Let's hope there are members of a biker gang in the same jail.
And, yes, I too am glad to see that at last a judge has given the car driving perp an appropriate sentence.
As for obstructing motorcyclists, I have had more problems around the North East than in my part of the world and London where most drivers are surprisingly courteous or at worst tolerant towards motorcyclists.
Some years back, I did seem to suffer from a spate of car drivers coming the other way and pulling out complete with flashing lights, horn and hand gestures to force me back into the traffic stream. I would usually stay where I was and make my own hand gestures. Why does a half brick never come to hand when you need one?
fwiw : I don't even get involved with hand gestures these days. It can only make a situation worse, if not for you, for the next biker who happens along.
On a bike, there's no way I'm picking a fight with some ar*e in a 2 ton steel box. If they want to prove their ignorance, let them. It wont be long before there's another opportunity to get by.
Unfortunately, motoring offences are notorious for being under punished, what ought to be attempted murder often is prosecuted as reckless driving or worse not at all.
At least this went to court, and so it should. I doubt the driver intended this outcome, although we know the he wasn't thinking of the biker when he kindly blocked him from dangerously overtaking, but try proving it. The Judge was obviously biker friendly - and good on it!
But how often does this happen and the biker manages the situation, it doesn't make the driver any less guilty. So this ought to be highlighted in car mags, car drivers behave in this way all the time. They need to know what the consequences could be, and that they can't get away with being vindictive b***ards just cos they are encased.
1 down how many to go?
Was talking to one of the bikers at the Predators rally at the weekend, he was coming up from the HElls Angel funeral in London and some flash git cut him up on the road nearly put him of his bike, said it was so close to going under a lorry, so he road alongside and used his fist down onto the wing mirror and it promptly fell of the car.....he looked like a proper nasty piece of work as well lol, so I don't think the driver will be doing that to another biker in a hurry
Another disproportionate judgment in favor of the tin boxers!!
6ypsy you are right when it comes to tin boxers but courts tend to come down harder on bikers (the recent case of a jail sentence for and excessive speeder! for one example)
On the freedom ride this weekend (my 1st as a ride marshal) a pillock in a black vectra caused me to pull over and report his stupid road rage to two officers on route,
I'd stopped my section of riders to allow said vectra out and the car in front of him, but laddo decide that the car in front was taking too long to get out! and lent on his horn (passably pissed off about the 400+ bikes who'd already delayed his getting out the junction, I'd let em out as the zebra crossing in front of the junction and my group was at red, (we'd been assisted en route by the local police as given a handout that stated we had to follow the route and "all the rules of the road" plus not to let people out and keep up with the group "but inside the law" the 1st car was thankful and went the opposite direction to us all, the vectra decided he'd join us in our direction, but then abused the two bikes in front of him (who were awaiting two cars in front to clear a box junction) with excessive use of his horn a rider came up as the traffic started to flow and said loudly "what a pillock" I had to agree, he then filtered into the path of the vectra to "protect" the "L" plater (one of several which was nice to see on the "freedom ride!") who was the most nearest and being harassed with that laddo took it as a red rag to his bullish attitude and accelerated hard and braked late 3 times and gave the finger to the biker now in front of him also blowing his horn and "gesticulating profanity's" (my guess as I could not her him), any hoo the officers were in time to get our new found friends' number plate and said "we'll PNC that later and pay him a visit and have a little chat with him" hope they do as tossers like him are the type not to have insurance/tax/a license in the 1st place!!!
Well good on em HR, I hope they rattle him if nothing else. When there is a bobby on hand they will usually do the decent thing. TBH it's not them I have a problem with it's the CPS wanting an easy life. I imagine most police officers feel the same. The police put in all their time and effort to bring a charge then the CPS reduce the charges to make a conviction more certain, but it just ends up with the conviction not reflecting the crime.
Reportable speeding offences and possession of drugs are a doddle cos they're undeniable and keep up the CPS success rate stats! You stop someone for speeding or drugs and you have an instantly solved crime. Personally, I'm convinced that's why canabis was reclassified, as a Class C drug it was unreportable. Not sure if excessive speeding has been upgraded in the same way but it would explain the purge in recent years.
I'll get off me soap box now!
S'funny but every car driver on the road I meet is courteous and keen to let me pass as swiftly as possible - even pulling over to facilitate this. I don't know whether it's just my natural aurora of sunny disposition or the fact that I'm riding a fully striped up ex-police ST1100 but my rides are always uneventful.
At least the judge did something rather than letting the t****r off with community service or a warning,
Perhaps the next car driver who hears about this will think twice before cutting a bike up.
All to often we read about a biker killed by some idiot in a car who walks away scott free from court, so...
Well done that judge i say shame the're arn't a few more with his grip on reality.
@ jpharley. I do wear a white helmet and a hi-viz jacket :)
And here's something I've discovered. If I'm riding the bike with the hi-viz jacket and white helmet everyone else on the road couldn't be nicer and always manage to see me - even from a half mile away in their rear view mirrors, judging by the tail lights that suddenly come on in the distance.
If I ditch the hi-viz jacket and wear a matt black helmet a large percentage of car drivers will tailgate me, cut me up, and fail to give way at junctions and roundabouts.
I'm a tall bloke and I'm riding a fully striped up, huge and very white ST1100 - there is no way you could fail to see my bike coming. Yet without the er ... illusion created by the other riding gear I'm just a regular biker and therefore don't matter. They have seen me coming but they just don't care. They'll still make their play.
So all you people with Hi-Viz jackets are riding around under the false illusion that you're safe because you're visible. That isn't the case - they have seen you but they'll still take the risk of doing something stupid because the alternative is ... being delayed by a few seconds, having to change gear, or some other frightful inconvenience like stopping.
The police regularly quote the statistics that bikers are often involved in accidents because the other driver hasn't seen them. Those statistics are erroneous because they've been gleaned from a large proportion of lies following an RTA.
Imagine you're a car driver and you've just pulled out on a bike and injured or killed someone. Which sounds better out of the following when making a statement to a copper?
"I did see him / her officer but he /she seemed far enough away for me to make my maneuver without being inconvenienced by having to stop and wait (thinks and I'd be OK if there was an accident because I'm in a tin box). I thought it worth the risk"
"I'm sorry. I just didn't see him / her officer."
The first statement sounds deliberate, selfish, and callous. The second one sounds like mere carelessness and remorseful. Which do you think will play better in court and is therefore most heard?
I can't afford another spill. A BMW driver has already buggered up my knee. An Orion driver gave me a squished lower disk (and then buggered off whilst I was being peeled off the tarmac). A drunk driver in a Volkswagen estate gave me a permanently clicking neck. So now I like to give the impression that playing silly buggers might have more dire consequences than a ding in their front wing.
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