PLEASE could my letter, which is in response to the letter last week head "Forest parking', be published to try and make some people more aware of life as a road user and a motorcyclist.
Firstly I do not wish to lower myself to the level of naming car drivers as idiots and starting a tit-for tat reply chain, as there are some who are considerate, who are not always rushing about and who do have a basic knowlegde of the Highway Code.
Having read this story here is my version or understanding of the events leading up to the "accident."
A car driver (possibly in too much of a hurry), decides to pass some cars parked on the side of the road where they are entitled to do so. A motorcycle rider is negotiating his way along the pothole riddled road from the opposite direction. Due to the sad state of the roads and the very nature of riding, he has to concentrate and look where he is going, a bit more than the car driver, to stay the right way up.
The car driver has shown his/her lack of consideration for the Highway Code and other road users. I have encountered this on numerous occasions. So who are the idiots?
The person riding and weaving on a road which is in a terrible state? Parkend Road in Bream springs to mind!
The road team responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the roads? The car driver showing disregard for the Highway Code on at least two counts. Firstly, overtaking when it is not safe to do so and when he/she does not have the right of way. Secondly, not leaving enough space between their car and the parked cars during the manouevre. I trust you stopped at the scene of the accident and exchanged details!
I have been a motorcycle rider for over 25 years and am fed up with the contempt shown to us by other road users. I will at the same time accept that there are some idiots who ride motorbikes: they are not motorcyclists!
Please consider that if you drive or ride you will have problems with other road users, but before you start mouthing off, brush up on your Highway Code and establish who is allowed to do what. As I pay all the required fees, taxes and insurance premiums on my vehicles I have as much right to use the road as anyone else.
So please slow down. There is no hurry. Stop and check carefully, both ways.
Consider my motorbike to be the size of a bus. Would you act in the same way? Pretend you are on a bicycle or are a pedestrian. Would you walk into the road or cross without checking and double checking. The summer is here and there are more bicycles, horses, pedestrians and motorcyles on the roads.
Think! Look! Calm Down! Life is too short.
Thank you if you have read this far. Safe motoring.
Name and address supplied.