am not a lunatic rider, I have completed my advanced training yet I daily encounter angry car drivers who appear to think they own the road who risk everyone's lives by making downright dangerous maneuvers.

Yes car drivers have a blind spot, thats what your head is for, turning to look over your shoulder so you dont hit anyone. You should be regularly checking the traffic around you whether you're turning or not.

I've seen police bikes lit up like a Christmas tree get hit/pulled out on because the car driver didn't see them
My friend spent 6 months in traction after being pulled out on again they just didn't see him yet he had hi vis and his lights on a bright red bike.
The issue is more people drive cars which creates a safety bubble around them. They ignore the outside world by chatting to friends and listening to music. They don't think about anyone outside of their car and they have the knowledge their car is designed to protect them. As a result of this false sense of security they make bad choices which they never consider could be deadly. Car drivers need to be reminded their cars are dangerous weapons and if that means 'think bike' adverts being broadcast then that's fine by me.

You, OP, are exactly the reason we need those adverts in the first place. May I suggest you book yourself onto a motorcycle course and have a good go at experiencing what it's really like riding on the roads. Just for good measure have my very first

[BlurryFace]

Oh, and as for bikers being inconsiderate/dangerous etc, maybe that's how it is where you are, or if you're a driver. But as a pedestrian, it's always cars that scare me. Mounting the pavement I'm walking with my DCs on, ignoring the fact I'm crossing on a zebra and stopping at the last possible second, running lights, taking bends bloody fast on tiny country lanes with no pavement and a recommended speed of 15mph where pedestrians, horses and cyclists have priority.

[ChickenVindaloo2]

YANBU. If motorcylists are sooooo vulnerable and could be killed, leaving fatherless children then maybe they shouldn't do something so bloody dangerous, huh?

[NoBetterName]

snapcrap what does cyclists jumping red lights have to do with motorcyclists?

ChickenVindaloo, "maybe they shouldn't do something so dangerous then"... Unless the motorcycle will be there for your benefit, eh? Such as police bikers, blood bikers, paramedic bikers etc etc. Sheesh and car drivers have the gall to call bikers selfish?

Motorcycling is not by itself inherently dangerous. The biggest danger is caused by other road users, some of whom deliberately use their vehicles to create situations which will put bikers at risk, others just don't pay enough attention (on their phones, changing channels on the radio, fiddling with the sat-nav, talking to their passengers, sorting out arguing children or any one of any other distractions you get in the car). On a bike you don't have those distractions - it's just you and the bike (and maybe a pillion). All your attention is therefore focused on the road and observing what is happening around you.

There's also a fundamental difference in mentality between bikers and car-drivers that most drivers will never understand. Bikers have to ride in such a way that they avoid collisions. If they don't, they will die. Drivers buy cars which will provide the most protection when they have a collision. The difference is that one group is trained to actively avoid them if they don't want to die, the other believes that collisions are inevitable and gets tied into a race to buy the largest vehicle they possibly can with the latest number of safety features. The problem with that is there will always be someone on the road with a bigger vehicle than you and then what?

As to why do we ride? Well, it's more economical, less polluting, cheaper, motorbikes can cover more miles than push-bikers, reduces congestion on our already overfilled roads, easier to get through traffic, easier to park (though more likely to be stolen) - so less getting involved in those neighbourhood parking issues, a sense of community within the biking world and some of the nicest people you will ever meet. I went on a toy run to a local hospital just before Christmas. There were over 120 bikes there taking brand new toys to the children stuck in hospital over Christmas. The amount of toys collected was unbelievable and the generosity of all the bikers involved. This was not an isolated event.

[DJBaggySmalls]

YABVU. I'm another one who thinks drivers should have to pass their CBT before being allowed to try for their car licence.

[Redsrule]

My goddaughter died because a motorcyclist drove into the passenger door whils the car was turning. Her boyfriend pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention and was bayed at by the motorcyclists family. Six weeks later his inquest revealed he had cocaine and alcohol in his system and had probably been travelling at over 100mph. No braking etc to inform police just impact injuries. The police had jumped to the conclusion the car driver was responsible and took him to court too early. It destroyed him. So OP to a certain extent I agree with you and feel motorcyclists are almost empowered to drive recklessly, not all but some.

