Think Bike

[Hyrule]

You guys might have seen this. Be warned shows footage of a fatal collision.

Long story short: Motorcyclist doing 97mph in a 60mph zone. Clio pulls infront.

You can guess what happens next. I feel both were at fault here, but hey, just sad it ended with one person losing their life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq2xStb0R-c#t=177

[jeebowhite]

Jeez louise.... That was harsh, I felt myself being thrown in that.

He shouldn't have been going that fast but the driver also should have thought more...

[troy45]

As a former bike rider myself I had my fair share of cars pulling out on me, but once you start busting the speed limit by a fair amount you've got to take account that some drivers just won't expect you to be going anywhere near as fast as you are.

I've not watched the video tbh, just sorry for all parties involved - family and friends of the rider plus the car driver has been through really awful experience too :(

[Hyrule]

Aye true on all accounts, the bikers mother asked for the helmet cam video to be released hopefully to show drivers and bikers the devastating effects of speeding.

[Andy.B1971]

In 2008 my pal was pulling out of a junction in Brighton and half way across the road the front of his car was as good as split in two, bits everywhere he had been hit by a speeding bike unfortunately the rider was pronounced dead at the scene some 75-100 yards further up the road , We were told it was only his one piece suit that kept his body together, he was a local garage owner and known for his crazy riding, We all have speeded but surely that's what track days are for .

In the video you can really feel your heart pound when he can see that car start to turn and he realises what's going to happen

Unfortunately he isn't the first and certainly wont be the last.

Utter Respect for all the services that have to deal with these tragedies !!!!

[Stoney871]

A motorbike travelling at legal speeds is difficult to see.

A speeding bike is pretty much impossible to see.

The ability for the driver pulling out to see the rider in time and make the relevant calculations as to whether they pull out or not are severely affected.

I deal with many incidents where speed was a major contributing factor and unfortunately my ability to empathise with someone who basically signs their own death certificate by going at stupid speeds is greatly reduced.

[Stoney871]

As a P.S, I used to ride bikes until I was wiped out by a car doing an illegal u-turn on a 50mph road so I know what it feels like to know whats coming but having no escape avenues available.

9 broken bones including jaw and pelvis caused by the impact and sumersaulting over the car.

The following rehab put me out of action for 5 months, the front wheel of my bike was back by the rear wheel.

Suffice to say, no more bikes after that.

[Lenny]

A motorbike travelling at legal speeds is difficult to see.

A speeding bike is pretty much impossible to see.

The ability for the driver pulling out to see the rider in time and make the relevant calculations as to whether they pull out or not are severely affected.

I deal with many incidents where speed was a major contributing factor and unfortunately my ability to empathise with someone who basically signs their own death certificate by going at stupid speeds is greatly reduced.

+1

And dont read the following if your eating rite now because its a bit ugh

I used to work with a guy that was part time on call with local fire brigade,

Had a fellow colleague on the opposite shift whom was out sick for five years before quitting due to trauma after being called to a midnight collision typical Saturday night, wet conditions collision with motorcycle and a truck,

Poor guy on bike was decapitated and the fire crew got the job of going around with flash lights looking for it,

The guy out with traumatic stress was the lad whom found it,

I have to say its not a task i would have associated with the fire brigade or one i would expect to become involved in,

I assumed fires and cutting car roofs would be all and shir look away when cutting the roof wont see anything nasty,

He also told me about difficulties in estates with house fire and a drunk guy passing by,

There was a fire inside one of the rooms in the house

And they cant just burst in through due to flames etc.

So they were holding back and spraying water in,

Drunk guy thought he knew better went in and put his right foot through the door lol

Thankfully the fire didnt come through but they then had to cut the door around his leg and call an ambulance for him

Because the plywood door splintered when he pushed his foot through sticking in to his leg if he tried to pull it back out,

Wow what a super hero

[Stoney871]

It's surprising what you get used to after seeing it multiple times.

First RTC I responded to I lost my lunch big time.

After the first 20 or so the queasiness goes away.

My mate in the BTP deals with train fatalities on a regular basis and hates them.

Most train drivers involved in impacts never go back to driving again.

[Lenny]

It's surprising what you get used to after seeing it multiple times.

First RTC I responded to I lost my lunch big time.

After the first 20 or so the queasiness goes away.

My mate in the BTP deals with train fatalities on a regular basis and hates them.

