Police urge summer bikers to cool down (From Oxford Mail)
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Police urge summer bikers to cool down
7:00am Monday 6th July 2009 in
SEVEN motorcyclists have been killed already this summer as police last night appealed for all road users to drive more safely.
Four were killed in a 13-day period in May, while two others died in four days last month. Police fear the forecast of a good summer will see more motorcyclists on the roads – and more fatalities.
A summer police safety call was backed by motor-cyclist Paula Clack, 40, whose fiancé Mick Inceman died in a motorcycle crash near Thame last year.
Insp Paul Winks, of Thames Valley police’s roads policing, said: “We have two types of motorcyclists. The first are on their bikes 365 days of the year.
'Bikers are only a small proportion of road users but a high proportion of those killed'
Insp Paul Winks
“The second go out in groups on superbikes when the sun comes out and use Oxfordshire’s roads bec- ause they are fast roads.
“This second group is a problem we are working hard to address.
“These are primarily the people we are dealing with for fatal and serious injury crashes.
“Bikers are only a small proportion of road users but a high proportion of those killed.
“There seem to be riders coming here to use the fast rural roads and some are driving in an antisocial manner.
“We are taking steps to deal with them. It has to be stressed, however, that not all of these deaths or crashes are the fault of the riders.”
Latest figures from Thames Valley Safer Roads Partnership show that speed and drink-driving are still the main cause of accidents in which people are killed or badly injured.
Last year, 343 people were seriously injured or killed.
In 34 serious crashes, alcohol was the main cause and in 27 it was because the driver was exceeding the speed limit.
Fatigue was blamed for 15, mobile phones for two and six blamed on drugs.
Insp Winks added: “The problem with drink-driving has not gone away.
“We were successful at one stage in reducing it, but it appears to be increasing – especially among younger drivers.
“In some collisions speed has been the major factor and I can think of two motorcycle crashes this year where that has been the case.
“But usually it is a combination of factors where the driver is speeding but also over the limit, has been taking drugs or is tired.”
He said “in almost every collision” driver error played a part.
Father-of-two Mr Inceman, 42, was an experienced motorcyclist and died three weeks before his wedding a year ago.
Ms Clack, who has since learned to ride a motorbike, said: “A lot of people get to the stage where they think they are infallible and it’s never going to happen to them.
“But what if it does happen to them? It will be other people who suffer the most.
“Biking is fun and you could be out having a jolly good time.
“But without care, think what would happen to your wife, parents or children.”
Police last month launched a free six-hour Safer Rider course for motorcyclists at Upper Heyford.
To book a place log on to saferrider.org or drivetech.com
Comments(28)
William Bonnie
says...
8:58am Mon 6 Jul 09
jf
says...
11:09am Mon 6 Jul 09
Zimmer wrote:I actually agree with you!
The Police want to look seriously at the 'A44 Super-bike circuit' which operates every evening in the summer from Bladon Roundabout via Frieze Way to Sainsbury's Roundabout at Kidlington and returning.Starting at 7pm until well after midnight (except of course when it's raining 'cause they don't want the're 'babies' getting wet).
There are many roads like the ones you described.
Adverts are always going on about consider Bikes.Slow down.Very often it can be the other way round.
They tail-gate you in heavy traffic that is very off putting to say the least!
I know there are alot of safe riders out there.So not having a go at every Bike Rider.But there are quite a few who drive very dangerously and carelessy.
Adrian1
says...
12:50pm Mon 6 Jul 09
jf
says...
1:07pm Mon 6 Jul 09
Adrian1 wrote:I did say:-
My brother's ridden large bikes his entire driving life. Most have been really good top grade machines. A glass shard narrowly missed his carteroid artery when a car pulled out on him at 30mph additional severe bruising, both car and bike written off, no blame assigned. Bruising and grazing when cut up by a truck and thrown through it, truck assigned blame, bike written off. Cuts and bruising when slipped on deisel spillage, bike written off 35mph. Broken bone in hand plus bruising when running into back of car at roundabout, walking speed, bike recovered with much denting and scratches to cowling, biker assigned blame. Imagine the results at 100mph plus,... the list would have been shorter! It will happen to you, ensure you're doing a sensible speed when it does. (yes he wears full padded leathers too.)
I know there are alot of safe riders out there.So not having a go at every Bike Rider.But there are quite a few who drive very dangerously and carelessy.
I am sorry to hear about your Brother. But there are a few Bikers who do not drive safely as some car drivers don't too.
kaneva
says...
