Motorbike incident

[cjb]

I have never met anyone who would do such a thing deliberately.

Thank you for answering my question.

 

[Clive Atton]

I find it difficult to believe that many motorcyclists would risk a major high speed accident just to frighten a cyclist, would you gamble a possibly ten grand motorbike, increased insurance premium, license, personal injury etc just for such pathetic 'fun'? Modern motorcycles are very quiet and the speed disparity is often sufficient to make you jump as they pass. To expect a motorbike to follow you at 10mph until the other lane is clear to overtake is utterly ridiculous. If you can't cycle in a fairly straight line ie anticipating drain covers, potholes etc and have to avoid them by swerving rather then gently adjusting your line so giving other road users ample opportunity to give you room then perhaps you shouldn't be on the road at all.

There are *rseholes on the road in all shapes and forms. You only have to walk 100 yards through any town and you will seem many *rseholes on bicycles and they don't have the decency to be on the road, 'cos they are cycling on the pavement with utter disregard for pedestrians.


I type this as a cyclist/ motorcyclist and driver (and never had an accident in thirty years so I'm a self righteous arrogant b*stard who is definitely right about this topic!).

 

[Jezston]

I find it difficult to believe that many motorcyclists would risk a major high speed accident just to frighten a cyclist, would you gamble a possibly ten grand motorbike, increased insurance premium, license, personal injury etc just for such pathetic 'fun'?

Why not? People do it in cars all the time.

 

[adds21]

Why not? People do it in cars all the time.

Do they? IMO, almost all the bad driving I see is just that, bad driving. It's not got anything to do with trying to "scare" me, as a cyclist (or for pathetic 'fun').

 

[Mad at urage]

I find it difficult to believe that many motorcyclists would risk a major high speed accident just to frighten a cyclist, would you gamble a possibly ten grand motorbike, increased insurance premium, license, personal injury etc just for such pathetic 'fun'? Modern motorcycles are very quiet and the speed disparity is often sufficient to make you jump as they pass. To expect a motorbike to follow you at 10mph until the other lane is clear to overtake is utterly ridiculous. If you can't cycle in a fairly straight line ie anticipating drain covers, potholes etc and have to avoid them by swerving rather then gently adjusting your line so giving other road users ample opportunity to give you room then perhaps you shouldn't be on the road at all.

There are *rseholes on the road in all shapes and forms. You only have to walk 100 yards through any town and you will seem many *rseholes on bicycles and they don't have the decency to be on the road, 'cos they are cycling on the pavement with utter disregard for pedestrians.


I type this as a cyclist/ motorcyclist and driver (and never had an accident in thirty years so I'm a self righteous arrogant b*stard who is definitely right about this topic!).

So you believe that expecting a (motor)cyclist to comply with the HC is ridiculous? Do you understand what the HC means by "vulnerable road users"?

Do they? IMO, almost all the bad driving I see is just that, bad driving. It's not got anything to do with trying to "scare" me, as a cyclist (or for pathetic 'fun').

So the ones that slap cyclists, lean out and shout as they pass, spit at and/or throw things at cyclists as they pass are "just" bad driving? Certainly most close passes are simply that, but I (and others on this forum) have experienced all of these behaviours. I suspect there is more than "just" bad driving going on here and (as there are nasty people and nice people using all forms of road transport) I suspect that some motorcyclists fall into this category, when they pass.

Passing at six times the cyclist's speed and in the same lane, often is "just" bad driving, I agree. I've seen people knocked off by the slipstream though and "just" bad driving does not excuse the behaviour.

 

[adds21]

So the ones that slap cyclists, lean out and shout as they pass, spit at and/or throw things at cyclists as they pass are "just" bad driving? Certainly most close passes are simply that, but I (and others on this forum) have experienced all of these behaviours. I suspect there is more than "just" bad driving going on here and (as there are nasty people and nice people using all forms of road transport) I suspect that some motorcyclists fall into this category, when they pass.

No, that's more that just bad driving, which is why i said "almost all". The point is, it's very easy to get paranoid when on a bicycle, and think that most bad passes are done for "pathetic fun", when in fact they're not, they're simply because the drive is incompetent.

Not that a little paranoia is necessary a bad thing when cycling.

 

[Clive Atton]

Mad@urage, What do you ride, drive?

 

[Mad at urage]

Started on a pedal cycle: In London that is (IMO) all that is needed to get anywhere within about an hour.