Most train drivers involved in impacts never go back to driving again.

When i lived in bray i used the "DART" Dublin. Area. Rapid. Transportation

Basically a train running on electric lines,

Around Christmas 2005 there were three successive suicides and two attempts that i know of,

Because when on the train we would have to terminate at next station and get a bus transfer due to a collision on the line between x and y

The driver gets six months off with pay but theres no promises it wont happen again on your first day back,

Also get scum bags hanging a brick on a roap over a bridge,

Just at the correct height to go through the window as the train comes,

Brainless fools,

[SandyCat]

I saw this video a few days ago and found it sad that the mother was blaming the car driver as well. Yes the driver was slow to turn. Once you commit you don't hang about. He/she may well have seen the bike but wasn't expecting it to be coming along at 100mph and thought they had time to turn who knows.

The sad fact is that if the biker had been going at (say) 60mph he would have had steering control and turned with the car or gone to the right and round. At that speed he was like a rabbit in the headlights and could do nothing.

The car driver now has to live with this memory for the rest of their lives and it could have been us.

[stef123]

When I first saw this video a few days ago, I couldn't work out who was to blame - to be fair I still can't.

As a biker myself, yes I have broken speed limits significantly and all that before someone corrects me.

Given the situation here, I personally wouldn't have been over taking there, I do actually abide by lines marked on the road.

If he had done the same obviously he was going to be stuck behind a car and this would more than likely never have happened I think it's safe to say.

I'm not sticking up for either party on this one. Faults on both accounts. A car driver should be able to spot a vehicle which is travelling significantly faster than normally expected, and it's a straight road so he didn't just appear from nowhere.

The hole point is to raise awareness so here's hoping..

[Hyrule]

I have to admit, even at normal speeds, sometimes I'm pulling out slowly into a road, I look left, then right, then left then right, then go to pull out, all of a sudden a motorbike is practically in my lap as he has inevitably driven round a bunch of cars at speed. So can imagine at even greater speeds would be near impossible as Clive said.

That being said, you get a lot of times people pulling out in front of you. If you are going to commit to pulling out, floor it, so you get out of the way as quickly as possible. Nothing worse than doing the speed limit, some special person pulls out infront at drives at a snails pace. At low speeds its annoying but invariably you can slow down. At high speeds, no chance.

[jeebowhite]

Must admit it's always a precarious situation. I hope other riders learn from his grave error.

I would always say I hope it never happens to anyone else, I suspect I would be saying it twice daily now until my extermination...

[Stoney871]

I have the deepest sympathy for his family however if he hadn't been riding like a Snap-on he would have lived to ride another day.

No sympathy for him - harsh but true.

[jeebowhite]

I think it's fair to say and can understand entirely what you mean, especially when you see so many incidents

[Stoney871]

When speed is a major contributing factor my sympathy gland shuts down.

Same as for drink/phone/stupidity related collisions.

[Swiftfocus69]

Change the senario around and its a car driver doing 97mph in a 60 zone who then takes out a motorcyclist who crosses his path .we wouldn`t be having the discussion on who is to blame.It would be 110 % at the car drivers feet.

Only point to make is wreckless speed kills .

[Phil 87]

I only just discovered this video, was thinking about posting it here but glad someone beat me to it. Obviously my heart goes out to those involved, but like others I have less sympathy for the biker and the car driver. If he often went this fast past junctions then this would have happened sooner or later, he was putting all his trust in other road users which is the exact opposite of what you should do.

I too can't decide who was more to blame here. If you watch it back and pause when the car driver starts to turn, to me they were being very careless to not see the bike at this point. Even if the bike was doing 60 that would most likely still be a fatal crash. Although the driver claimed they didn't see the bike at all, again if you ask me they were being careless, probably distracted. It's a shame we can't see it from the car driver's point of view because that could show just how careful you have to be at that sort of junction.

When i lived in bray i used the "DART" Dublin. Area. Rapid. Transportation
Basically a train running on electric lines,
Around Christmas 2005 there were three successive suicides and two attempts that i know of,
Because when on the train we would have to terminate at next station and get a bus transfer due to a collision on the line between x and y
The driver gets six months off with pay but theres no promises it wont happen again on your first day back,

Also get scum bags hanging a brick on a roap over a bridge,
Just at the correct height to go through the window as the train comes,
Brainless fools,

Not just brainless, incredibly selfish by choosing to ruin the train driver's life in the process.

