Bozo Bikers

art

Have to get this off my chest.

I was driving down the Con Colbert road (N4?) towards town the other day in fairly heavy traffic which was all, however, moving at a nice brisk pace. The section of road is a 50mph section but me and all the cars were moving along at 60mph.

I'm in the fast lane about two cars lengths behind the guy in front and on the inside is another car - which does irk me a bit, having driven on the continent and watched excellent lane observance/courtesy, that in Ireland cars sit in fast lanes often parallel to someone in the slower lane for miles on end blocking anyone else behind them. But as we were all 10mph over the speed limit at the time, it wasn't really an issue.

All of a sudden a geezer and pillion on a little rat of a thing, speed up on the lay-by section and under-take everyone. My first thought was that ****er is just going to get himself killed and it will be his choice. I'm sure it confirmed to all the car drivers prejudices that we are almost all idiots in helmets. But then, out of nowhere (and I'm a keen mirror watcher) a BMW over-priced R1200 or some such under-took me right inside my own lane going about 80mph. That ****er could have killed me! He went past and weaved between the two cars in front and off speeding on his way. I was so annoyed I speeded up myself and was going to yell at him when I caught him (which is me being stupid, old enough to know better now) however traffic lights intervened.

Anyways, I get on really well with loads of bikers but I ****ing hate when some bonzos make us all look bad by being idiotic in the extreme like this. I know they'll probably both end up as just another crash statistic eventually, assuming they keep driving like that, but what probably pisses me off most is the lack of couresy shown by the BMW driver under-taking, no quick flash of lights, no hanging back letting me know he was there for a few minutes, just barrelled on by on my inside. I've nothing but disrespect for that guy.

madrab

[pedantic]its not a fast lane its an overtaking lane [/pedantic]
sorry, that just annoys me when people say that

but yeah i know what you mean, even though i am guilty of the odd hard shoulder usage, if i ever pass a biker i will always give a few seconds behind him so that he can (hopefully) see me & follow it up with a quick wave & vice versa if there is a bike coming up behind me trying to pass i will always give it room

Hagar

So you are by your own admission

a) driving, not overtaking, in the overtaking lane
b) breaking the speed limit
c) driving too close to the car in front

I can see why you would be irked at another road user breaking the rules of the road.:mad:

seamus

Yeah it drives me nuts. You just now that all the other cars around you are thinking "Ah yeah, fecking bikers, they all have deathwishes".

The one I'll never forget is driving down the M50 in the overtaking lane, doing 65mph+, heavy traffic and it was just after a heavy rain, so lots of spray, lots of surface water. Up behind us all comes an R6, easily doing 80mph, blasts straight between the lanes.

Complete insanity. My blood was boiling after that one. What surprised me most was that he looked like a proper biker - good helmet, proper boots, red racing leathers.

Idleater

art wrote:

Have to get this off my chest.

I was driving down the Con Colbert road (N4?) towards town the other day ...
:
:
... All of a sudden a geezer and pillion on a little rat of a thing, speed up on the lay-by section and under-take everyone...

Which section of road are you talking about? The bit coming up to Heuston Station (which is 50kmph and called St Johns road) or the dual carrige way between the traffic lights at the end of the Chapelizod Bypass and the Traffic lights at the Island Bridge Junction (which is 60 kmph and Concolbert Road).

In both cases anyway isn't that a buslane on the left? Which is still illegal mind but hardly a dangerous undertaking manouvre??? If I remember correctly the one on St Johns road is some hours Mon-Fri (perhaps Sat) only.

I agree that the BMW passing you in your own lane was a smite dangerous all right.

L.

art

nereid wrote:

Which section of road are you talking about? The bit coming up to Heuston Station (which is 50kmph and called St Johns road) or the dual carrige way between the traffic lights at the end of the Chapelizod Bypass and the Traffic lights at the Island Bridge Junction (which is 60 kmph and Concolbert Road).

In both cases anyway isn't that a buslane on the left? Which is still illegal mind but hardly a dangerous undertaking manouvre??? If I remember correctly the one on St Johns road is some hours Mon-Fri (perhaps Sat) only.

I agree that the BMW passing you in your own lane was a smite dangerous all right.

L.

No, way before Island Bridge, sort of around Ballyfermot. I'm pretty sure it wasn't a bus lane - red coloured and only a few feet wide! (I wouldn't be too bothered about use of Bus Lanes myself as well )

art

Hagar wrote:

So you are by your own admission

a) driving, not overtaking, in the overtaking lane
b) breaking the speed limit
c) driving too close to the car in front

I can see why you would be irked at another road user breaking the rules of the road.:mad:

Yes that's right, I'm a total mad bastard me, doing what I believe is safe to do at the time and not rigidly sticking to the letters of the rule-book. But if you note in my post, what annoyed me is not so much breaking road rules as a disrespect between bikers - far more important that, in my opinion

Hagar

Red coloured lane - could that be a cycle lane? :rolleyes:

art wrote:

what annoyed me is not so much breaking road rules as a disrespect between bikers - far more important that, in my opinion

What's this? The "Code of the West" or something?
If you really want to show respect to fellow bikers, not forgetting car drivers and cyclists, follow the rules of the road. All of them, not just the ones you think are appropriate at any given moment.

