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?

I used to work on an orthopaedic ward that specialises in pelvic surgery. A large percentage of patients were motorcyclists who'd been knocked off their bikes, usually T-boned.

But your comment about traffic police is ill thought out. Thanks to government cutbacks there's a massive shortage of them, just like all other specialist police roles, so they're already stretched.

But your comment about traffic police is ill thought out. Thanks to government cutbacks there's a massive shortage of them, just like all other specialist police roles, so they're already stretched

Well I was being a bit cross-cultural there, as I and my friend live in Mexico City. I don't know if there is a shortage of traffic police here, but that is the only thing that will make motorcyclists and drivers be more careful.

But I do think the food delivery services should be made to act more responsably too. They give short deadlines and pay their couriers very low wages or commissions.

It's fine saying, "something must be done" but what are you suggesting?

The tiered licence system and training requirements are quite demanding and intended to stop young and inexperienced riders from getting on powerful bikes too soon or too young. That's a vast improvement on how it used to be. Years ago, the examiner would stand on the pavement and watch you ride round the block a few times!! Now they follow you and watch your every move. You really can't skimp on the training these days. Unfortunately, riders are much more vulnerable on two wheels and much more exposed in the event of an accident.

^^This

The objective in all forms of driving is "Not to be involved in other people's accidents"

Motorbike, car, us, lorry, pedestrian it makes no difference, all the other road users are human, and humans make mistakes, it is unreasonable to expect them not to.

People say, its the fault of user A not looking, but it's also the fault of user B not acting defensively, and expecting user A not to have seen them, and not expecting the million other unexpected things that happen on the road because the other person is at fault.

A friend of mine gave up riding after a similar accident, although she was doing 40 in a 40. It was a perfectly clear, bright day, excellent visibility, a dead straight road, she was wearing hi viz and the driver reckoned she "just didn't see" her coming. Amazingly, apart from some pretty bad bruising, her only injuries were 2 broken thumbs from braking so hard right up to the moment she hit the roof of the car.

The woman who pulled out in front of her got points and a fine for driving without due care and attention, and her car was written off because the roof was badly dented where my friend hit it. I think that was pretty lenient, she could have bloody well killed her.

My late DP rode bikes for over 40 years, and was a despatch rider for years, so did a lot of miles. Apart from a few spills in the first few months, he had 2 accidents in all that time: one when a car went into the back of him when he was stationary at a red light, and one when a driver changed lanes without checking his mirrors, leading to DP getting a dislocated hip and spending months in hospital (I don't count the time when someone opened the door of a parked mini in a narrow Soho street as DP passed as an accident, DP stuck his foot out and took the door of the mini off). We have several friends who are lifelong motorcyclists with excellent safety records.

I don't deny that there are bikers who ride like twats, especially the middle-aged, born-again bikers with "all the gear and no idea", and the odd one like my DF, who should never been allowed out on the road on a push bike, never mind a motorcycle, and was a dreadful driver in a car. But most of the near misses or accidents I see are where a driver has failed to properly check their mirrors or look over their shoulder, or has simply failed to see them (including a fatal one that I witnessed on my way to the station one morning, that was dreadful).

Better driver awareness would be the best way to reduce deaths imo, although I'd probably support a restriction on riding the most powerful bikes until someone's held a full bike licence for a few years.

You should be checking your mirrors a hell of a lot more than that. You're not a good a driver as you think your are.

@LakieLady

Better driver awareness would be the best way to reduce deaths imo, although I'd probably support a restriction on riding the most powerful bikes until someone's held a full bike licence for a few years.

I agree there needs to be much more done about driver awareness. We have a handful of motorbike deaths ever year within just a few miles radius of here (and the amount is increasing). There are long straight roads that attract bike riders especially the "twats" LakieLady mentions at weekends - speed cameras have been set up due to them treating the roads like their own personal race tracks. You do see some idiotic riding, but most of the deaths seem not to be the fault of the riders but usually of a car driver. We see these sad stories all the time in the local news.

Righto...