Motorbikes and fatal accidents

[EmmaDilemma5]

The vast majority of fatal accidents I read about involve a motorbike (and often a lorry).

Motorcyclists seem so vulnerable on the roads. AIBU to think something should be done about this?

I'm not trying to victim blame, but I often see motorcyclists weaving around the queues, speeding ridiculous speeds on motorways and generally not abiding by the usual rules of the road.

It's a bit like XL bullies. When you hear of a fatal dog attack, you can almost guarantee it includes a Bully. Same with fatal road accidents, it seems nearly each time it involves a motorbike.

AIBU to think, for their sakes, those of their families and for those traumatised by killing cyclists, that something needs to be addressed?

We're rural and Wednesday summer nights round here are "bike night" - they meet at local pubs and go off on rides. The main road next to the village has a 30mph through it but you can hear the engines nearly 2 miles away. There are regular accidents, sadly usually fatal because there's an agricultural college and lots of young inexperienced car drivers on the local roads.

My Dad adored his Honda bike but I must admit to being highly relieved when he decided he was getting too old for it all. I always made him ring me when he got home as it worried me sick.

Dh had a motorbike when we first met. The amount of people that 'didn't see him' was really shocking. This was just driving down the road and people would pull out in front of him etc. Nothing to do with his driving or his speed. Just car drivers not looking. A car smashed into us once when I was on the back. Fortunately neither of us were hurt. We were on a roundabout and she changed lanes on top of us. It was really eye opening as to just how many people drive with their head up their arses.

I got overtaken by one today, on a busy 30mph town centre road, that was narrowed at one point because of road works, by a bloke with L plates on his bike, holding on with one hand and the other holding what looked like a duvet set with another under his arm! I couldn’t believe my eyes!

The biggest thing to be done is to make all drivers bike aware. Both of the biker deaths I know about were driver error on the part of the other party and their actions resulted in the death of the motorbike rider.

My late partner rode bikes for 43 years, including 15 years as a motorcycle courier. Apart from a couple of minor spills when he was learning, he had one accident in all that time, when a car decided to change lanes and didn't check his mirrors, so didn't see that DP was in the right-turn lane.

His brother still rides at 62, has ridden regularly since he was 16, and hasn't had an accident for over 40 years (and again, has only had minor ones). Several of their motorcycling friends have similar safety records.

Motorcyclists are more vulnerable because they aren't encased in a metal shell, and the few who are reckless enough to do 150mph on a motorway are stupid imo. Weaving in and out of traffic is perfectly legitimate and one of the reasons why bikes don't get held up, and it is incumbent on drivers to check their mirrors before pulling out or changing lanes.

The best way to reduce motorcyclist fatalities is for drivers to be more bike aware. This especially applies to people like the driver who pulled out in front of my friend, who was wearing full hi-vis gear, doing 40 on a 40mph road in perfect visibility. Thanks to her protective clothing, friend's only injuries were 2 broken thumbs, which she got from braking so hard.

I rode a bike from aged 16-25. While I was studying, I had a (very well paid) part time job as a courier in London.

It is perfectly possible to ride a m/bike safely although it requires riders to slow down, be aware of all the traffic around them and to pay attention to tyre treads, brake pads, lights etc.

Bikers are vulnerable and extra caution is needed but speed and poor maintenance are usually the issues. You do obviously get the occasional idiot in a car or lorry but that applies to all traffic.

There is also a benefit for female riders. For 7 years I travelled by bike at night in central London, and was never once hassled by a man. 😊

Massively unreasonable!!

I ride a motorbike, and keep to the speed limit. I weave through slow traffic very carefully

I used to be a ( female) motorbike instructor..they do have to have training off the road and on.
Encouraged to wear reflective clothing...
Most motorbike accident caused to bikers are because car drivers didn't " see" them.. even in their bright reflective clothing.
Car drivers should be on higher alert and be made more aware to look out for bikers when learning to drive.

I'm sure this has alredy been said, but nobody is forcing people to get on motorbikes, most bikers enjoy getting on their bike, actively choosing to do so! Let them ride, drive aware

That’s dreadful treatment by the doctor. Would he say the same to smokers with lung cancer and alcoholics with liver failure? I hope not.

Bikes are allowed to weave in and out of traffic- it’s called filtering.
Problem is car drivers not looking out for bikes. Teach your child now to look out for bikes- it will be a habit they’ll keep for a lifetime.

It's actually not true that cyclists are more likely to harm pedestrians than themselves. The number of collisions with pedestrians is incredibly low, and the number of deaths is only 1 or 2 a year. Obviously every death is a tragedy and I am not excusing bad cyclists at all, but they are far more likely to injure themselves than a pedestrian. And inattentive pedestrians are a genuine danger to cyclists. I know of a cyclist who died when a pedestrian stepped in front of them without looking, they hit their head and were killed.

