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Post by Alvamiga on Jan 4, 2013 19:20:03 GMT
Encountered another of those idiots that gives motorcyclists a bad name today... I was driving about 40-50mph along a main road and he came up behind me at some pace and then just passed me down the middle of the road, like I was not in the middle of the lane and approaching a slow queue of traffic ahead. He then pulled up right behind the car in front, followed it round a roundabout, then overtook it over the ghost island and no-overtaking zone immediately after, just beating the traffic coming in the opposite direction. The last I saw of him was him cutting round the outside of some cars further up the road who had the audacity to drive a few miles per hour below the limit!  It's no wonder so many car drivers treat motorbikes with such contempt!  |
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Post by tangent on Jan 4, 2013 19:40:18 GMT
I can do that now I'm not riding a motor bike.
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Post by raspberrybullets on Jan 4, 2013 21:55:34 GMT
I'm not a driver of any sort so I can hold you all in contempt!  |
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Post by Alvamiga on Jan 5, 2013 8:35:56 GMT
Maybe, but I would hope that you hold people like him in more contempt!  |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2013 10:29:27 GMT
We saw one who behaved like that once. A few miles later, the was a big accident and a helicopter arriving...
My mother used to work in a hospital for people with spinal injuries and there were many motorcyclists among them.
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Post by tangent on Jan 5, 2013 11:03:44 GMT
A friend of ours went on holiday in Greece, hired a motor bike and came back on a stretcher. He's been paralysed ever since (although to his credit he now runs a firm that adapts cars for disabled drivers). |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2013 11:08:28 GMT
Scary. I also knew someone, though, who had a motorbike and also did races with different cars (prefessional ones, not inofficial ones on the motorway) and who died from cancer. H never had a bad accident, but was in his mid-40s when the cancer killed him.
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Post by Alvamiga on Jan 5, 2013 11:20:25 GMT
My sister was in intensive care for a few weeks after her scooter accident. I am pretty certain she would not have been driving badly, but if I saw that guy underneath a lorry, further up the road, I would not have felt any sympathy for him. I would have been more concerned about anyone who had to deal with the fact he'd caused an accident with them! Car drivers can be very bad too; one guy I was following last night kept accelerating right up behind the car in front of him (a few feet behind at 40mph) and then braking hard because the front guy was observing the speed limit. I am not sure if he was trying to badger him into going faster or just a bad driver though. I also kept well back from the five cars all doing 40 almost bumper to bumper yesterday morning. It would have only taken a child to run out into the road or something similar to have had a nasty pile up. I think people feel all too safe in their mobile living room...  |
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Post by Moose on Jan 5, 2013 17:01:54 GMT
Indeed
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Post by Shake on Jan 7, 2013 0:53:46 GMT
As long as you didn't run across this guy:
He gets really crazy around the 2 min mark!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2013 1:22:59 GMT
Not sure if I even want to watch that.
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Post by Alvamiga on Jan 7, 2013 9:04:21 GMT
I thought he got crazy around the 24 second mark when he started...
I agree that it's particularly mad to be doing wheelies in the opposing traffic lane.
I'll bet the idiot leaves a trail of fear and worry in his wake though. I don't find this kind of thing interesting and would have been bored of it long before the two-minute mark, had it not been for Shake making a specific comment about it!
At least if he had crashed and died then the inquest would have had an easy job!
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Post by Alvamiga on Jan 27, 2013 19:31:52 GMT
Had a very close call yesterday. Went into town and, on my way into the town centre, a drunk person suddenly turned and walked straight out in front of me. I hit the brakes and sounded my horn. I stopped about three inches from him and he had still completely failed to even notice that I was there. His friends had seen me, avoided walking into the road and then ferried him away, shouting apologies back to me on his behalf. There were plenty of witnesses about, so there wouldn't have been any doubt that it was his fault if anything had happened, but I was very shaken by the incident and it took me a good few hours before I felt up to riding properly again. Fortunately, at that point, I was almost where I had been travelling to and was able to get there. I find it very sad that someone can be staggering about in town, that early in the day (just after midday), so utterly wasted that they are utterly unaware of the world around them. I would not have blamed myself for any outcome from what happened, but I don't think it would have made me feel much better about it. |
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Post by Kye on Jan 27, 2013 19:42:34 GMT
Poor you! It's indeed cold comfort knowing that it's not your fault if you end up hurting someone! |
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Post by Moose on Jan 27, 2013 20:57:07 GMT
The trouble is that you probably WOULD have felt terrible if you'd injured or even killed him, even if it were not your fault at all. It's one thing to say that you would not feel responsible in such circumstances and of course legally and morally you would not have BEEN responsible. But if you'd killed him you'd still have had that on your mind for the rest of your life.