Got on a m'cycle late teens, rode dispatch for a while, continued on m'cycle for several years longer. Eventually got rid of those as cycle-commuting was nearly as quick and gave more benefit (fitness); got a car licence as it was useful in employment. Having owned a couple of 1950s and 1960 sports cars and a couple of 4WDs (still have one), I currently drive a company Prius most of the time that I'm not cycling.

Why?

 

[Clive Atton]

Why not? People do it in cars all the time.

But, for a motorcyclist to risk collision with a cyclist it is likely that both will come off very badly. In a car there is a sense of isolation from other road users which makes a close pass to a cyclist seem rather inconsequential ie as long as you give the a little room ie a couple of feet that seems enough to many drivers. If a lane is ten feet wide, there is still enough room for a motorcycle to pass albeit close to or on the white line, while giving the cyclist several feet of space - how much elbow room do you need?

I also suggest that any of the posters on this forum who think a vehicle should follow them ad infinitum until there is a completely clear oncoming lane available to enable an overtake do not drive cars or ride motorcycles, so are posting from a standpoint of ignorance (provocative I know but how about an admission by everyone here what their experience is?)

 

[cjb]

As the OP, I have never heard the term "stealth bombing", but that would seem to be a fair description of what I have experienced on more than one occasion on quiet, yet long and fairly straight, country roads.

 

[Mad at urage]

But, for a motorcyclist to risk collision with a cyclist it is likely that both will come off very badly. In a car there is a sense of isolation from other road users which makes a close pass to a cyclist seem rather inconsequential ie as long as you give the a little room ie a couple of feet that seems enough to many drivers. If a lane is ten feet wide, there is still enough room for a motorcycle to pass albeit close to or on the white line, while giving the cyclist several feet of space - how much elbow room do you need?

I also suggest that any of the posters on this forum who think a vehicle should follow them ad infinitum until there is a completely clear oncoming lane available to enable an overtake do not drive cars or ride motorcycles, so are posting from a standpoint of ignorance (provocative I know but how about an admission by everyone here what their experience is?)

I would suggest that you are wrong.

 

[Jezston]

But, for a motorcyclist to risk collision with a cyclist it is likely that both will come off very badly. In a car there is a sense of isolation from other road users which makes a close pass to a cyclist seem rather inconsequential ie as long as you give the a little room ie a couple of feet that seems enough to many drivers. If a lane is ten feet wide, there is still enough room for a motorcycle to pass albeit close to or on the white line, while giving the cyclist several feet of space - how much elbow room do you need?

I also suggest that any of the posters on this forum who think a vehicle should follow them ad infinitum until there is a completely clear oncoming lane available to enable an overtake do not drive cars or ride motorcycles, so are posting from a standpoint of ignorance (provocative I know but how about an admission by everyone here what their experience is?)

Not only do cyclists think that, but the law implicitly states that is exactly what drivers should do.

 

[totallyfixed]

It can be difficult to judge the speed of a motorbike as a cyclist because the noise makes them seem faster, however, the vast majority of motorcyclists that I see when I am driving are breaking the speed limit, and often by a considerable margin. It's now become something of a joke between myself and Mrs TF when we see a motorbike obeying the speed limit and riding sensibly. At the weekend we were competing in a hill climb on our bikes up Snake Pass and were passed over the course of the morning by what seemed like over a hundred motorbikes coming out of Glossop nearly all of them travelling at high speeds. Not a comfortable experience for the cyclists.

 

[Clive Atton]

It can be difficult to judge the speed of a motorbike as a cyclist because the noise makes them seem faster, however, the vast majority of motorcyclists that I see when I am driving are breaking the speed limit, and often by a considerable margin. It's now become something of a joke between myself and Mrs TF when we see a motorbike obeying the speed limit and riding sensibly. At the weekend we were competing in a hill climb on our bikes up Snake Pass and were passed over the course of the morning by what seemed like over a hundred motorbikes coming out of Glossop nearly all of them travelling at high speeds. Not a comfortable experience for the cyclists.

But they only have two wheels so are permitted to travel twice the limit, I believe........

 

[Bobtoo]

With block booking and intensive courses it's possible to get a full motorcycle licence (or car licence for that matter) with only a few hours of tuition/experience, and quite a lot of people do.

Whatever the vehicle you are piloting, if you are leaving other road users reeling in your wake you're doing it wrong.