I'm sure the op's comment was meant with good intention all joking aside. My daughter tells me often, "dad, be careful when you ride", she also backs it up with, "where in the flat are you hiding your money now??"
I agree, I have a similar feeling regarding IAM, they all seem a bit serious. The idea behind it is good though. I live in a great riding area, Lake District, Yorkshire Dales, North Pennines, and I regard motor cyclists coming the other way as one of the greatest risks I face. I also prioritise my riding for mid week when there are generally fewer idiots on the road. We are our own worst enemies. All IMHO of course.
I couldn't disagree more. Your opinion is not humble, you are not humble, no one North of Kendal is humble. Stop lying.
I too agree with the sentiment of the OP’s post however what appears to have got people’s back up is the manner in which it was delivered. The basic gist being that it is already dangerous enough out there, so take care and try not to make it an even more risky place by riding like a twat/knob/eejit*. * delete as appropriate to personal vernacular preference.
Hi John, I have always read that motorcyclists are principally involved in accidents caused by other vechicles at junctions where the motorcycle has the right of way. I have made a quick google check and most of the articles supported this, though the information was mostly 10 years or so old. There were claims by several police departments made that motorcyclists were typically at fault in accidents -notably Humberside - but these were proved totally false and reported on by MCN. Another good source was Carole Nash who as an insurer of around 20% of UK motorcyclists, found that 68% of the time the bikers were without any fault. I'd be very interested to read some figures that contradict this and show the fault to lie with the riders.
The undeniable fact is, no matter how good you are, how cautious, how observant, how well trained, there will be things that happen which you cannot anticipate. Actually, that isn't true ... you could anticipate them but logically, this would leave you unable to leave the safety of your own garage. Which of course, isn't safe either as you should have anticipated that lightning strike or meteorite. Every time you drive or ride anywhere, you are playing the odds.Training, observation, anticipation push the odds more in you favour but things happen which you cannot anticipate. Anyone disputing that is in denial, lacks imagination or both.
Bikes travelling at speed are very different t to cars. I have a theory ther are two things involved: size of ‘obstacle’ and daytime lights. Both make it difficult to gauge travelling speed. Try looking at a bike doing 50 and one doing 100 from a reasonable distance... And thirdly, car drivers aren’t expecting a bike to be travelling at relative high speed. 60 is high speed for some, but most of us may be a little higher than that, and often en that look right, left, right you have gone from not being seen to on top of them. I ride like a knob at times, may make decent progress at times too, but I admit it (no I don’t really...) and I know that everyone else, everyone, is out to kill me and behave accordingly. I may have right of way. I may not be at fault. But that won’t help me recover from broken bones, a coma or being taken away in a bag.