1:31pm Mon 6 Jul 09
Yes there are some bad riders, I had a go at one on saturday, but treating us all the same poses a great danger to us because if we are on a roudabout lent over and have to stop because someone has decided to pull out, we will go down, the same aas if the road is slippery, we can't stop suddenly. I am a driver and a rider, and to be honest I am struggling to cope with todays sub-standard of road use.
Hugh Jaeger
says...
1:32pm Mon 6 Jul 09
In Oxon in 2005 TVP recorded "exceeding the speed limit" as causing 2.6% of m/c crashes, "travelling too fast for conditions" 3.4%, "following too close" 2.2%, "drugs and alcohol" 1.7%, "agressive driving" 2.6% and "careless/reckless/h
urry" 10.5%. I don't suppose the proportions are very different in 2009.
A significant proportion of m/c casualties are caused by other road users, usually by not looking properly. Other counties including Warwicks, Staffs and Lincs put conspicuous yellow "Think Bike" placards on roads that have high motorcycle casualty rates. Oxon doesn't bother.
Many more m/c casualties are because the rider unfortunately exceeded their level of skill. I've been one of them! In Oxon in 2005 TVP recorded "loss of control" as causing 13.4% of m/c accidents, "learner/inexperienc
ed" 10.5%, poor turn/manoeuvre 8.2% and "failed to judge others' path/speed" 6.0%. Most British police forces tackle this by running Bikesafe courses(www.bikesafe
.co.uk). Bikesafe runs at weekends and includes on-road police tuition, but TVP says it has too few police motorcycles to run such a course. TVP's RiDE course is only on weekdays and all inside a classroom. I've been on both courses: For me RiDE was nowhere near as good as the classroom part of Bikesafe.
In August 2008 TVP and TV Safer Roads Partnership ran an aggressive, insulting, anti-motorcycling billboard campaign, which was so badly planned that the manufacturer of the helmets used in the photographs threatened to sue them! http://www.motorcycl
enews.com/MCN/News/n
ewsresults/mcn/2008/
august/18-24/aug1808
-thames-valley-state
ment/ I hope recent motorcycle tragedies will teach TVP that its confrontational attitude has failed, and it should listen to those of its officers who would like to win over motorcyclists by appealing to our intelligence.
In 2008 TVP admitted Oxon was the only part of its area in which m/c casualties had been increasing in recent years. In Berks m/c casualties stayed about the same for several years and in Bucks they had been significantly reduced. Bucks County Council is positive towards motorcycling and runs an excellent one-day "Be a Better Biker" course, which unlike RiDE is on Sundays, includes on-road tuition and in my experience is even better than Bikesafe.
http://www.buckscc.g
ov.uk/bcc/transport/
motorbikes.page?
TVP's summer 2008 anti-motorcycling billboards failed to promote the Be a Better Biker course. The police inspector who helped launch the billboards has categorically avoided endorsing Be a Better Biker. Under pressure he would only say, seemingly with sullen reluctance, "Well it can't do any harm".
For almost four years the British Motorcyclists' Federation (whom I represent), Motorcycle Action Group, Institute of Advanced Motorists and other motorcycling reps have all been asking Oxon County Council to start a Be a Better Biker course. Oxon has repeatedly questioned the value of offering better rider training and claimed it can't justify the expense.
Clearing up a road fatality or serious injury costs many thousands; Be a Better Biker would cost about £60 per person, shared fifty-fifty between the rider and the County Council. Go figure.
In 2006 TVP had to withdraw its Honda patrol bikes because of a safety fault. TVP then took two years to pull its finger out and replace them with a new BMW m/c fleet. In those two years it lost a lot of contact with motorcyclists. TVP admits this lost it a lot of credibility with riders and influence on their behaviour.
TVP's relaunched motorcycling website http://www.saferride
r.org/ is a big improvement, and its RiDE course is better than nothing. However, both TVP and Oxon County Council need to recognise their mistakes, and start to work with motorcyclists' organisations to reduce m/c casualties. TVP should return to more positive poster campaigns like it used to run a few years ago, and Oxon County Council should start Be a Better Biker courses immediately. Until then Oxon will continue to have a lot of m/c casualties that other counties would have avoided.
Right! That's my rant over with. Enjoy riding safely, get some advanced training, and don't let negative cops and councils put you off motorcycling!
jonny1976
says...
2:57pm Mon 6 Jul 09
jf
says...
