Police say had the rider been wearing...

[Max Preload]

If the truck driver had looked the crash would certainly have been avoided.

[jrandom]

Katman is right. And Drew is funny. <3

[Katman]

How do you know what's going on directly in front of you if your eyes are tuned to the left, watching every fucken parked vehicle on the side of the road?

Perhaps you need to put some serious thought into how to multi-task.

[RiderInBlack]

So here's the thing:
Would the reported statement on the TV News by the Police been the same if the Truck had run over a Cyclist, Small Car or a Child? If it had been the Biker doing the U-turn, would Katman blame the Truck?

[Drew]

For a start, vehicles can't do u-turns without their front wheels pointing out to the right.

Are you seriously gonna continue to argue this?

The thread was started about WHAT WAS SAID on the news, not as a debate as to who killed whom.

But since you wanna try and argue what a car doing a uturn looks like?

Jimmy and I are taking turns at the moment doing wheelies through the middle of Silverstream, any kid that gets run over fuckin deserves it since they should have seen us coming!

I really don't know what the hell is wrong with you man, but by your logic no biker should be allowed out of the garage, because it isn't possible to notice everything that goes on, on the road at all times.

[phill-k]

Nice effort at twisting the story Jimmy.

Knowing your occupation I'm surprised you would comment like that, and as a biker as well you well know that the brightness of a headlight far exceeds the chance of the driver spotting a HV vest instead of the riders headlight.

In a word the police's comment is crap, this seems to go with their policy of stating speed and alcohol MAY BE involved without waiting for the formal findings of their Serious Crash Unit,

Personal message to you katman, I generally always agree with you stance put here you should have resisted the temptation to bash the keyboard.

[toycollector10]

Vehicles don't pull u-turns without giving some clues as to their intention.

You're wrong on that one. And one of the guys I ride with was wearing a hi viz vest when he was seriously injured by an inattentive driver.

[Coldrider]

Well the Police haver to shift responsibility onto the rider if speed was not an issue, nor could they detect any alcohol.

[scumdog]

The bike has a head light, and any glance in a mirror will see that well before a fuckin hi vis vest.

No it fucking won't.

Headlights are almost invisible when viewed from an angle, hence why my bike and normajeames bike have extra spot-lights with a wide spread.

They show up waay better than just a headlight - and they have saved me more than once.

The hi-vis vest was a 'maybe' comment, NOT a statement of fact. "Maybe IF he had been wearing a hi-vis vest he MAY have ben seen"


But then again, this IS a site where straws are clutched at, myths are believed and anything said is fact....

[Katman]

Perhaps instead of pissing your panties, you lot should realise that the comment suggests the probable introduction of wearing hi-viz as law.

I'd prefer we all learned to really open our fucking eyes and turn our fucking brains on when we ride rather than being forced to wear hi-viz.

[Smifffy]

I think the cop is either deluded or a liar.

Colliding with the truck is what killed the motorcyclist. A hi viz vest would have done no good there.

Unfortunately I understand that the popo man can't say that "The motorcyclist might have lived, had the truck driver been using due care and attention in the operation of his vehicle."

The reason the driver did not see the motorcyclist is a simple one. He did not look for a motorcycle.

The motorcycle was there to be seen.

I guess that our shining example of road safety enforcement, must also toe the party line, vis: It is perfectly acceptable to do random u-turns into the path of traffic, and the procedural doctrine that it is ok to step into the path of a speeding vehicle provided that you are wearing a hi-vis vest.

[Ocean1]

No it fucking won't.

Headlights are almost invisible when viewed from an angle

What fucking angle? On the face of it the truck driver must have had any headlight fair in his face or his mirrors. Stupid statement mate.

The hi-vis vest was a 'maybe' comment, NOT a statement of fact. "Maybe IF he had been wearing a hi-vis vest he MAY have ben seen"

Again, defending your team is understandable dude, but the comment as reported is a clear indication of blame on the rider in question and by implication all riders. It’s offensive in the extreme and it’s unacceptable.

[Max Preload]

Vehicles don't pull u-turns without giving some clues as to their intention.

While that's true, it doesn't mean you always have time to do anything about it.

I was following two cars a couple of years ago and the front car indicated and pulled over to the kerb. The car behind him went past and as I came alongside he, in one fluid motion, swung the wheel and proceeded to do a u-turn. I was in the right vehicle track and despite my fast move right he still managed to clip the very tip of the exhaust with his bumper stepping the rear of the bike sideways.

I'd challenge you to drive repeatedly down a road with a single car stopped on the side and be able to avoid a random u-turn - you won't know on which run past it's coming from. If it's timed right, you're going down.

[steve_t]

I'd rather they make u-turns illegal before forcing us to wear hi-vis vests. I'd put my money on it being far more effective

[jrandom]

What's really happening here is that someone at Police HQ is on a high-vis vest buzz.

It's filtering down inasmuch as cops don't leave their desks these days without putting one on, and it's also filtering down via these comments every time someone not wearing a high-vis is involved in a crash on the road.

When you get a memo every fortnight reminding you that if you don't put your high-vis on and something happens it's YOUR BLOODY PROBLEM, it's hard to step back from that and see anything else when you see a road crash involving a man not wearing a high-vis.

This conjecture is based on comments made by the cop who attended the crash where a taxi u-turned into me and my bicycle on Quay St a few months back.

So, y'know. Take it as you will. I don't think the cops really think it was the rider's fault. They just have high-vis vests on the brain.

Personally, I love high-vis vests, but only at sporting events. They give one the magic superpower of impersonating a marshal and bypassing closed-road barriers.

Actually wearing a high-vis when just riding around normally is gay. Also, getting hit by a u-turning vehicle is a lame way to go.

Requiescat in pace, n00b.