Biker caught at 156mph gets 18month ban & fine

[Struwwelpeter]

Unless they're coppers of course.. Remember that case a few years ago of an off-duty officer who was caught doing something like 135mph on the motorway and his excuse was he was just brushing up his advanced driving skills? He either got way with it, or very nearly did.

If it's the one I'm thinking of, it was near Telford. He got let off by the first judge, it was appealed and he was found guilty, then got some meaningless sentence (x week ban where x is a low number). Same judge found a cyclist guilty of cycling dangerously (or whatever the offence would be) for not using a poorly maintained cycle path on the wrong side of the road. Case was appealed and the second court dismissed the charge immediately.

 

[Struwwelpeter]

To DownwardDog et al - I hope that you get to donate your organs before you cause someone else to donate theirs. Other road users are not expecting people doing more than double the speed limit, nor should they. Stick to the race track for that sort of riding.

 

[Meltingpot]

If it's the one I'm thinking of, it was near Telford. He got let off by the first judge, it was appealed and he was found guilty, then got some meaningless sentence (x week ban where x is a low number). Same judge found a cyclist guilty of cycling dangerously (or whatever the offence would be) for not using a poorly maintained cycle path on the wrong side of the road. Case was appealed and the second court dismissed the charge immediately.

That guy Milton, wasn't it (I forget his first name)? If memory serves, he was caught at 159 mph.

 

[Radar]

At 156mph I suppose he thought there wasn't much point in checking his mirrors, but proves what a bad motorcyclist he is, being that unaware at such extreme speeds.

Looking in your mirrors won't help you avoid being killed at those sort of speeds, a constant forward scan will.

Still, incredibly risky behaviour when there's other traffic about. Even without other traffic, it's bloody scary how tight a slight curve becomes when you're hitting warp factor "faarkk"

 

[sim667]

Ive done that speed in a car (not me driving) and it was as scary as fuck........ it was at 4am though!

I'd never go that fast myself unless it was a circuit closed road, but even then fuck doing it on a bike.

Rider gets everything he deserves imho.

 

[geminisnake]

Unless they're coppers of course.. Remember that case a few years ago of an off-duty officer who was caught doing something like 135mph on the motorway and his excuse was he was just brushing up his advanced driving skills? He either got way with it, or very nearly did.

Coppers always get off with whatever ime

 

[Meltingpot]

Ive done that speed in a car (not me driving) and it was as scary as fuck........ it was at 4am though!

Wow, what was the car?

 

[Pingu]

Wow, what was the car?

 

[sim667]

Wow, what was the car?

It was something you would never think would go that fast, like a 4x4 or something? I was exceedingly exceedingly drunk.

 

[sim667]

My friend who does know said it wasn't quite that fast, more like 135-40.... BMW X5

I wasn't that keen I do remember that.

 

[weltweit]

It is so ridiculous this phobia we have with speed. In Germany, if your vehicle is designed to go up to 155mph then there are some places where you are permitted to do that.

 

[likesfish]

You can go spend cash and do it on a track where it's fucking suppoused to be controlled.
Autobahns are not fucking racetracks

 

[mauvais]

It is so ridiculous this phobia we have with speed. In Germany, if your vehicle is designed to go up to 155mph then there are some places where you are permitted to do that.

Pretty much agreed - our motorways would facilitate it, and the speed didn't inherently constitute dangerous driving. Other traffic not expecting it did though, and regardless of your opinion on the law, it is what it is and he should have got the punishment.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

I wonder however if the police motorcyclist was adding to the risks to others by following him at that speed.

I bet he was loving it.

 

[Tobermory53]

Autobahns are not fucking racetracks

Correct, they are simply roads where portions are not subjected to a randomly selected speed limit.

Strangely, they don't appear to be blood soaked avenues of mayhem.

 

[editor]

Correct, they are simply roads where portions are not subjected to a randomly selected speed limit.
Strangely, they don't appear to be blood soaked avenues of mayhem.

What's that got to do with arrogant muppets racing along the motorways of the UK? Do I really need to remind you of the horrendous motorcyclist fatality rates in the UK?

 

[likesfish]

Probably because it's full of Germans who tend to be rule orientated.
Rather than a bunch of muppets who can't quite grasp the idea. That a road system needs a set of rules for everyone to stick to for it to function safely.

 

[Tobermory53]

What's that got to do with arrogant muppets racing along the motorways of the UK? Do I really need to remind you of the horrendous motorcyclist fatality rates in the UK?

In the first place, what evidence is there that this moron was "racing"? Unless he was carrying out some form of trial against the clock to beat his previous best, then he was imply exceeding the speed limit and driving dangerously as opposed to competing with another motorist.

Sure, motorcycling generates higher fatality rates than morris dancing - so what - should we also legislate to prevent people from wandering around the hills inappropriately dressed and without the relevant skills?

 

[editor]

In the first place, what evidence is there that this moron was "racing"? Unless he was carrying out some form of trial against the clock to beat his previous best, then he was imply exceeding the speed limit and driving dangerously as opposed to competing with another motorist.

Sure, motorcycling generates higher fatality rates than morris dancing - so what - should we also legislate to prevent people from wandering around the hills inappropriately dressed and without the relevant skills?