3:01pm Mon 6 Jul 09
kaneva wrote:Keneva-
and if I had a quid for every driver I've nearly been knocked off by, tailgaited by and cut up by, or for all those I've seen with their phone stuck to their ear, I wouldn't need to ride to work because I could afford to sit at home all day!!
Yes there are some bad riders, I had a go at one on saturday, but treating us all the same poses a great danger to us because if we are on a roudabout lent over and have to stop because someone has decided to pull out, we will go down, the same aas if the road is slippery, we can't stop suddenly. I am a driver and a rider, and to be honest I am struggling to cope with todays sub-standard of road use.
No one has tarred you all with the same brush.
I said there was a few bad Bikers as well as bad drivers.
Hugh Jaeger
says...
3:26pm Mon 6 Jul 09
jonny1976 wrote:Who are "they", Jonny? The majority of motorcyclists who filter through traffic do so carefully and responsibly, apart from bonus-driven dispatch riders, pizza delivery riders and an irresponsible minority of sports bike riders who seem to have a death wish.
what really pee's me off is the fact they seem to think it is OK to ride in between the lanes of motorways, if a cars swerves, say bye bye rider, i long for wet summer nights so these idiots dont race past my house everynight.. i had a rider go between me and another car in a traffic jam on the M40, cars at a stand still for hours, a bike went bombing past and then straight into a drivers door as he got out to stretch his legs, needless to say the rider got a right earfull from about 30 people and trudged off to the side of the road with his tail between his legs
Some car journeys are unavoidable but the vast majority of car trips carry only one or at most two occupants. Unless you're seriously disabled you could do that in most weathers on a scooter or motorcycle. The rest of your car is literally a waste of time and space: everyone's time and road space. The fact that you've paid for that road space doesn't mean it's a good idea to congest it any more than necessary!
Cars cause congestion; motorcycles help to solve it. Instead of sitting in a steel box and being part of the problem, you would be welcome to get a bike and join us as part of the solution. You might also enjoy it!
kaneva
says...
3:42pm Mon 6 Jul 09
what really pee's me off is the fact they seem to think it is OK to ride in between the lanes of motorways: when filtering in slow-moving traffic, take care and keep your speed low.
Some drivers have the wrong impression that filtering is illegal, no it's not, agreed it should be done with caution and respect, which I do, and am sad to say I have had the disrespectful ones right on me, I just let them go, all safe in the knowledge that thanks to them one day motorcycling will sucessfully be criminalised and then I can truly be the bad person I am so mistakenly looked upon as being now.
Quote Highway Code:
kaneva
says...
3:44pm Mon 6 Jul 09
When filtering....is straight from the code.
Thank you
LadyPenelope
says...
4:10pm Mon 6 Jul 09
jonny1976 wrote:Why on earth did the idiot car driver not check his mirror before opening his car door?? It could have been a police or ambulance bike!
what really pee's me off is the fact they seem to think it is OK to ride in between the lanes of motorways, if a cars swerves, say bye bye rider, i long for wet summer nights so these idiots dont race past my house everynight.. i had a rider go between me and another car in a traffic jam on the M40, cars at a stand still for hours, a bike went bombing past and then straight into a drivers door as he got out to stretch his legs, needless to say the rider got a right earfull from about 30 people and trudged off to the side of the road with his tail between his legs
For every bike that overtakes me in the traffic jam, it's 1 less car in the queue, so I'm quite happy when crawing along at 5mph to move over to the left and let them pass.
I see more car drivers behaving like ar*eholes towards motorcyclists than the other way round.
I think all car drivers should at the very lease ride on the back of a motorbike, just to learn how vunerable they are.
mikethebike
says...
4:10pm Mon 6 Jul 09
mikethebike
says...
4:14pm Mon 6 Jul 09
This is NOT the bikesafe scheme. It is actually a punishment for offenders instead of 3 points and others can sign up for it for £70. It is NOT free and it is not suitable for most bike riders, it also has no content other than in the classroom. It is totally useless for teaching advanced motorcycling skills.
mikethebike
says...
4:19pm Mon 6 Jul 09
Thus breaking the law!
And you have the gall to criticise motorcyclicst while at the same time proving TWICE that you do not know the law OR the highway code.
Best thing you can do is take another driving test or stick to watching CBBC!
Hugh Jaeger
says...
6:13pm Mon 6 Jul 09
A couple of years ago a driver who was fed up with being stuck in a traffic queue on the way to Longleat did an illegal u-turn across a double white line without first checking her mirrors. She broadsided a young motorcyclist who was filtering lawfully past the queue on his way to visit his girlfriend. His injuries included severing the nerves controlling one elbow. Despite surgery they have not healed, and now that two years have passed it is unlikely they ever will. The car driver's moment of thoughtlessness has disabled the lad for life. At the time of the accident he was 19.
