See the motorcycle?

[severus]

This motorcyclist was traveling at such a "very high speed", his reaction time was not sufficient enough to avoid this accident. Swedish Police estimate a speed of ~250 KM/h (155mph) before the bike hit the slow moving car side-on at an intersection. At that speed, they predicted that the rider's reaction time (once the vehicle came into view) wasn't sufficient enough for him to even apply the brakes. 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 10 feet from where the collision took place.

 

 

All three involved (two in car and rider) were killed instantly. This graphic demonstration was placed at the Stockholm Motorcycle Fair by the Swedish Police and Road Safety Department. The sign above the display also noted that the rider had only recently obtained his license.

 

 

At 250 KM (155 mph) the operator is traveling at 227 feet per second. With normal reaction time to SEE-DECIDE-REACT of 1.6 seconds the above operator would have traveled over 363 feet while making a decision on what actions to take. In this incident the Swedish police indicate that no actions were taken.

 

[Dan]

Write note to self ............ dont ride that fast! fortunately although my bike will go over 100mph, I cant! theres no fairing and its all I can do to hold on!

 

Dan

[poledark]

Fortunately it doesn't always end up like that...I ploughed into the side of a Morris Countryman estate car at just under 100mph....bike went inside the car, I went over the top and slid along the road...only suffered severe bruising to my lower half which hit the roof of the car as I went over the top.

 

Bike (Norton 350) went in the car just behind the driver, so he was also unhurt!

 

I know the speed was right as I looked down at my speedo, looked up again, and the car was coming out of his driveway....never touched the brakes....I just let go

 

That was the first thing I was taught by an Army despatch rider,,,,"if you are going to hit something, let go so you don't follow the bike in"

 

Den (no wonder my back hurts )

[Steve Walker]

I once saw the aftermath of a head-on between a bike and a car on the A591 between Grasmere and Ambleside. It was a perfect sunny Sunday morning, I'd just dropped my girlfriend off at work and was heading home. I came round a bend and saw a VW Golf stopped on the other side of the road. I was puzzled at first, because the front of the car was massively stoved in but there was no sign of what she'd hit. A bit further down the road was a woman cradling a baby, evidently the driver of the car. A lot further down the road was the remains of a bike, and further still an ambulance crew standing around someone on the ground. By the looks of it the biker had just overcooked the bend and run wide straight into the oncoming car.

 

I don't know whether the biker lived or not. I would guess that the combined speeds of car and bike were probably close to the Swedish accident. I was amazed at how much damage had been done to the car. The woman and her baby were lucky that it went over the roof and not through the windscreen.

[Emz]

Those images are really shocking but they certainly make you think.

 

I personaly don't like bikes, I have seen too many accidents that really make you think. As somone else said on here last year, in the A&E dept in ozzie, bikers are known as donors

[UK-Fishing-Tackle.co.uk]

Bikes are not dangerous themselves it is the idiots that give biking a bad name! I own a VFR400, which can pull a reasonably decent top speed I'd of thought, but for plodding around town and the odd 20 mile trip out to Grimsby I'd rarely do much over the speed limit - although - I do prefer (being a bit more vulnerable on the road) to be moving slightly faster than the main traffic for the very reason that car drivers overtaking motorcylces never leave enough room, and often cut back in far too early.

 

On a motorcycle it is better to be slightly ahead of the traffic, get a bit of road in front of you, and travel at a safe speed which doesn't allow cars or lorries to pass you - except the odd idiot pulling a ton or more in a BMW.

 

Now rural lincolnshire has more than it's fair share of bikers (it is a biking area, and on a sunny day with quick twisty roads you can imagine they come out in serious numbers). Without meaning to cause offence a great many of the accidents are caused not by people in their twenties but more often than not people in their late forties or early fifties. These are people who's reaction times are simply not what they used to be (that cannot be debated - it is an age thing) and have motorcycles vastly overpowered from the slower models they completed their test on in the early seventies. The scenario you often hear (and you certainly do hear it a lot round here) is he sold his bike in his twenties to pay for the mortgage, had kids, finally cleared the house by 45 to 50, and went out and bought a shiny new lightweight race replica and killed himself within a fortnight. Tragic yes - but you have to question what these guys are thinking - I can probably react quicker than them and I'd not be comfortable riding at 140 or 150mph on even fairly open road - the only time I'd probably consider it is on a track or an airfield - somewhere where the unknowns can be reasonably safely eliminated (although certainly not entirely so).

 

Of course younger lads fall foul as well - but round here it definitely is a middle age activity for many and I'd of though if you analysed the data they'd come up as being the highest risk group!

 

I ride a 400cc motorcycle and cannot see why you'd need more (it accellerates very quick and it's nothing like the quickest of bikes), so perhaps the way to handle this is to limit the power a motorcycle can have (not engine size, but actual power). I actually had a RGV125 on a learner plate for nearly three years which is waay to quick and powerful for someone to be riding without a license really - even restricted.

 

By the way - I've witnessed a great many accidents on roads whilst travelling about and car/car accidents are equally as horrific and truck/car accidents even more so. If anything should be done about sorting accidents properly vetting lorry drivers abilities to drive for long durations (and review it) should certainly be an essential element - we've all driven behind the 'twisty' lorry drivers, and they really shouldn't be on the bloody road. Car tests should be more in depth - even if it means increasing the expense - my missus won't drive on a motorway - not because it's dangerous but because she has zero confidence behind the wheel of a car - despite having a perfect licence and no accidents!

 

Motorbike tests (or modern ones) are actually a lot harder than car tests in general. My car test lasted 15 minutes (2001) and my motorbike test (same year) over 45mins. I actually failed the motorbike test first time, and passed it again about four weeks later (the tiniest amount of rear skidding on an emergency stop - despite stopping in perfectly good distance).

[paul mc]

I own a 1000cc sports bike and absoloutly love the thing but as ian said its not the bikes that kill its the people riding them inapropriatly or the numties who pull out on them without looking properly, whilst that picture is dramatic imagine what would be left of it if a car had hit it at the same speed.

If everbody used common sense when out on the road then there would be verry few accidents. Its not just bikes that go fast either some of these modern cars can now go as fast as superbikes if not faster.If people want bikes restricted then a lot of cars should be as well.

If i want a bike that goes fast then why should i not be able to have one. Why should someone be able to by a 500bhp car but not a 140bhp bike, its all about personal choice and i prefer bikes even tho i own a car and drive a van.

[Emz]

If everbody used common sense when out on the road then there would be verry few accidents.

 

Your right Paul and I think that is the main issue here. I know quite a few bikers who are very sensible drivers, but its the rest of the idiots on the road that give them a bad name. A bike has never really been my thing, I'll always drive a car, but if the people who ride bikes were more sensible, there probably would be a lot less accidents on the road today

[ridgeacre]

Accidents don't happen, they are caused.

[severus]

My 22 year-old son sold his crotch rocket today. What a relief. He had to choose between being broke and enjoying his ride - I'm proud to say that my boy made the right choice, IMHO. I mean, I hated the sight of that fricking machine. Not that I didn't own one back in my salad days; I did. But I sold mine after a few close calls that served to convince me that I wasn't destined to be invulnerable to disaster.