As a careful cyclist, I am at risk daily from bad driving, poor cycling and careless pedestrians. There are inattentive and selfish road users of every type. Ideally, there would be consequences for all reckless behaviour on our roads, but in practice many people know they can break the law with impunity and just do whatever is easiest for them.

I used to ride a motorbike. One day a guy went through a crossroads red light when I was getting ready to go as my light was green.

I road the bike home and then sold it. I knew then it did not matter how good I was on the road. One idiot could kill me.

I still like them and ride them on holiday. Motorbikes are brilliant for going to difficult to reach places and mountain ranges where other vehicles cannot go. And there is a lot of freedom and friendship on those roads.

But never again in the UK. I had a lot of men abuse me because well... I was faster than them. Ridiculous

Funnily enough, reading your post made me realise I can’t really remember the last time I saw a motorcyclist riding really dangerously. It seems like something I used to see quite often but less so now. @Testina’s post is interesting and seems to suggest that those who ride motorcycles now are safer than those who rode motorbikes in the past. Whether that’s because they themselves are riding more carefully or because car drivers are being more careful around them, I don’t know, probably a bit of both.

I had a lot of men abuse me because well... I was faster than them

unusual to hear of so many men going below the speed limit .

Being aware is not the solution just a mitigation.

IMHO the issue is relative speeds - the reason cyclists, scooters on pavements 'frighten' pedestrians is relative speed - stopping suddenly, moving sideways is not much of a problem for other pedestrians but is a gotcha when cyclists/scooters are nipping along the pavement.

The same thing happens with bikes/cars - drivers don't expect other vehicles to be moving significantly faster than "traffic", bikes often do. Bikes 'weaving' through traffic at speed are unexpected therefore frightening. (not necessarily for self but because of what might have happened)

A response to being frightened is often anger - hence car/bike aggro.

It is a UK issue I think. Riding in Europe drivers were very courteous, probably because many of them started out on mopeds or similar.

When I rode in London however that was not what happened! Lots of aggression.

YABU

I used to be a biker, and was very sensible on the road. You have to be, as you can't trust the idiots in cars to be awake, let alone see you. Hence the 'Think Bike!' campaigns.

I can no longer ride, and really miss those days.

There are idiots on the roads of all persuasions. Pedestrians who cross without looking, cyclists who jump lights, bikers who speed, car drivers who pull out without looking, HGV drivers who use mobile phones.

The important thing is that all road users need to acknowledge that there will always be dickheads around, and we all need to use the roads as carefully and defensively as practical. Realistically, this means being aware and (for everyone other than pedestrians) staying within the speed limit. Being slow gives you more time to react to the unexpected and makes a collision less likely to be fatal.

Some people choose to take more risks - if they hurt themselves well that's on them and if they hurt others they need to be in prison. Ideally the roads would be better policed, but I think that's unrealistic in the current climate.

How many car drivers or lorry drivers do you see on mobile phones, eating & drinking, therefore not paying full attention

How many car drivers do you read on here who are anxious drivers

How many drivers do you see going too fast in very bad weather

I rode motorbikes before I owned a car. It makes you very aware of potential dangers

Well they do tend to appear out of nowhere at something approaching the speed of light. I saw an accident last year. I was driving along a country road, there were several cars in front of me, and a motorcyclist overtook the lot of us at high speed, totally misjudged the next bend and shot right off the road and into a ditch. Entirely their own fault.

I still like bikers as people. They are very nice ime. Good times even if it was dangerous.

I stopped riding a bike after my second truly hairsbreath away from death experience - most bikers will recognise the 'Ah, I'm getting off now' moment when a van is charging towards you on your side of the road and there's nowhere for you to go other than sideways or the moment you're suddenly looking up at the sky and performing a discrete self test starting with 'can I feel my toes?' to the sounds of 'Sorry, mate, didn't see you there' - along with the staring up at a sump because the driver behind you at the roundabout had seen you, stopped behind you, watched you waiting for a gap in the traffic, looked away and then decided to floor it directly through you because they forgot you were still in front of them going at a speed of precisely 0 mph.

Walking (well, limping) out of A&E later one afternoon to wait for a bus with a fractured 2nd cervical vertebrae led me to believe that I'd had All of the Luck in the World and it was wise to not push it any further. The permanently numb two fingers and half my palm on the left are a useful reminder of just how bloody lucky I was, as is the way I still topple over sideways if I try to put a sock on whilst standing up.

Drivers are frequently utter morons with a complete allergy to mirrors and looking anywhere other than where they want to be. And some are outright murderous.

@NeverDropYourMooncup so sorry for your experiences. I really hope people read what you've written here and take note. You've described it exceptionally well.

@Nothing2SpendOn “How many car drivers do you read on here who are anxious drivers”

This is one of my MN bugbears. Then get some bloody lessons! It’s like it’s perfectly acceptable. Especially motorways. If you’re too scared to be on a motorway then get off the road completely. But better still - take motorway lessons, and sort yourself out.