To All Bikers Who Exceed The Speed Limits On The Public Roads.

"THEY MADE ME GRAY" (autovox-is-the-one)
09/06/2014 at 15:11 • Filed to: CRAZY SPEEDING BIKERS

The Constabulary of Norfolk Police (UK) !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , including the helmet cam footage of the death of a dangerously speeding biker, in agreement with his family and on purpose of promoting road safety.

And please no one writes here that it was the car driver's fault, since the dear departed was running at 100 mph (160 km/h) on a country road, and the intersection was a few hundred feet down a hillock, so that the car driver could never have seen such a speeding bike in time. Viewer discretion is advised.

DISCUSSION (29)

Ducky > THEY MADE ME GRAY
09/06/2014 at 15:13

jesus. hearing the dude say "whoa!" and then go flying and not move... fuck

duurtlang > THEY MADE ME GRAY
09/06/2014 at 15:15

They were both at fault. This isn't a black and white issue where only one can be at fault. The guy on the bike was speeding irresponsibly and the person in the car didn't pay proper attention.

The Transporter > THEY MADE ME GRAY
09/06/2014 at 15:16

He'd be just as dead at 50 mph as 100.

Big Bubba Ray > THEY MADE ME GRAY
09/06/2014 at 15:19

I've seen this floating around facebook for the past couple days and everybody is blaming the driver of the car. The biker was a total asshat for going nearly 100 fucking miles an hour on a public road. He approaches the intersection and the markings on the road clearly say "SLOW."

Both parties are at fault, but I find it absurd that most people are pinning this solely on the driver of the car.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > duurtlang
09/06/2014 at 15:20

Bikes are hard to see when they're a fair distance away, which he was when the car started to turn. 100mph is utterly ridiculous on that road. I'm glad he went before he hurt anyone.

Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder > THEY MADE ME GRAY
09/06/2014 at 15:21

The description...

a ''hard hitting accident''

RWS Motorsport > THEY MADE ME GRAY
09/06/2014 at 15:28

Im from Norfolk (UK) and this was covered plenty in the press, both at the time of the accident and now, with the video being released.

It is worth pointing out that the driver of the black Clio that pulled across in front of the Biker admitted he didnt see the biker (travelleing at 100mph) but he also didnt see the car behind, travelling under the speed limit.

However because of the nature of the crash the driver of the clio was not charged, as the motorcyclist was speeding to such a high extent.

Also worth pointing out that the road in question (A47) has fatal accidents on it, atleast once a month i would say. Norfolk is very badly connected to other counties, and the A47 is the main link west. Therefore its very busy, and as its mostly single carriageway, with loads of side roads, there are frequent crashes.

However, all that said, yes, its a sobering video, and unquestionably shows the risks of riding at such high speed on a public road.

duurtlang > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
09/06/2014 at 15:33

Agreed fully. I do assume he had his lights on, he would've been even more moronic if he hadn't.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > duurtlang
09/06/2014 at 15:33

The car driver could not have accurately estimated the excessive speed of the bike in the incredibly short time he had to see it. Sorry, but the car driver was not at fault.

duurtlang > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
09/06/2014 at 15:35

The driver him/herself disagrees as he/she pleaded guilty.

Svend > THEY MADE ME GRAY
09/06/2014 at 15:36

I saw this a couple of days ago and the fault is primarily with the biker, but I'm not clearing the driver of all fault, virtually all motorists in the U.K. are aware of bikers on stretches of road like this and he should of used a higher degree of caution as soon as he saw the bike. It's very hard to judge speed and distance with most bikes.

The biker takes the blame for excessive speed, not taking in his surroundings and using proper judgements. He should of also been aware that his bike was harder to see and that there was a car waiting to turn and exercised caution. Just because you can see someone it doesn't mean they can necessarily see you.

That said. It's a shame someone died. RIP fella.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > duurtlang
09/06/2014 at 15:38

Claiming he/she "didn't see" the bike, I already read that. But "didn't" or "couldn't"?

Goggles Pizzano > THEY MADE ME GRAY
09/06/2014 at 15:42

Watched a few times to gather the situation and each time I held the mouse over pause. The third time I miss-clicked as my head lowered.

Viewer discretion indeed. It would be just as effective and far more tasteful if it cut right before impact.

Somebody think of the children.

davedave1111 > RWS Motorsport
09/06/2014 at 15:43

I don't know if it's the same incident, but the driver in this case was just sentenced for causing death by careless driving and banned.

duurtlang > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
09/06/2014 at 15:45

Claiming he/she didn't even see the Toyota, if what I've read is correct. Bikes aren't invisible, they're merely harder to see. Toyota Aygos might be small, they're definitely not opaque. Having said that, the driver might've been looking straight into the sun making a speeding bike very difficult to see. I wouldn't know.

RWS Motorsport > davedave1111
09/06/2014 at 15:48

Sorry yes, you are completely right. the driver got an 18 month ban as he pleaded guilty to death by dangerous.

