Pedestrians cross the road without looking all the time. They step off the pavement into the highway completely oblivious to the traffic, or to the risks, and seem happy to place their lives and limbs into the hands of random drivers and riders. I see it every day of the week - I expect we all do. And I think it has got worse down the years, with phones now ubiquitous. It is our responsibility to protect the lives of people too careless to protect their own. So no, if the driver had been a pedestrian he might well have blundered across the road without looking just the same.
It is not a gory video, a sad end to it yes. Preventable? Indeed. Actions changed by either party could have had a positive effect, or maybe not. These consequences shown on the video indicate the risks of speeding when there are a number of unknowns on the road. Do it at your own risk, it can be enjoyable and was for me in the past.
I held off watching the video until today and found it very upsetting to watch. I was expecting to see someone riding badly but he was clearly a very experienced and capable rider. He had no time, or options and I think the outcome would have probably been the same if he'd been doing 60mph. It's not though about designating blame but getting a powerful message across. I think the video should be watched as it reminds us how easily a car driver's mistake can change or end a biker's life. I will get my two teenage sons to watch it also. I am fortunate in having had some great one to one training by a police biker and often cringe at some bikers lack of roadcraft. But am also quite guilty of underestimating risks on occasion. The fact is that despite our headlights, cars either just don't see us, or completely misjudge the speed we are approaching. All we can do is maximise their chance to see us and anticipate risks as best we can. David's mother should be thanked for allowing the video to be made and publicised. It may well save lives. I won't forget easily. RIP David.
Well I've just watched the 40 odds seconds of what's likely a cut down version for the TV and must say that IMO it's clearly the car drivers fault. Yes he may well have been over the speed limit but the view the car driver has is more than ample, it's straight road for gods sake and a clear day, if he'd have been doing 65mph you can argue that he and the car would have been in different places but equally I feel the car would've turned whether he was doing 50,60 or 100mph because they simply didn't fucking look properly. He overtakes the car and is then on the road himself heading towards his death but with plenty of distance still 'active' for the car driver to check before it turns, but it doesn't. Maybe he shouldn't have overtaken approaching an intersection of road, but he did and the punishment doesn't fit the crime. I'm afraid this says more to me about the shite state of uk driving ability and lack of continued awareness campaigns by the government to protect bikers than it does for 'speeding bikers', if that makes sense. Again yes he was speeding, but I honestly don't see that changing the outcome. What if that was me approaching at 60mph? Would I survive? Probably not I assume, should I be scared off the road because of shite car drivers that have very low skill and awareness levels? NO. I've been thinking a lot about this recently and how the government could use tv advertising more to help people gain better road awareness, not only for the protection of bikers but for other stuff like motorway lane hoggers, people who don't indicate, you know, the everyday experiences you see whether in car or on bike. IMO the highways agency/government should get free advertising slots once or twice per night on each and every channel aired within the uk. Not for propaganda , but for education stuff that actually helps the tax payers of the country. The country need to see this sort of stuff but not bias towards 'speeding biker', they need to see awareness videos regularly, they need to SEE bikers, be aware we're out there. You ride over in Germany or France and car drivers simply know you are there and act accordingly, in the UK they don't have a fucking clue in the majority of cases. They also need to see how motorways are managed within europe and how people simply indicate to overtake and then back to the inner lanes, we waste billions on motorway widening and have contra flows all over the country, how come the majority of europe can manage two lane motorways better than we can three lane? It's because we have more shit drivers makes my piss boil this stuff
If the speed of 97mph is accurate, that's about 150 feet per second........quite a long distance in that small amount of time it takes to check mirrors etc.
Why do we think it's ok to travel faster on a bike than in a car. Most wouldn't dream of doing nearly a 100 in a car but ok on a bike, strange.
Yes but the car pulls across him doesn't it, the very very last thing you should do before moving across traffic is to check oncoming, looking in your mirrors before you move forward is simply a lack of skill and a show of blatant stupidity. What benefit is the car going to gain by looking in its mirrors when pulling across oncoming traffic, it should be gauging distance and speed from all oncoming traffic before making sure there's enough time to go, nothing else matters especially in the circumstances that car was in at the time. I personally don't blame the biker at all, yes he was speeding but it's such a blatant bit of shit driving the car driver should,and deserves to take full responsibility
Well, I ride like a bit of a bell-end so I'm gonna try to slow down a bit, not just for my sake but for the sake of my family. I think that was the point of releasing the clip, not so that armchair observers could try to apportion blame!
Put the shits right up me! Same thing happened to me 2 years ago, fortunately at much lower speed and with a different out come. I would never, never, never go that fast through/past a junction! RIP
I don't agree with that, I switched from fast cars to bikes. Plenty of car drivers go for a hoon just like bikers. I've been faster in a car than I ever have on a bike.
A couple of points from me... 1. I agree entirely with Arquebus about the car driver's observations. What are we all taught to do just before we turn? That last look over your shoulder... It's called a "life-saver". It's called that for a reason - becuase it could prevent you turning into something that is overtaking you... 2. As I said in my first post on this thread, there is no reason what-so-ever for the car driver to expect a bike to be travelling towards him at 97mph in a 60 limit. If he did see the bike he would have had great dificulty judging its speed - that's a proven fact with bikes that have headlights on - and given that he might have guessed it was doing maybe 65, maybe 70 max. There is absolutely no reason for him to think it would be travelling faster than that. 3. The car driver made an error of judgement, based on his own experience and knowledge. The bike rider put himself in a very dangerous position - he made a massive error of judgement and sadly paid the price. 4. Given that so many people on here are so keen to blame the car driver ( and I guessing that is mostly because they don't want to admit or address the failings in their own riding ) it's amazing that so many people decried me when I suggested compulsary regular re-testing. Lots of people are happy to say that the standard of driving in the UK is terrible - but my suggestion of an obvioius way of improving it was almost universally critisised... ( See the "100 year old drivers" thread ). Funny how opinions change with the situation...
Once more cars on the road have DRL's - and it is quickly becoming the norm as newer cars are all fitted with them - expect this type of accident to happen more often. The headlight of a bike is easily lost amongst all the other lights on the road and becomes difficult to identify. Did the car that this rider overtake have DRL's on? Is that why the driver turning across the road didn't see or clearly identify the bike? Who know, but it's a possibility. The lesson here should be - as I tried to teach everyone in my eight years as a motorcycle instructor - always expect other road users to do something stupid or dangerous, because every now and again one of them will. It makes no difference at all who was in the right or who's fault it actually was when you're bouncing down the tarmac...
