On the A21, a few miles from here, is a particularly nasty bit of road which was turned into a dual carriageway back in the sixties. The main reason for this was mired up in the usual blundering bureaucracy concerning arterial routes to seaside towns - and in the case of dear old Hastings, the political strangling of a once-pleasant place.
This piece of road was originally designed to sort out the traffic which had built up in the other bottle-necks from both north and south, but has now been reduced back to single tracks both ways to stop drivers hurtling along, overtaking late, cutting in, listening to rubbishy music on noisy speakers, etc etc.
Just recently, the Highways Agency installed an electronic warning sign on one side, which quotes things like 'Keep your distance', 'Slow down', and also, when the Hastings Bike Festival is on, 'Think bike'.
This last one is always going to cause an argument, isn't it, so for the benefit of both sides, the picture above puts it in perspective. Who's to blame?
The Honda rider was traveling at approximately 85 mph. (not on the A21 I can add). The VW driver was talking on a cell phone when she pulled out from a side street, apparently not seeing the motorcycle. The rider's reaction time was not sufficient enough to avoid this accident.
The car had two passengers and the bike rider was found INSIDE the car with them. The Volkswagen actually flipped over from the force of impact and landed 20 feet from where the collision took place.
All three involved (two in the car and the bike rider) were killed instantly.
The car passenger certainly cannot be blamed. What a mess.
ReplyDeleteAnd, of course, the thing is that most people are stupid enough to think that it could never happen to them.
:-(
Both motorists at fault.
ReplyDeleteBeing a biker myself I would have spotted the hazard a mile off. I would certainly not have been travelling at 85mph with side turnings like that (whatever the speed limit) - and most certainly not when there was a car waiting to emerge from it.
I imagine that the biker was in two bits looking at that.
During the summer our local paper, The Westmorland Gazette, seems to always have a story about yet another motor cyclist getting killed on our roads.
ReplyDeleteIt's a few years since I had a bike (the last one was a 1000cc Beemer) and I know I used to drive it too fast but the speed that some riders hit around the Lake District is quite unbelievable.
However, if you stop by the Devil's Bridge in Kirkby Lonsdale to admire the huge gathering of bikes every weekend, do buy a bacon buttie from the mobile shop.
No less an authority than Clarissa Dickson-Wright rates them as the best in the Lake District.
It does Blues, it really does sometimes!
ReplyDeleteJust round here, (this is a long response, so light up a Jack Daniels and sit back...), there is a 'T' junction with the leg of the 'T' approaching a pleasant road, which has a ....
...oh Hell Blues, you don't want to know all this, I'll bore everyone with it in a post after I've drawn everything up...!
Have a nice Saturday, and don't forget what I said once; play rugby, meet real people!
;0)
I thought I'd get a steady response from you Elecs; many thanks!
ReplyDeleteYes, yes, yes and yes!
The US police are ferrying this awful example (there are more pics if you want them), around places to show what really happens.
I'm sure you've seen worse though.
Thanks for this Lakes, a 1000 cc Beemer seems quite a - er - large engine for two wheels, but I'm delighted that you are still here to tell the tale.
ReplyDeleteWhen you consider that the Fiat 500 in which Mrs S and I went to various pubs etc in the seventies, had an engine half that size, you can understand why we've only just arrived...
BTW, I can take a bacon buttie at ay place any time, and will definitely search out the delicacy from your comestible supplier next time!
As a motorcyclist (even though I now use a 250cc Scooter) as well as a car driver I can testify to the lack of bike awareness by motorists BUT I can also testify to sheer stupidity and recklessness of some motorcyclists. The worst offenders are the 'power rangers', reflective/dark visors' full leathers with aero back hump and the illegal rear plate. The speed at which they travel on country roads is unbelievable with no consideration of what may emerge.
ReplyDelete"I can also testify to sheer stupidity and recklessness of some motorcyclists"
ReplyDeleteSpot on Ranters, mostly belting through spped limits with abandon, and finishing up at the lights at the same time as everyone else.
What many bikers don't comprehend is that even though their 'driving' at speed may be safe for them and in their own eyes, they are not causing a problem, they do in fact make normal slower drivers do things un-naturally, like get a shock when one hurtles past at 60mph, or become disoriented at the blur of colour and the noise.
That is selfish driving - or is it even classed as dangerous?