Ducati Sporting Club UK > General > Idle Chat > Think! Road Safety

[Loz]

Here's a link to a large video clip (18Mb approx). A really effective safety message I reckon. Good job

http://www.thinkroadsafety.gov.uk/ca...perfectday.mpg

Other download options can be found here: http://www.thinkroadsafety.gov.uk/ca...edia.htm#video

[Edited on 3-7-2004 by Loz]

Every car driver should see that.................its an accurate portrayal of what we have to put up with day in day out.

Probably 10 times worse down in Dorset

[dave w]

Don't get me started on the drivers down here....... Hells has a 95 year old patient that is still driving !!!!!.... Says it all really !

Frightening with a capital OMG !

[kwikbitch]

Mmmm...Thought provoking...Why is it not shown on Prime time though???
Is it really what we have to PUT UP WITH though...???If we dont want to put up with it then we need to get off the road and on the track.

We already know what hazards are out there...we all choose to ride bikes...Surely this is just a reminder to all those that want to ride that we should all be riding defensively...
Expect the unexpected and all that...

[Paul James]

Reckon you should include the horse riders with the car drivers Everton, I never fail to get annoyed when coming round a corner to be faced with a pile of steaming horse shite !!! They are quick enough to shake their fists at us bike riders for making too much noise and frightening their horses.

Roads are too busy these days for horses, the government banned handguns for no valid reason, let's ban horses next.

[bradders]

Originally posted by Paul James
Reckon you should include the horse riders with the car drivers Everton, I never fail to get annoyed when coming round a corner to be faced with a pile of steaming horse <b>[Censored]</b> !!! They are quick enough to shake their fists at us bike riders for making too much noise and frightening their horses.

Roads are too busy these days for horses, the government banned handguns for no valid reason, let's ban horses next.

Seconded - it scares me that on small, almost single track roads you have adults, and oftern young children, piloting something which can be uncontrollable....many on roads which have 50 and 60mph speed limits and without any need for insurance etc..

and unlike a cyclist, you cannot take easy evasive action, and give a wide birth, because of the risk the horse will react.

Who would be at fault if you rounded a corner, at 40 in a 50, and ran straight into the back of one? I am surprised we dont hear more about it..keep horses where they belong, off the road!

[Mark]

Originally posted by everton
Every car driver should see that.................its an accurate portrayal of what we have to put up with day in day out.

Probably 10 times worse down in Dorset

It's the tractors in Dorset u have to worry about!

And no need to put yaself down Tart 1, we know u're really 97!!

[antonye]

Originally posted by Paul James
Reckon you should include the horse riders with the car drivers Everton, I never fail to get annoyed when coming round a corner to be faced with a pile of steaming horse <b>[Censored]</b> !!! They are quick enough to shake their fists at us bike riders for making too much noise and frightening their horses.

Roads are too busy these days for horses, the government banned handguns for no valid reason, let's ban horses next.

We had exactly the same problem on the Essex rideout this weekend. I was in the lead and came round a left-hand bend in a 30 zone (doing 30 would you believe) and I spotted the horse and rider about 300 yards in the distance.

She spotted me at the same time, and I backed off the throttle, but straight away she was furiously waving her hand motioning for me to slow down. WTF? As soon as she spots me she's going ape - how did she know what speed I was doing? I was already slowing down, but she obviously knew better and decided I was riding too fast.

Normally I don't have a problem with horses or their owners - I slow down for them as bikers and horse-riders tend to have a mutual respect for each other - but this woman, who was not wearing a helmet nor reflective clothing, automatically decided I was in the wrong.

I just bimbled past shaking my head and let her get on with it. I found at as we stopped that she gave all the others who came past a load of grief too, even though they were pootling through the village as well.

Looks like it's not just one stupid biker who spoils it for the rest - the same applies for horse riders too!

[Eamonn]

Let's not get too carried away here!

Horse travel has been around far longer than motor vehicles and I suspect that there would be many who would say they have right of way (much like sail having priority over motor in the boating world).

If horses are banned due to them '..not being suitable to todays road conditions..', how long before someone decides that m/cycles should also be banned due to the high percentage of motorcyclists who are injured/killed on the roads each year?

IMHO if you're riding around small country lanes you should expect to find horses, tractors, mud, diesel, etc. since that's the norm. (whether you think it's right or not!). You don't often see a horse rider travelling down a dual carriageway as this tends to be the natural domain of the motor vehicle.

When in the countryside you have to be prepared for countryside hazards, just like in town you have to be ready for the hazards there (cameras (!), pedestrians, etc.). You have to adapt your riding to the environment you're in. There will always be the minority in a group who will upset it for the rest as Antony says - but mostly I've not had a problem with horse riders.

I don't know if a horse rider needs any training and/or insurance before venturing on the road (I suspect not), perhaps CK can comment on this - I feel sure she'll want to

[rockhopper]

Its funny how some people go out for a ride and come back with all sorts of stories about near misses and did you see that idiot car driver etc. I do about 10,000 miles a year on my bike and i dont have 10% of the incidents that some appear to have.