Think! Bike

aswearing

Torque Master
Points
72
Location
Doncaster
Car
Micra 160sr
I was unfortunately involved in an incident yesterday which shook me up more than I care for. Since it happened I have been replaying it in my mind trying to decide what could have been done to prevent it' or if it could have been handled better.

I was travelling down a road, not too wide in a built up area following a bike (a very nice Suzuki Hayabusa I believe) and the bloke had his young lad on the back. Halfway down this street the bike slowed to a stop next to the kerb, this is where I've been playing over whether this was my fault, and I proceeded past coasting in third as there was no indication from the bike (girlfriend agrees, although it's admissible)

As I was by the side of the bike he turned into me - to gain access to his drive. Luckily he stopped before hitting my car and I managed to swerve away but he was unable to keep the bike up and both the bloke and his lad fell into my car. Now from the drivers point of view seeing this happen (in slow motion) it's horrible. I immediately jumped out to see if they were ok, but was greeted by a rather annoyed driver and a screaming wife (which is fair enough)

I was annoyed that the first words out of her mouth were 'no one looks out for bikes' which is daft as he was in front of me and obviously can not miss him. I asked about the lad who was inside by then and obviously in shock about it. The bloke didn't go in to check on him and proceeded to check the damage to his bike, and we started to discuss insurance (although we didn't swap details)

I expressed that I saw no indication from the bike and the wife responded with she saw the indicators and they were still on when he had the bike on the drive, and what made it weird is that the gates to the drive weren't open before he turned in. Eventually he said he didn't notice anyone behind him.

I'd like to know what your thoughts are on this, I've played it over so many times trying to decide on who was responsible etc and where any blame is to be placed. I should have anticipated that he might not have been just stopping at the side of the road, and he should have looked behind him and indicated (something I'm still cloudy about).

A lot of people campaign about keeping an eye out for bikers, this just reinforces it. Even if it was error on their part.

(after speaking to a neighbour they told me about how he tried to boot it between a car overtaking a bus, and ended up crashing)
 
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Scary Stuff. It could have been a lot worse.

Without being there it is really hard to apportion blame. It sounds to me more like he moved into the side of you though rather than you hitting him as he turned.

Even if people are indicating it is rarely 100% certain that this is what they are going to do.

In most incidents like this it is often a lapse on the part of both drivers attention that causes a crash.

The best thing you can do is learn from it and drive more cautiously and defensively in future.
 
indicating or not he still had the responsiblity to turn and check as well, especially if he had stopped and then was starting off again. based on the facts from your side then would agree with you. Not much else you could have done, imo, in this situation.
 
I didn't write it in a particular way to shift blame, I just wanted an accurate account of what happened. Looking back it's the lack of anticipation on my part that annoys me, as since previous incidents I often question what most drivers are doing. On this occasion it just felt like he was stopping at the side of the road.

It could have been a lot worse and I feel for the young lad, hopefully it's not affected him to the point where he doesn't want to get on a bike again!
 
tbh honest mate i think the whole think bike is balls, this does not go for all biker but the majority are idiots, i had loads over the weekend with the nice weather all weaving in and out of traffic causing cars to slam on as they had to quickly come back in to avoid on coming traffic, it should be "THINK CARS" as your probably alot safer in a car than on a bike so they should be thinking about what happens if they hit one, and stop driving like plonkers just cos they have a rocket strapped to them

was kinda weird seeing this thread as i was just about to post something similar just at how bad SOME bike drivers are not caring just blasting and weaving like idiots, really gets on my nearve Think Bike my arse!!! if they werent constantly weaving in and out or flying down the middle of the road cos they dont want to wait for the lights, they are risking there own lives and the lives of others on the road

i really think bikers need to take the blame for the actions sometimes instead of saying "well you should be looking out for me" what are you suppose to look out for a blur cos the fly past and then sharply pull back in, right in front of you causing a near miss as you slam on your brakes, which then puts you and the car behind you in danger

Like i said this is not all bikers just a hell of a lot of them, i have seen some sensible bikers who dont overtake dangerously at full throttle, there are just too many idiots, and i do know this is the same for some people in high performance cars, but at least a car is bigger to see

So really Bikers need to think car as well as cars think bike, they should both be looking out for each other and not putting all the blame on cars in most instance cos we didnt see a bike!!
 
:lol: I agree to an extent, the actions of a biker (not pointing fingers at the majority) can be rash and dangerous. But the consequences are much more severe when compared to a car which has crumple zones. Bikers' crumple zones are their face.

What got me the most is although the bloke never actually hit me, him (and young 'un) falling into that car (it was his face that dented the door) is something you don't want to see.

I too have seen reckless driving from bikers, which always makes me wonder sometimes...
 
Not a fun situation to be in mate & I really feel for you.:(
In my experience, I've learnt to treat everyone as idiots & expect the worse.

The important thing is, no one was hurt.

How's your car, any damage?
 
Not a fun situation to be in mate & I really feel for you.:(
In my experience, I've learnt to treat everyone as idiots & expect the worse.

The important thing is, no one was hurt.

How's your car, any damage?

Haha very true, the cars fine pretty much. A few superficial scratches that will buff out, and a slight dint from where he faceplanted the door. Again nothing a size 10 won't sort out. Thanks pal
 
from what you said, i gather he pulled up at the side of the road and came to a stop?
if so then he is to blame.
if he didn't come to a complete stop, then i would think it would be a simple accident... like a 50/50 thing.
if he made it clear he was turning then you wouldn't of tried to pass him....
but of course i wasn't there, didn't see it yadda yadda, so i can't tell. but from what you've put here i think it's his fault or a 50/50....

but most importantly!
hope all involved are ok!
 
reading it sounds like the bikers fault
when learning you are always being yelled at for always doing the live saver check
for this reason
when ever you turn or change lane you always look over your sholder before you move

is sometimes you forget i know i dont do it all the time

and the bikers on the road in the summer ya some of them can be very bad riders and you look thinking you will come off at some point

but as a biker as well i always look for bikes and always move over to the left in traffic to let the bikes thou
one thing i hate when other drivers dont do it nearly hit a car the other day cos they pulled right so i could not over take just cos they had been in the traffic for a while
 

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