Vocal Voices

About 50m before the junction I was waiting to get out of the speed limit goes from 30 to 40MPH - I was third back. The biker obviously thought the car in front was not getting up to the new limit so decided to overtake - there was nothing coming in the opposite direction. Unfortunately the car turning left out of the junction could also see that there was nothing coming from his right so pulled out.

Bike hits car and rider goes over the top and skids down the road... I can still see it in slow-motion. He appeared to be OK, if a bit shaken and with a bit of concussion, but he was talking and making sense, though obviously in pain. What surprised me was that some people were wanting to get his helmet off and get him up. We were shouting "No, leave him, give him room!".

Fortunately the police and ambulance station are less than 1km away and they were on the scene in no time. Thankfully they treated him and he was passed as 'walking wounded', but was taken off to hospital as a precaution.

That's one written off bike, one car with hardly a scratch, but a broken headlamp and indicator cluster, one broken biker, one shook up driver and plenty of shocked witnesses.

It could have been so much worse.

Nasty WM, always, with bikes.

And I do wish people would leave the helmet on the rider.

Shaky for you too , so hug on it's way xx

tonicha wrote:And I do wish people would leave the helmet on the rider.

Ton, it is one of those things us bikers always say to leave alone. Even if the rider wants to take it off we say 'No' leave it to the medics.

The lad was lucky/unlucky. A few seconds earlier he would have been and gone, as he would if the driver had looked left and waited.

That was a close thing!

I apologise to anyone here who likes motorbikes but I hate the things. I've lost two family members in motorbike accidents.

Sounds like that biker was very lucky. It also sounds like a "classic" accident, driver coming out of a turning and finding an accelerating biker coming straight at him. I suppose the car driver will be ruled to be the one at fault for not looking and being aware, but "there but for the Grace of God go most of us", I guess ......

You might be right, Ossie, we have to look both ways... but the biker also has to take into account the junction. Not an easy one for the adjudicators.

It is always a very traumatic and sobering experience to be at close quarters to a bad road accident.

I thought it was common knowledge never to attempt to move an injured person until medics arrive,
but, since I have been living in this retirement lodge, I have often had to insist that this is necessary
when an old person suffers a serious fall.

Glad you weren't involved, Frank.

When riding a bike I've always taken the approach that everyone else is an absolute lunatic (even after having proven sanity) and I'm the only sane person on the road. Therefore it is my job to avoid all the lunatics at every cost. It's sort of a defensive riding approach. Amusing to note the very first tip at the bottom. I like the other tips I always think drivers should be taught what bikers are taught so they have a clue as to where they would be.

A lot of bikers who pull out to overtake often forget that they need to be looking on both sides of the road. Yes it's the responsibility of the car to check that there is nothing oncoming in their lane from either direction (everyone but you is insane....). But that is cold comfort to the biker as he goes sailing over (hopefully, less painful than flying into), the car.

WM for those of us who have done first aid training, not taking the helmet off is elementary, just like not removing an object from a puncture wound. Sadly for the rest it's not as obvious as you would think. I do remember some "well that's obvious" thoughts when I did my first aid.

39 years on a bike this year and the only car on bike incident I've had was when my front brake failed when the van in front of me did an emergency stop instead of taking the light on Amber. We were both doing 60 and I had braking distance. Just not with only a back brake. Totally my fault as I new the brake was starting to go, but parts were almost impossible to get.

It's not just bikes, my fathers camper van was hit by someone doing exactly the same thing as he was overtaking a slower car on an open road. Had he been on a bike it could have killed him..

Parade over all that talking about bikes has convinced me I want to go put my front wheel back on my bike and check it out, experiencing the Brussels "car lunatics" first hand. It's the first city I've ever ridden a bike in where the drivers actually drive into you when you are filtering....

Suff wrote:WM for those of us who have done first aid training, not taking the helmet off is elementary, just like not removing an object from a puncture wound...

RAF trained First Aider and Shelter Marshall, me.

It is why I and others were shouting to leave him alone as we were getting out of our cars. By all means do ABC and recovery position if absolutely essential, otherwise keep them warm and offer comfort.

Thinking back on it now I find it hard to apportion blame. The driver should have made sure it was clear both ways and not just from his right before pulling out. Then again the biker should have not been so impatient as to overtake directly before a T junction to his right - not to gain 50m and 10MPH.

It will go down as a knock-for-knock and raised insurance for them both.