I saw this video a few days ago and found it sad that the mother was blaming the car driver as well. Yes the driver was slow to turn. Once you commit you don't hang about. He/she may well have seen the bike but wasn't expecting it to be coming along at 100mph and thought they had time to turn who knows.

The sad fact is that if the biker had been going at (say) 60mph he would have had steering control and turned with the car or gone to the right and round. At that speed he was like a rabbit in the headlights and could do nothing.

The car driver now has to live with this memory for the rest of their lives and it could have been us.

It's hard to say how much blame to put on the car driver, but as I said if you pause the video when the driver starts to turn, the bike should have been clearly visible at that point. But you're spot on by saying the biker was a rabbit in the headlights at that speed - apart from a quick shout and attempting to dodge to the left, he appeared to tense up as a defence mechanism. That just shows how little control you have at that speed. Never mind being able to stop in the space you can see to be clear, he couldn't have stopped or evaded or do much of anything at that speed.

Change the senario around and its a car driver doing 97mph in a 60 zone who then takes out a motorcyclist who crosses his path .we wouldn`t be having the discussion on who is to blame.It would be 110 % at the car drivers feet.

Only point to make is wreckless speed kills .

I see your point but the car would be a lot easier to see. That's no excuse though, and at least in that scenario the speeding driver might have survived to face the consequences.

[Sheriff]

I think it's quite obvious what happened,what should have happened, and what was the major contributing factor. Anything more is just gravy.

I'm just sad for this guys family, and the guilt that the car driver and occupants will have to live with.

It's a disturbing and graphic demonstration of bad driving on both sides.

[mixmasterlooney]

I came across this and it's very upsetting. I don't think the car driver deserves the punishment.

The bike was traveling at 100mph that's 50 yards per second. By the time the car driver saw him plus reaction time it was impossible to do anything and that could be any of us. Seeing a small object moving at 100mph from 300+ yards away is like trying to read a number plate 40 meters away.

Not every one has great eye sight or reaction time and this is the part where others need to take care to protect them self and others. He paid the ultimate price unfortunately.

Also the message of bike awareness some what angers me a bit here. Being told to think bike does not help because I believe sends out a message to bikers that it's okay to ride like fools because it's his or hers right of way.

However way this is looked at it would have gone completely different if he was going the speed limit and that is the primary factor of this incident not the drivers bad judgement call

[Sheriff]

The whole think bike campaign should not anger you considering the amounts of bikers that are killed or seriously injured every day, which is preventable.

You contradict yourself somewhat stating that it was impossible for the driver of the car to do anything yet at the end call it a bad judgement call.

It was a bad judgement call, he should have seen the bike, and that's that. Yes the major contributing factor is speed I don't deny that! But the driver must bear some responsibility.

[Phil 87]

The whole think bike campaign should not anger you considering the amounts of bikers that are killed or seriously injured every day, which is preventable.

I'm not sure what to think about the whole think bike campaign, on the one hand it surely saves lives by making car drivers more aware, but I think Kurt has a point that some bikers might see that sign and think it's ok to drive like an idiot, as if the rules of the road don't apply (that's how a lot of them drive, but then so do car drivers). We often hear about the number of bikers killed, but I don't think I've ever seen the numbers where the biker was speeding or otherwise driving carelessly / dangerously.

Maybe the sign would be more effective it was changed to "Biker, think!".

[Sheriff]

I get what you are saying, and agree to a point. However the think bike campaign was started solely because of the amount of bikers that were being taken off at junctions etc by car drivers. It's just to raise awareness. I've lost count the amount of times I've nearly been swiped off, not through speed but stupidity of other drivers in a world of their own totally oblivious as to what is around them.

Bikers are the antisocial lot of the roads, by the actions of some extremely stupid and reckless people, which is such a shame.

There are several ads relating to speeding bikers too, seen them on telly and at the flicks.

[Phil 87]

However the think bike campaign was started solely because of the amount of bikers that were being taken off at junctions etc by car drivers.

That's interesting because I saw a Youtube vid recently showing this manoeuvre bikers can do to avoid that kind of thing, basically you swerve side to side a bit to make yourself more visible if you might not be seen by a driver coming out of a junction (there's a name for it but I forget). I wonder if that was mentioned in the Think Bike campaign.

Edit: obviously this is only possible at sensible speeds.