Colleague's motorbike prang

[661-Pete]

After several weeks off work (but part of that was holiday) my colleague Dave finally returned today, and I got the correct story at last! Apparently it was his fault which he freely admitted, he drove his m/c up onto the pavement to get to a parking place, without looking - the pavement was shared cycle/ped path and there was a cyclist coming along it, legitimately, who couldn't stop in time. The cyclist was unhurt and neither bike was damaged, Dave did the damage to his ribs by falling heavily on his own padlock. He's off painkillers now and seeing the humour in the affair. End of story, I think.

Confirms my belief that shared cycle/ped paths are not a very good thing, especially for speed! But this was a rather unusual occurrence.

 

[BentMikey]

Oh dear, well I'm very glad he's alright now.

 

[yello]

Dave did the damage to his ribs by falling heavily on his own padlock.

Do you know if he was he carrying the padlock?

I've seen a few bikers that do this - wrap chain and padlock around their waist or across the shoulder.

 

[vernon]

Do you know if he was he carrying the padlock?

I've seen a few bikers that do this - wrap chain and padlock around their waist or across the shoulder.

It's a foolish thing to do. There's a lot of damage done by chains and locks to motorcyclists who are unlucky enough to have an 'off'.

 

[slugonabike]

Glad to hear that your colleague is now well enough to be back at work, and that the cyclist was unhurt.

 

[2Loose]

Cheers for the update Pete.

He needs a cargo net to keep his chain on the pillion seat, wrapping it around the rider can hurt a lot in this kind of situation...but then he knows that now, doesn't he!

 

[HLaB]

Thanks for the update Pete, I'm glad there was no serious damage to anyone.

 

[jonny jeez]

After several weeks off work (but part of that was holiday) my colleague Dave finally returned today, and I got the correct story at last! Apparently it was his fault which he freely admitted, he drove his m/c up onto the pavement to get to a parking place, without looking - the pavement was shared cycle/ped path and there was a cyclist coming along it, legitimately, who couldn't stop in time. The cyclist was unhurt and neither bike was damaged, Dave did the damage to his ribs by falling heavily on his own padlock. He's off painkillers now and seeing the humour in the affair. End of story, I think.

Confirms my belief that shared cycle/ped paths are not a very good thing, especially for speed! But this was a rather unusual occurrence.

Sorry pete, with all due respect I fail to see how the cyclepath being shared had anything to do with your mate Dave chosing to ride across it...

How does this confirm any "belief" in the use of shared lanes, its like saying "i knew microwaves weren't safe, mine burst into flames when I threw it on the bonfire"


am I missing something in your description here?

 

[fossyant]

Glad he's OK.... busted ribs...soft ar$e - I was back riding within a week.....still hurts now on occasions, and I did them in April...... these motorbikers aren't as hard as us cyclists....

 

[thomas]

+1 to all the shared use comments...and tell him to get a back box or something. A few bungee cords or something....you can get them free with some motorcycle magazines (apparently - I just stole my Dad's free ones )

 

[Norm]

Sorry pete, with all due respect I fail to see how the cyclepath being shared had anything to do with your mate Dave chosing to ride across it...

How does this confirm any "belief" in the use of shared lanes, its like saying "i knew microwaves weren't safe, mine burst into flames when I threw it on the bonfire"


am I missing something in your description here?

Pure conjecture here, but...

I think that it's because the guy on the motorbike maybe just saw it as a pavement, so didn't allow for anyone to be travelling along it at anything over walking speed. And maybe that the chap who was cycling along it might have considered themselves immune from danger from road vehicles so didn't anticipate someone blocking his path.

If it was clearly a cycle lane, the biker might have looked for a bike. If it was a bike lane on the road, the cyclist might have had an escape route. Someone riding at speed on a pavement has few options if something does appear across their path.

As for wearing a lock as a bandolier, that is not a clever thing to do but, sometimes, we need to learn from the mistakes of others as life is too short to make them all ourselves.

 

[661-Pete]

Sorry pete, with all due respect I fail to see how the cyclepath being shared had anything to do with your mate Dave chosing to ride across it...

I think that it's because the guy on the motorbike maybe just saw it as a pavement, so didn't allow for anyone to be travelling along it at anything over walking speed.

I think Norm has the answer here (sorry been away from computers most of the day). Anyway my colleague fully acknowledged he was to blame, so that should be the end of it.

I was thinking, while not wanting to rubbish all shared paths out-of-hand (after all I do use one or two); the main problem is cyclist-pedestrian interaction problems, naturally, especially when cyclists are going too fast and some pedestrians, elderly or children, are less alert. There is always a possibility of vehicles crossing the path anyway, to get to a private drive: perfectly legal. Dave was crossing the path to get to a parking place. And furthermore these paths are often obstructed by street furniture or trees - the ones in Brighton are notorious!

I would certainly say, maximum 8mph on all shared use paths at all times. For most cyclists this will be too slow an average for normal progress.

 

[661-Pete]

As far as 'wearing' the padlock is concerned, don't think that Dave hasn't already received plenty of suggestions on that topic, from all quarters! He's 'considering his options': apparently it was his wife who insisted he carry around a heavy padlock and chain, it seems the normal locking on his bike isn't 'secure' enough...

 

[battered]

Normal locking never is enough on a m-bike. They get stolen for a pastime. Imagine if your bike was worth 10x what it is and there was a heavy demand for used parts following incidents. Any m-bike parked in an urban area and not locked to something immovable will generally disappear within a year.

As for m-bikers not being that hard, you may not be old enough to remember Barry Sheene. After a horrifying crash in which he broke I don't know how many bones, he went back to Cadwell Park *6 weeks later* to race in the next round of the championship. He had to be lifted on and off the bike, but he completed the race. I was impressed as a small boy, I am awestruck now at what he did. Not for nothing was he everybody's boyhood hero in the 70s.

 

[661-Pete]

Certainly I remember Barry Sheene - maybe not 'my hero' personally, but he was definitely in and out of the headlines during his career (sadly he died quite young - of natural causes). And I remember that fearful crash of his at the time it happened, it was all over the TV News. But he was put together again with nuts and bolts, somehow.