Think Bike? I'm lucky to even see it
SPEEDING motorbike riders got their comeuppance on Sunday
I WAS glad to see two motorcyclists on the A595 on Sunday morning with lights on and doing, like me, no more than the 60mph speed limit. It makes a refreshing change. But at Egremont a dozen or so bikers shot past at speeds of at least 100mph - two of the bikers going past on one wheel. Other bikers passed, cutting me and other drivers up, weaving in and out of traffic and overtaking on blind bends in an appalling display of the worst of biking. A few yards on we passed a poster saying "Think Bike". Motorists could 'Thnk Bike' all day long but it would make little difference. No driver would see these bikes crash into them, yet along think long enough about how to take avoiding action. I was spitting feathers and was all but decided to phone the police in the hopes they could do something to save the life of the innocent pedestrian or cyclist about to be killed (I have to admit I had lost any interest in the lives of these wreckless bikers). But then joy of joys, I turned the corner and there was a police van with speed camera pointed at the road. Please tell me the bikers were all clocked and are going to be prosecuted for wreckless driving. I welcome the call for tougher limits on alcohol to reduce road deaths and injuries. But if bikers continue to behave like this I'll be joining the call for an outright ban on bikes as well. However, well done to the two bikers alongside me who showed how riders should behave.
Published: June 21, 2010
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Sorry mate, but will you ban all drivers because a few speed or drive dangerously. Don't ban us all because of a small minority who flout the rules of the road. I ride a bike, have done for years I ride within the law and have never had a speeding ticket, I don't drive a car and have no real interest in doing so. I don't brand you a dangerous driver because I have been hit by cars in the past, so don't brand me as a hooligan because of a couple of speeding bikes!
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To Mark: It would right to target bikers specifically because of their disproportionately high safety record. A Dept of Transport report in 2004 said: "Motorcyclists have an especially poor safety record when compared to other road user groups. Their killed and serious injury (KSI) rate in the UK, per million vehicle kilometres, is approximately twice that of pedal cyclists and over 16 times that of car drivers and passengers. Motorcyclists make up less than 1% of vehicle traffic but their riders suffer 14% of total deaths and serious injuries on Britainâs roads".
Posted by Alan Cleaver on 24 June 2010 at 15:24