Norfolk Police Video

[Lord Danoir the first]

Those junctions scare the shit out of me, there's no way I'd approach one at anything like that speed.

How is a car supposed to judge distance when you're going that fast?....... The driver in this instance admitted to not seeing the bike, but at that speed you also run the risk of a car driver thinking there's room to turn and all of a sudden the bike; which was 200 yards away is embedded in his back door.

Ride slow kids, find corners.

[Alzo]

The worrying issue is that innatentive behaviour and poor judgment which caused the driver of the car to cross the path of the bike when they didn't have priority is portayed as the lesser of the evils.  It isn't the speed itself which kills, it is connecting with something else which does.

The way I see this is that most non biking car drivers have little or no concept of how quickly a bike can travel...so we as bikers must bear that responsibility...to me the speed of the biker entering this type of road layout was the biggest factor...the driver of the car did not deliberately cut across his path...he had a moment of ill judgement and lack of attention that we all have had at some point....fortunately most of us get away with a close call and a rush of adrenaline....97mph is a fair turn of speed to be going at this point in the road...he was an experienced rider and should have eased off....passed by...then back on the throttle.

[Druid]

Was he travelling at 97mph just before the collision or had trip involved speeds up to 97mph??

[Nat]

Was he travelling at 97mph just before the collision or had trip involved speeds up to 97mph??

Good point - didn't look 97 to me.

[Alzo]

Was he traveling at 97mph just before the collision or had trip involved speeds up to 97mph??

As I read it he was traveling at speeds of 97mph on the approach to the junction...what the collision speed was I don't know...as an experience Motorcyclist and one that likes to tramp on a bit I would still ease up approaching these junctions...they are by design a danger to all road users....the A9 up here is notorious and is littered with these junctions...many lives have been lost...Overhead bypasses are the only solution...but money is needed.

[tucola]

thats life for yer.. not quite sure what they are trying to get across to the bikers other than.. doesn't matter how you ride some blind twat could kill you

Terribly fucking sad for this bloke and his family, but ultimately, this ^^^

I wrote off my J2 by running into someone's front wing when they pulled out in front of me. And they actually went through a red light in order to do so. I wasn't doing more than 40mph but still didn't have time to avoid the collision because - as appears to have been the case here - they pulled out only as I was right upon them. How the fuck didn't they see me? Why the fuck did they run a red light? Who the fuck knows?

I was lucky enough to come off the bike, fly over the bonnet, bounce along the road a little bit and come to a stop without hitting anything or behing run over. But could very easily have been worse.

Yeh, yeh, you've got to ride defensively, anticipate the worst, etc, but do people really ride on the basis that every twat at a junction is going to wait until you're right upon them, then pull out? That essentially means 10mph past every junction with a vehicle at it...

Here's another one for you: what about when someone has gone into a similar central turning lane, but to turn right off the A-road? Do you ride past at 97, 60, 50 or whatever? Or slow down to 10, on the basis that they might change their mind, pull back onto the A-road without looking, and take you out? (Or even do so deliberately in order to manufacture a crash and seek to claim on your insurance - that's happened to me as well, albeit in the car - once again, not doing more than 40mph in a 60 limit to make the pass but couldn't avoid the collision - and badaboom badabing that was my Focus-ST written off - slowed me down even more passing people in this situation, I can tell you...).

Ultimately, the slower you go, the safer you are, I guess. So you slow down a bit with age, experience and a few lucky escapes there but for the grace of god go we all. But some twat will still get you in the end if it's your time.

[ash]

What this is saying is that irrespective of who has priority, the scrutiny is always going to be to mitigate against blame for the actions of the vehicle turning across the carriageway...

[Gilby104]

Ultimately, the slower you go, the safer you are..... But some twat will still get you in the end if it's your time.

Don't disagree, there will always be the odd exception but a lot (I'd say the majority of it) can be taken out of it if people chose I'd suggest. There will always be a diesel spill or a blown tyre or a homicidal maniac going for the kill but I'd suggest you can get the chances of hurting yourself down to a very low chance with the right manner of riding.

I'm talking about getting the level of risk down to a level of risk that most would find acceptable in any other walk of daily life rather than eliminate it completely (after all, we could all get hit by a bus tomorrow etc etc). 

If you don't believe that then I have no idea what any of us are doing on a motorbike in the first place.