Breaking 3 rules at once is pretty impressive. Anything else you forgot to mention?

madrab

seamus wrote:

What surprised me most was that he looked like a proper biker - good helmet, proper boots, red racing leathers.

proper gear does not a safe biker make

art

Hagar wrote:

Red coloured lane - could that be a cycle lane? :rolleyes:

Perhaps. Or a lay-by. As I wasn't near it I don't know. Not really in the habit of weaving around the road to see what's in each lane myself.

Hagar wrote:

Breaking 3 rules at once is pretty impressive. Anything else you forgot to mention?

Well I was naked at the time and reading a magazine - not sure if that's covered by the book of rules too?

subway

it wasnt me that went past you - i dont drive a beemer,
but if im travelling between lanes and see a biker 20 cars ahead and not filtering i wouldnt usually hang back to see if theyre going to start anytime soon.

ive never flashed any biker when passing,
and ive never been flashed by any biker passing me in my moments of reaxed lane following.

what was your lane position?
were you dawdling towards the left or more to the right?
if it was the left id slow down for 3 - 4 seconds to seeif you move, then go,
if you were to the right i probably wouldnt even consider slowing down.
especially when your already well aware of the maneuvrings of random lane changing cars

Hagar

OT - Over here in France bikers have a nice habit of extending their right leg after they have passed you if you have been courteous enough to give them a bit of room. It's nice to get an acknowledegement from a 2 wheeler. It encourages more courtesy. It looks particularly nice in the summer from a girl with good legs.;)

madrab

Hagar wrote:

OT - Over here in France bikers have a nice habit of extending their right leg after they have passed you if you have been courteous enough to give them a bit of room. It's nice to get an acknowledegement from a 2 wheeler. It encourages more courtesy. It looks particularly nice in the summer from a girl with good legs.;)

women...driving...bikes.....:eek:

art

subway wrote:

it wasnt me that went past you - i dont drive a beemer,
but if im travelling between lanes and see a biker 20 cars ahead and not filtering i wouldnt usually hang back to see if theyre going to start anytime soon.

ive never flashed any biker when passing,
and ive never been flashed by any biker passing me in my moments of reaxed lane following.

what was your lane position?
were you dawdling towards the left or more to the right?
if it was the left id slow down for 3 - 4 seconds to seeif you move, then go,
if you were to the right i probably wouldnt even consider slowing down.
especially when your already well aware of the maneuvrings of random lane changing cars

Well travelling between lanes at 80mph is pretty dangerous for a start and isn't what I would usually refer to as "filtering". As I said at the start, I was in the "over-taking" lane, middle of, but I would often weave a bit about in my lane to get the best view of the road ahead so its quite possible I would have moved over to the left of the lane just as that eejit decided to power on by.

I would never race past a biker without knowing he saw me first. I'd slow down about two or three bike distances behind and wait for him to clock me in his mirrors. If he doesn't, and I intend going past, I flash him. I do similar things with cars too but bikers are more mobile so more care is needed with over-taking and the like. Under-taking, however, is always ****ing stupid - the exact position within a lane is irrelevant, it can change very quickly.

Had the guy got a bit more courtesy I would gladly have moved clearly out of his way, by the way, even though I'd still think him a tit.

art

madrab wrote:

women...driving...bikes.....:eek:

and no protection! :eek:

Idleater

art wrote:

Well travelling between lanes at 80mph is pretty dangerous for a start and isn't what I would usually refer to as "filtering". As I said at the start, I was in the "over-taking" lane, middle of, but I would often weave a bit about in my lane to get the best view of the road ahead so its quite possible I would have moved over to the left of the lane just as that eejit decided to power on by.

I agree with your post, particularly that filtering at 80kmph is not the best and that waiting behind until the motorist in front has seen you etc. However, I was told when doing my lessons and reaffirmed when doing the advanced course that you should do a lifesaver every time you move to the left or right - even in lane. "Every time you change position in the road you should be aware what is/could be there". Once you get into the habit of doing it, it becomes very easy and some time it could actually save your life.

The reason for this, I was told, is exactly the reason that you have highlighted - not all drivers are as safety concious as you are and they might slip up the inside etc. My instructors had delightful comments about muppet younglads on mopeds but that is for another day/thread...

This is applicable to both cars and bikes and I suppose all motor vehicles.

L.