We've already legislated against arrogant, speeding idiots who think that the rules of the road don't apply to them, thanks.

 

[Tobermory53]

We've already legislated against arrogant, speeding idiots who think that the rules of the road don't apply to them, thanks.

And yet there are still people who insist on knowing better - like morons who blithely cycle through red lights.

 

[editor]

And yet there are still people who insist on knowing better - like morons who blithely cycle through red lights.

Yes and they're every bit as twattish as the stupid arrogant fucks who think the motorway is their private race track. And your point is what exactly?

 

[co-op]

Correct, they are simply roads where portions are not subjected to a randomly selected speed limit.

Strangely, they don't appear to be blood soaked avenues of mayhem.

But a bit more "blood-soaked" than UK motorways.

Different estimates are out there but generally German death rates on autobahns (per passenger mile) are agreed to be about 75% higher than motorways in the UK.

 

[editor]

Indeed:

Other work on the link between speed increases and deaths on those roads showed a 38% increase in death for a 10mph increase on US roads and that German autobahns, which have no speed limit, have a death rate 75% higher than that in the UK.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/sep/30/speed-limit-rise-deaths-pollution

 

[co-op]

And yet there are still people who insist on knowing better - like morons who blithely cycle through red lights.

Oooh! Look!! Over there!!

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

But a bit more "blood-soaked" than UK motorways.

Different estimates are out there but generally German death rates on autobahns (per passenger mile) are agreed to be about 75% higher than motorways in the UK.

German motorways scare the shit out of me. Great big BMWs coming right up yer chuff when your already hammering along at 90. Dangerous mentality the Germans have, backed up by a massively powerful lobby in the form of BMW, Porsche, Audi, Mercedes & VW.

A customer of mine moved to Germany 5 years ago with his wife & 3 kids. 2 months later the wife and 3 kids were killed on an autobahn. Imagine that, going from a family man with a house full of kids to a single man, in the blink of an eye. *shudders*

 

[weltweit]

German motorways scare the shit out of me. Great big BMWs coming right up yer chuff when your already hammering along at 90. Dangerous mentality the Germans have, backed up by a massively powerful lobby in the form of BMW, Porsche, Audi, Mercedes & VW.

I have driven on Autobahn a lot and I actually find it more predictable than driving in UK motorways. You want to overtake, you check behind, accelerate move out overtake and then move back into the slower lane. You don't hog the fast lane because that would be bad driving and dangerous.

A customer of mine moved to Germany 5 years ago with his wife & 3 kids. 2 months later the wife and 3 kids were killed on an autobahn. Imagine that, going from a family man with a house full of kids to a single man, in the blink of an eye. *shudders*

How awful.
Yes I know a woman who had lost her husband and son in road accidents.

 

[editor]

Someone got killed on my road in the middle of the day a few years back, thanks to some fucking dickhead on a speeding superbike.

 

[co-op]

Thing is, I'm not normally too hard on bikers because they don't suffer the same moral hazard as car drivers - if they crash, they are probably going to hurt themselves nearly as much as anyone else involved, the risk is shared. But 156 mph, you are basically a missile, if you lose control and hit any one else at that speed they are dead/crippled/widowed/orphaned/etc/etc whether in a car or not.

I mean if there's literally no one else on the motorway...maybe. But when do you ever see that?

Not cool.

And car drivers/van drivers playing the cunt is always out of order, especially on urban streets. Should be an instant one year ban for that.

 

[Tobermory53]

And your point is what exactly?

Parliament could reduce speed limits on motorways to 20 mph but that wouldn't stop people speeding.

The problem is proper enforcement, coupled with deterrent levels of sentencing. That's why all vehicles that wish to travel on the road should display a licence plate.

A licence scheme for bicycles would generate a reasonable number of jobs and also revenue from the profit from the annual licence fee (so long as it's outsourced properly) and fine collection.

 

[co-op]

Parliament could reduce speed limits on motorways to 20 mph but that wouldn't stop people speeding.

The problem is proper enforcement, coupled with deterrent levels of sentencing. That's why all vehicles that wish to travel on the road should display a licence plate.

Not sure I'm really following your thread here. You appeared to claim that speed was an irrelevance - apparently citing the German example as evidence. A couple of posters have pointed out that that's wrong as German death rates are much higher.

Now you seem to be saying that speed ?is an issue? but that enforcement is key? I'd agree with that claim - we have good evidence that two thirds of motor vehicles routinely break the speed limit and of course this is largely because the limits are more or less unenforced. How do you think they should be? Do you support a crack down on motorists law breaking?

A licence scheme for bicycles would generate a reasonable number of jobs and also revenue from the profit from the annual licence fee (so long as it's outsourced properly) and fine collection.

This doesn't really seem to follow very logically from what you you have implied above. If enforcement is the problem, how is adding a huge new group to be enforced help? Wouldn't it be better to deal with the problem we already have?

There's also a proportionality problem with your proposal here; cyclists kill, on average fewer than one person per year, motorists many thousands. Rather than the massive expense of cracking down on a more or less completely non-killling group, wouldn't it make more sense to concentrate on the problem group?

I mean in practical terms what you're suggesting would be a nightmare but it doesn't seem to make sense either.

Basically what is your agenda?