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Post by tangent on Jan 27, 2013 20:58:27 GMT
Yes, I hope his friends make him realize what an idiot he is.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2013 21:46:47 GMT
Penalties for car drivers have become higher in Germany, but car drivers still behave very badly, especially on the motorways.
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Post by ceptimus on Jan 29, 2013 22:43:54 GMT
youtu.be/nnXMx__wlJUStokholm to Uppsala in Sweden in under 15 minutes. 68 km distance. Average speed 273.1 km/hr. That's just over 170 mph. This is the average speed remember! Much of the time he's over 300 kph (over 186 mph) and this is in normal motorway traffic.
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Post by Shake on Jan 30, 2013 6:14:40 GMT
That was INSANE! I did a little math ... 290 kph is 264 ft/s, and at that speed, it only takes 20 seconds to cover a mile (180 mph). One of the comments below said it was impossible, but clearly it's not. Also, only in a couple of places would even remotely call it "heavy traffic". There were several stretches of 15, 20, up to 30 seconds where he's going all out without another vehicle in sight!
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Post by Shake on Jan 30, 2013 6:16:34 GMT
Oh, I was also going to say that this type of person may wind up being a Darwin Award winner if he's not careful. Or even if he is, but is unlucky.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 30, 2013 7:32:20 GMT
Oh, I was also going to say that this type of person may wind up being a Darwin Award winner if he's not careful. Or even if he is, but is unlucky. I thought that as well. That person might not live for very long if they do that more often. |
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Post by Alvamiga on Jan 30, 2013 8:33:24 GMT
Oh, I was also going to say that this type of person may wind up being a Darwin Award winner if he's not careful. Or even if he is, but is unlucky. I don't think anything this person does could be called "careful" (obviously aside from slowing down a good deal). I certainly wouldn't drive on the hard shoulder or edge of the central reservation like they do, at least in this country. It would only take a tiny mistake for them to be a long, messy streak down the road. Again, my concerns go with the poor people who get wrapped up in this kind of inconsiderate behaviour. |
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Post by ProdigalAlan on Jan 30, 2013 13:53:26 GMT
Oh my!!!! I've been away for ages, cos I've just finished a long period of late shifts, and then I read this posting. I have to confess that I am a real Jekyll and Hyde motorist. In a car I'm a sweet little old lady, on a bike I ride like a lunatic. Not good I know, but I can't ride bikes anything but flat out.  |
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Post by tangent on Jan 30, 2013 16:00:49 GMT
Welcome back, Alan |
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Post by Alvamiga on Jan 30, 2013 19:39:29 GMT
...I can't ride bikes anything but flat out. We will have to replace your bike with a 50cc moped then. From what I can tell, you have to ride them flat out pretty much all the time!  |
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Post by tangent on Jan 30, 2013 22:02:33 GMT
From what I can tell, you have to ride them flat out pretty much all the time! *nods in agreement* |
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Post by Alvamiga on Feb 16, 2013 19:46:43 GMT
Today's moron didn't like the fact that I was only doing 20mph (in a 20mph zone) and so overtook me at about 30 or so (the 20 zone was only about another 30m until it went back to 30) and drove the wrong side of a bollard with a keep left sign on it. Seconds after he got back on the left-hand side of the road a police car appeared. So close... On Friday I was very surprised to get stuck behind a Porsche doing 30 in a national speed limit area (no speed limit, subject to conditions and common sense). When we got to the 40mph after that, they sped up to about 45. I have no idea what is going on in the head of people like that! |
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Post by Alvamiga on Feb 16, 2013 19:52:19 GMT
Today I got a decent pair of trousers, similar to my jacket (with toughened panels and thermal lining) and a similar, better pair of gloves to celebrate clearing the cost of the motorbike from my finances (still other stuff to pay for, but using the bike is saving me a small fortune). It's surprising how much money you can spend on stuff for something you plan on never happening... that said, it is much warmer and drier. |
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Post by tangent on Feb 16, 2013 22:17:53 GMT
"Today I got a decent pair of trousers" - so you've been going to work in your underpants?
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Post by Alvamiga on Feb 17, 2013 9:53:56 GMT
Heh, no, although I have also been wearing my underpants!  I have been using a set of waterproof leggings but, in spite of having some thermal protection, they still mostly only protect from getting wet and only some of the cold. The new ones, like my jacket, have a decent thermal barrier and harder panels in the shins, knees, etc. |
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