1 in 4 drivers aren't going to see you

[pete376403]

I recall reading an (IIRC) Two Wheels article - in Milan or some other italian city everyone DID have to ride scooters prior to getting a car licence - and even though there were (and probably still are) teeming hordes of scooters and bikes in the city, the car drivers in the main avoided hitting them.

[KIPS powervalve]

no. generally motorbicyclists are safer road users. because we "know the road" - we know the differences in surface, camber, seal etc make a difference....

personally i reckon every cager should have to do time on a 50cc 'cooter (about 2 years) before they're allowed the car.
and when is the power-to-weight LAC(ars)S coming out???

"Safer road users"? lane splitting is not safe! I have seen cops on their whale-like BMWs doing it, but I doubt they get seen by cagers.
As proof, I have very nearly been cleaned up by a bike overtaking while I was changing lanes in heavy traffic (yes I was on my bike and looked). Needless to say, I [lane split] myself.
Not sure if we all "know the road" - you only need to look at the newspaper photo of that white Buell in a tree a couple of months ago for that to stand. Somebody didn't read the road there! Luckily he (she?) survived. Generally though, yes, seal, oil, water etc are more well observed by us.

As for the cagers on mopeds, this is a good idea. I thought about this when I very first started on a 50cc scooter (with no MC licence). It immediately teaches you how to ride AND drive defensively... WAY MORE THAN THE DEFENSIVE DRIVING COURSE. You learn real quick that you need to pay attention, and if you don't learn that then you should not be on the road be it on a push bike or 'Busa Turbo.

LAMS comes in on 1st of October. This is fantastic, but a) kills the market for 2stroke 250s and b) will kill more learners than a TZR/NSR/KR250 ever did. Look at some of the bikes on there: RVF400, GSX600U etc, scary-fast bikes for newbs.

[mashman]

Accident statistics confirm otherwise...

Only if you take the total number of that category of vehicle and divide it by the number of incidents for that vehicle type. Whereas if we are all categorised as road users who are using a vehicle, most of the incidents resulting in serious injury happen when people are driving cars. Wonder what the stats would be like if motorcycles had their own road? After all if 40% of our incidents are car v bike (from memory from other threads), irrespective of fault, then motorcyclists are going to have 40% less incidents. Motorcycles don't put car drivers in hospital. So the car crash stats would stay approx the same for cars. The motorcycle stats would drop dramatically. Yes I realise that our own road would prolly result in more loss of control incidents, but we'd have 40% to play with .

[Berries]

Yes I realise that our own road would prolly result in more loss of control incidents, but we'd have 40% to play with .

Yeah, but they won't give us the same width if there are no cars so the number of crashes will rise further. I do think we should use the same shared roading infrastructure but be exempt from all the rules. Sure, there will be a spike lasting a year or three but as soon as Darwin has sorted things out it would be great.

[Virago]

Only if you take the total number of that category of vehicle and divide it by the number of incidents for that vehicle type. Whereas if we are all categorised as road users who are using a vehicle, most of the incidents resulting in serious injury happen when people are driving cars. Wonder what the stats would be like if motorcycles had their own road? After all if 40% of our incidents are car v bike (from memory from other threads), irrespective of fault, then motorcyclists are going to have 40% less incidents. Motorcycles don't put car drivers in hospital. So the car crash stats would stay approx the same for cars. The motorcycle stats would drop dramatically. Yes I realise that our own road would prolly result in more loss of control incidents, but we'd have 40% to play with .

We have entered the twilight zone...

[Akzle]

"Safer road users"?...

LAMS comes in on 1st of October. This is fantastic, but a) kills the market for 2stroke 250s and b) will kill more learners than a TZR/NSR/KR250 ever did. Look at some of the bikes on there: RVF400, GSX600U etc, scary-fast bikes for newbs.

not necessarily. the 600U is necked down from "scary-fast" dont know about the RVF, but who the fuck would be seen on a h*nda anyway?
i think the larger bikes are certainly better for larger folk (like my 6ft 90kg)
had a mate went from an ag100 to an RF900. hasn't put it down once.

... but we'd have 40% to play with .

women = 60% of the population apparently. ban them from driving. i'm sure it'd drop the road toll at least 80%.
(no comic sans, i'm f*cking serious.)

[duckonin]

[/COLOR]


women = 60% of the population apparently. ban them from driving. i'm sure it'd drop the road toll at least 80%.
(no comic sans, i'm f*cking serious.)

.

Come on Akzel give it some thought instead of having a massive brain fart. Most woman are very good drivers.

[Akzle]

.

Come on Akzel give it some thought instead of having a massive brain fart. Most woman are very good drivers.

have some comic sans.

[mashman]

Yeah, but they won't give us the same width if there are no cars so the number of crashes will rise further. I do think we should use the same shared roading infrastructure but be exempt from all the rules. Sure, there will be a spike lasting a year or three but as soon as Darwin has sorted things out it would be great.

Nahhh, it's just make us better riders.

We have entered the twilight zone...

I know, who woulda thunk that someone would consider themselves to be a road user irrespective of the transport method they choose... but it's a good thing that you think otherwise, else ACC might be up shit creek.

women = 60% of the population apparently. ban them from driving. i'm sure it'd drop the road toll at least 80%.
(no comic sans, i'm f*cking serious.)

No argument from me... makeup, mobiles, gabbing, marvelling at the fact that their eye shadow matches the shade of the car behind them and that they have to change the colour of their c.................

[Motobutch]

2 seconds is an interesting figure.

We were taught in pilot flying the aereoplane school that if we didn't look at a bit of sky for at least 2 seconds (when trying to spot other aereoplanes), that our brains would just "fill in the blanks" with an empty bit of sky, whether or not something was actually there. These are the same brains that are looking for you at intersections, regardless of whether you've got your swanky hi viz vest on.

So how many people do you know that look both ways, for at least 2 seconds, every time they turn their cars? You know, those same people that you see round town who can't even competently operate shopping trolleys.

I'm pretty new at this, but I reckon the best bit of advice I've heard yet is to ride like a paranoid fucker, 'cos they are all out to get me, whether they like it or not. Human beings are error making machines, and they perform to design specification admirably.

[baffa]

TLDR: I'm an amazing rider, and you all suck.

Think that covers it.