Bikes are the smallest motor vehicles on the road. It can take longer to pick them out against the background, regardless of whether or not they use dipped headlights in daytime. Please take a good hard look and "THINK BIKE" before you pull out.
"I think all car drivers should at the very least ride on the back of a motorbike, just to learn how vunerable they are." If no biker has yet had the courtesy to take LadyPenelope on a fact-finding tour, the pillion seat of my Norton is at your disposal, Milady!
kaneva
says...
7:08pm Mon 6 Jul 09
LadyPenelope
says...
7:29pm Mon 6 Jul 09
A bandit is indeed what I hope to ride one day!! Are they light enough for a lady?
I really wish they'd take out all drivers on the back of a bike for their driving test.
I recently saw a driver open their door into a cyclist. Luckily they were ok (a little shocked) and the driver yelled at them for causing damage to their door!
kaneva
says...
9:21pm Mon 6 Jul 09
As for the cyclist incident, I once was pushbiking to work (when I lived close enough) and a postie opened his door which causd me to swerve, now you would've thought they would be a bit more vigilant
Hugh Jaeger
says...
12:13am Tue 7 Jul 09
I worry not about a bike's total weight but its distribution and balance. I knew a Canadian lass whose Honda CBR600F weighed slightly more than the 1956 BSA B33 that I had at the time. The CBR had a low centre of gravity and felt light and nimble, whereas the B33 felt both heavy and top-heavy.
Mind you, the BSA was an unreliable beast and the number of times I spent pushing it may have poisoned my judgement! Its brakes and electrics weren't a great contribution to road safety either.
Whatever bike you get, I hope it's a good 'un and you enjoy it!
Hugh Jaeger
says...
12:18am Tue 7 Jul 09
DenisL
says...
1:40am Tue 7 Jul 09
Surely the reason the police concentrate on speeding and drink driving is nothing to do with road safety - it is the easiest money earner.
It is dead simple to catch motorists speeding and over the drink drive limit, and then to fine them.
(I read recently that the speed camera in the road works at London end of M3 has raised a million pounds !!!)
All others require more effort to raise money.
Denis
dogdragon
says...
2:40am Tue 7 Jul 09
I'm much too busy looking out for dodgy car drivers. Fortunatly I don't see many, but enough to know they are still around.
In 24yrs of riding I've only been knocked off my bike by cars, both time it was the car drivers fault and I got my compensation.
I should say also that I have been knocked off a VFR750 by a policeman, who knelt on my spine wrenched both my arms back while his coleague punched me in the face a couple of times. They arrested for stealing a bike (which I'd been given by the Abingdon Motorcycle Project for giving 3yrs help (for no pay). The TVP gave it to AMP as a stolen recovered machine which was too big for the kids.
I was also arrested for another alledged incident at the same time.
They dropped the charges for having the bike (but never it back) and I was found not guilty for the other incident.
In my eyes it's the police who are biggest thugs and theives in Oxford. That's my opinion.
I'm still getting grief from them too.
(me a disabled biker too)
If your out riding you lot, have fun.
kaneva
says...
8:02am Tue 7 Jul 09
Anyway, lady-p, go do your test, the more bikers on the road the better!
Stay safe people.
LadyPenelope
says...
8:10am Tue 7 Jul 09
I believe most bike accidents are caused by idiot car drivers, and personally I always move over to the left and allow bikes to pass. Amazing how many selfish car drivers don't though!
kaneva
says...
10:40am Tue 7 Jul 09
Sorry if that offends anyone but I take the outside line on my side of the road for a left hander for a very good reason!
Hugh Jaeger
says...
12:26pm Tue 7 Jul 09
Unfortunately on a left hand bend the usual hazard is a thoughtless car driver coming the other way with two wheels on your side of the centre line. As well as endangering oncoming traffic, they are reducing their ability to see round the bend and thus avoid hazards.
Anticipating this, I now stay away from the centre line on left handers. This makes the bend tighter, slower and less fun, but so far I've stayed alive!
So if you drive a car, try taking the outside line of right hand bends. Being on a wider radius you'll see further, you'll be able to take the bend a little more quickly and enjoy it more. You won't encroach the white line and put oncoming bikers in fear for their lives, and you won't give yourself an emergency if you meet a big wide tractor or the like coming the other way.
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Zimmer says...
7:52am Mon 6 Jul 09