Whose fault was this one?

no-oneknowsme

Buellguy wrote: »

I'll add a couple more - NOTHING like the accident in the OP

Ok ,whatever!

Stll cant figure out how you are coming to that conclusion though as both the OP accident and my Dads accident involve a car pulling out of a junction and a motorcyclist being smacked whilst there is a line of traffic STOPPED (but I dont argue with idiots so will leave you to it)

Wongsky

Jamie_Carter wrote: »

Well you need to do far more in depth research if that is your conclusion. For example, try looking at the sidelights on a Scania truck on a dull wet day (like in the video), and it will be quite plain to see that they do not make the vehicle more visible at all. But the dipped beam headlights do.

So if that Scania truck was parked up, at night, in such a location that it needed to have it's positional lamps lit, which ones would be lit.

And you're saying they would be insufficient for it to be seen at night?

Buellguy

It's nice and easy - in the OP the bike was filtering perfectly legally down the side of some traffic on the correct side of the road and, apart from being a bit quicker than I'd do it in the rain, very safely (near crown of road etc)
In your post the rider was on the wrong side of the road (well maybe not cos of the next bit) riding across hatchings that were there as a filter for traffic (not just drivers - motorcyclists and cyclists as well).
completely different scenarios.

(speaks as someone who has been the victim of a SMIDSY and now has a permenant injury to my left elbow)

pendulum

no-oneknowsme wrote: »

If he had stayed on his own side of the road and obeyed the road markings then he wouldnt have been involved in an accident at all! The simple fact is he shouldnt have been driving over an area of the road which was designed for drivers coming in the opposite direction.

I can see you're not a motorcyclist, entering dashed chevrons to filter past stationary/slow moving traffic is standard practice so long as it's done with care, they will even teach you to do this on Advanced biker courses run by the police, a biker can use any part of the road providing there's not a law to say he can't and providing his actions aren't blatantly careless. It's called making progress and that is part of what motorcycling is about. Of course your situation is different to the OP's (even though you deny that fact) and we do not have the benefit of a video to judge, just one no doubt biased account based on passed on info, but from what you've said it still doesn't sound like the bikers fault as your dad was the one emerging on to the main road, just because some traffic chose to give way doesn't mean he has the right to pull out on traffic that hasn't. Generally in my view it's usually the car driver's fault and I am both a car driver and biker. Car drivers just don't look enough.

Interesting you mention motability driver, as they are the bloody worst for not seeing bikers.

no-oneknowsme

pendulum wrote: »

.

Interesting you mention motability driver, as they are the bloody worst for not seeing bikers.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:Sorry , didnt read the rest of your post but this bit above jumped out at me!!

It may well have been my Dad driving "his" mobility car but the disabled one is actually my Mother who was NOT driving at the time of the accident :rotfl::rotfl:

Nice to see that you are full of heart for the disabled though.

Lum

Jamie_Carter wrote: »

Well you need to do far more in depth research if that is your conclusion. For example, try looking at the sidelights on a Scania truck on a dull wet day (like in the video), and it will be quite plain to see that they do not make the vehicle more visible at all. But the dipped beam headlights do.

I remember when the sidelights on pretty much all vehicles were at about the same level of brightness as on the trucks you are complaining about.

There were no visibility issues then as people's lights weren't getting drowned out by the Corsa in front with misaligned eBay HIDs from China.

The reason you don't see the enormous truck now is because you are used to modern cars with obnoxiously bright lights and are not looking for or at least not noticing anything dimmer.

And if you can't see a truck with normal lights, bikers (pedal and motor) have absolutely no chance!

Motorbikers have clearly joined the arms race, hence that BMW bike mentioned that people keep thinking is on full beams, cyclists have responded with those horrible flashing lights that come with their own unique problems. Pedestrians are still unlit and are becoming less and less visible as a result.

Buellguy

pendulum wrote: »

Interesting you mention motability driver, as they are the bloody worst for not seeing bikers.

Personally I find the flat cap brigade far worse (although the guy that SMIDSY'd me was only in his late 30's)

Buellguy

Lum wrote: »

Motorbikers have clearly joined the arms race, hence that BMW bike mentioned that people keep thinking is on full beams, cyclists have responded with those horrible flashing lights that come with their own unique problems. Pedestrians are still unlit and are becoming less and less visible as a result.

Unfortunately on my bike I don't have a choice - headlight is on permanently. The other one to remember about bikes is that they move more under braking and acceleration making it look like we are on full beam. Also bike lights are higher than car lights (i.e. If I'm behind you in a queue of traffic my headlight is just about the same level as your rear window - possibly makes it look like I'm on full beam when in reality I'm not)

Lum

pendulum wrote: »

I can see you're not a motorcyclist, entering dashed chevrons to filter past stationary/slow moving traffic is standard practice so long as it's done with care, they will even teach you to do this on Advanced biker courses run by the police, a biker can use any part of the road providing there's not a law to say he can't and providing his actions aren't blatantly careless.

[pedant]chevrons never have a dashed border as they're only used on motorways, hatched areas can have a dashed border[/pedant]

So assuming you meant hatched area. It's not just motorcyclists that are allowed to enter those. Cars are allowed too. There is no law against it and in may places they are put there with the intent of allowing overtaking.

I love them, it's basically saying "this area reserved for people who have actually read and understood the highway code!"

However it is a SHOULD NOT in the highway code so if you enter it you should be prepared to be unexpected. If you enter that area and it's intended for people coming the other way to turn right, and then someone actually pulls into the right turn area and you have a head on collision, it should go down as your fault in any civil matter that follows.

So in this case I think nooneknowsme's dad actually got a pretty poor deal, probably has a lazy insurance company that couldn't be bothered to fight it.

Lum

Buellguy wrote: »

Unfortunately on my bike I don't have a choice - headlight is on permanently. The other one to remember about bikes is that they move more under braking and acceleration making it look like we are on full beam. Also bike lights are higher than car lights (i.e. If I'm behind you in a queue of traffic my headlight is just about the same level as your rear window - possibly makes it look like I'm on full beam when in reality I'm not)

I'm aware of this. I don't begrudge bikers from wanting to stand out more than all the cars thanks to all the SMIDSYs they are on the receiving end of. What I am complaining about is all the car drivers with headlights during the day, and fairy lights that are hardwired to on that have made it necessary for bikes to get this damn bright!

My car is a bit lower than most moderns, even though it's a 4 door saloon the roof is about level with the window line of some SUVs. So when a modern bike is behind me the light is constantly flickering and changing intensity in a manner that is incredibly distracting, draws my eyes to it and then leaves after images, so I end up flicking the lever on my mirror to preserve my forward vision.

To be fair Audis, with their suspension dampers made out of granite, are worse, all the flickering effects of a bike light combined with colour shifting between red, yellow, white and blue. Oh and being an Audi driver their headlights will be filling both my wing mirrors while in the rear view mirror they will be hidden by my boot, unless it's an Allroad.