[MissVictoria]

Both my dad and partner used to be motorcyclists and had accidents that were caused by car drivers! My dad got taken out by a car that didn't indicate, sending him across a road and he was unconscious for a good 20 minutes, not coming to until he was half way to hospital in the back of an ambulance. Partner was lucky to be able to jump off his bike as it was reversed over by a van driver at a set of lights, bike was completely wrecked. In a traffic jam my dad was shouted at by a policeman for NOT "filtering" as it is termed, by continuing down the gap between the lanes of backed up cars. My dad was wearing full leathers and a helmet but took a significant blow to the head to knock him out so long and had major road rash. Despite the driver having their friend who lived in the street she was turning in to claim they were standing on the corner and saw the whole thing happen the insurance concluded it was the car drivers error as she turned into the back of my dads bike after he had mostly passed her. He's been a professional driver his entire career, he has evaded so many accidents whilst i've been with him by watching what everyone else on the road is doing, even though the head trauma means he has no recollection of the accident i just know he absolutely wasn't at fault.
Don't tar all motorbike riders with the same brush, yeah you see a fair amount of them doing stupid idiotic stuff, but there are just as many very careful riders who follow the rules of the road.

[MotherFuckingChainsaw]

YABU

I'm a biker. They're are LOADS of safety messages aimed at us. You don't see them though, they are on the bike forums, at biker cafes, at rallies and events. All the places bikers go.

It costs money to run adverts, total waste of money putting adverts for bikers on TV or radio when only 3% of vehicles are bikes.

If you contact RoadSafetyGB you can probably find out what proportion of local authority road safety education budgets get spent on messages at bikes vs messages at car driver. I suspect spending is higher per head on bikes.

So not just BU but plain damn wrong.
You are in effect asking 'why am I seeing an advert targeted at me rather than an advert targeted at someone doing something I'll never do giving me information I'll never need'

[paddypants13]

The thing is although a lot of motorcyclists loose their lives through their own reckless behaviour it doesn't change the fact that they are very vulnerable and looking out for the vulnerable is a good thing.

My dh and duncle have both been involved in very serious accidents whilst riding motorbikes. In both cases a car driver pulled out of a side road into their path. The car drivers hadn't taken enough time to look for bikes. My uncle is a very experienced biker my dh wasn't. I have told dh that his accident was his warning and he is not getting another bike.

[Daytona79]

As a horse rider a ex motorcyclist and a car driver

Nothing comes close to being scary on the roads as being a biker

The stunts some car drivers pull would make your skin crawl.

YABVU....

[Daytona79]

Hence why now I have 2 children both me and my husband are EX bikers

The risks aren't worth it

[PinkBuffalo]

YABU, I am on high alert for bikes when driving on roundabouts, dual carriageways and everywhere else. See too many that are knocked off their bikes through my work. Always remember the safety advert from before I drove: Look, Look and Look Again.

[LakieLady]

YABVU. While there are undoubtedly some reckless and inconsiderate bikers, they tend not to stay alive and able-bodied for too long.

I don't ride myself, but have ridden pillion for most of my life (I was 4 the first time I went on the back of my late father's bike, which probably isn't even legal now). I'm very bike aware.

DP has been riding for 41 years, and has been (touch wood) accident-free for 36 of them, including doing hundreds of miles a week as a despatch rider for 13 years. Apart from a few spills in his first year, his only accident was caused by a driver hitting him changing lanes without looking (dislocated hip, 4 months in hospital, in traction). He's managed this because he seems to have developed some strange kind of ESP that tells him when a driver is likely to pull out of a side turning, switch lanes without checking their mirrors or swerve because they're texting/eating/lighting a fag/putting their lippy on.

We ride a huge Pan-European with a big fairing, two very bright DRLs and a loud exhaust, and we wear hi-vis clothing and helmets. Still drivers fail to notice us, requiring some deft manouvering of a bike that weighs a third of a tonne (and that's before we've put 4 bags of shopping in the panniers). The carelessness of the average driver, and lack of observation, never ceases to amaze me. Even if they don't see us, they should be able to hear us, ffs.

I wonder if all the reckless riding the OP seems to encounter is done by bikers desperate to get as far away as possible, for their own protection.

Pleased to see that so many horse riders find bikers considerate. We always pass horses very wide and at very low revs, and we invariably get a cheery wave of thanks, so thank you for your nice road manners.

[polarpercy]

NoBetterName sadly threads like this always include a couple of posters who harp on about cyclists running red lights. Despite the fact that it is not the majority of cyclists and when cars do it it is far more dangerous.

My husband, on motorbike was hit by a taxi that turned into him without indicating. The taxi driver then tried to claim against husband for whiplash. Husband and I have been hit by cars when out cycling and forced off the road by a bus that then drove off. So any campaign that encourages the less vulnerable road users to stop and think about the vulnerable road users is no bad thing.

[BantyCustards]

YABU. For various reasons