A link to a story about this video from my local papers website.

"Austin [driver], 29, of Long Lane, Stoke Holy Cross, pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving in April and was disqualified from driving for 18 months and ordered to carry out 130 hours' unpaid work."

http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/video_mor…

davedave1111 > THEY MADE ME GRAY
09/06/2014 at 15:48

I've driven that road a few times, and having seen the video I'm not sure I'd blame the rider's speed. His lack of situational awareness was pretty typical, but it meant he'd probably have been just as fucked had he been riding at the speed limit.

When coming up to a junction, sit up, slow down, cover the brakes. If you see someone waiting to turn across you, assume they're going to, and slow down to a speed (and position yourself) where you can avoid them if they do. It's not crotch-rocket science.

What's really sad is that this kind of entirely avoidable accident is far too common.

davedave1111 > RWS Motorsport
09/06/2014 at 15:54

Death by careless, not dangerous. I also thought it said dangerous to start with - I guess it's because we don't often hear in the news about the cases of causing death by careless driving, so we automatically fill in the rest.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > duurtlang
09/06/2014 at 16:02

But look how far back the Toyota was when the crash occurred.

Using math, the Toyota was traveling around 27 m/s. The bike was traveling around 45 m/s. In the 5 second window between the bike "arriving at the point" that was the intersection where he hit the Renault, he would've been around 90 meters, or just under 300 feet, or 5/6 of a football field ahead of the car. The Toyota was so far back, it wouldn't have mattered if he saw it, or even looked for it, because when the Renault made the turn, the Toyota was still 300 feet away, and at that rate wouldn't reach the intersection for another 3 and a half seconds, or well after the Renault was clear of the intersection.

Could the driver of the Renault have seen the bike? Maybe, but unless he was specifically looking for a smaller object, AND was looking for that smaller object to be traveling at such a high speed, the odds of him seeing it in time to abort his turn are rather small.

yamahog > THEY MADE ME GRAY
09/06/2014 at 16:04

I obviously don't speak for every motorcyclist, but I don't think anyone rides because it's the safer option. No shit it's dangerous, but if we're all going to die anyway, I'm comfortable with dying while doing something I love (without risking the lives or property of others) rather than waiting for a pulmonary embolism to take me out while sitting in my cubicle at work getting old and fat.

Not watching the video, but judging from the comments: IMHO if the biker knew there was an intersection at the hill, that warrants some caution, and if he didn't know the road well enough to realize that, should've been going slower anyway.

Dusty Ventures > duurtlang
09/06/2014 at 16:09

I assume you mean "they're not transparent." "Opaque" means it's visually solid/you can't see through it.

duurtlang > Dusty Ventures
09/06/2014 at 16:11

Yes, that's what I meant. Second language and all that. Sorry.

Dusty Ventures > duurtlang
09/06/2014 at 16:13

No worries, just clarifying to help avoid future confusion :)

Makoyouidiot > Ducky
09/06/2014 at 16:44

Yeah, that last word is what really hit me....

DeLM > THEY MADE ME GRAY
09/06/2014 at 18:43

this goes for everyone on public roads.... IT IS NOT A RACE TRACK! save your life and your money and go to track days. I hate seeing sad shiz on a perfect day. :/

avens > Big Bubba Ray
09/06/2014 at 19:42

The thing about speed is that it all depends on the conditions and on the situation, as posted on Jalopnik many times by now. That intersection is not a part of the road in which the 60 mph limit should be considered safe, as the biker should have had slowed down to even less than that.

Add to that the discussion of the first post, in which they correctly address the fact of car drivers not expecting something going at that speed (100) on that road, while also they already did the math on speed and reactions, and you'll see the biker is 100% responsible here.

I agree with you on that only non-car and non-bike people will blame solely the driver of the car, but on this particular case I don't think it was both parties' fault. It usually is, but not here.

Saf1 > Goggles Pizzano
09/07/2014 at 08:03

No. No to censorship. You didn't want to view that, you had the pause button as you were doing. It's not that I'm a gore hog but when things are made bland (do you know how annoying it is watching Law & Order: CI during the daytime??) you don't get the full effect which is exactly what the video was trying to impress on you. Horrendous impact. I wouldn't feel that way if it just cut.

McMike > THEY MADE ME GRAY
09/07/2014 at 14:52

Saw that the other day.

While I'd like to put 100% of the blame on the bike, I don't think that's how it works. While unfair, the 97mph bike had the right of way.

Same as when someone stops on the highway and gets rear ended by someone going the speed limit. The person who hit the dumbass is a fault.

I don't think it's fair if the other person is completely careless.

idisagreewithou > THEY MADE ME GRAY
09/08/2014 at 03:45

Where was that car turning? Was he going onto the exit ramp of the people on the other side? If so, that's pretty fucked up.

I can't honestly tell, but I also can't imagine that road would possibly be designed to allow left turns at all.

Still yeah, that guy was going insanely fast. I dunno how people can do that to themselves. O_o