28-09-14, 10:43 AM
The thing is Noggy, if you put 10 people in exactly the same scenario in a dangerous situation then some will take it in their stride and have it fully under control, foreseeing the imminent dangers well ahead, whereas others won't fair so well and will end up with a last gasp panicked reaction.
A good example of this is when i'm a passenger in a car, i literally can't stand it, as i see first hand what other peoples awareness skills are like.
I end up flinching all the time and try my hardest to resist pointing dangers out to the driver so as not to sound rude.
It seems like my observational skills can be anything up to 10 seconds ahead of the average car driver who's never sat on a motorbike before, and to be truthful i would rather sit in the back with a seatbelt on and not watch what's happening rather than having my foot pressed hard on the floor all the time and watching all around me like a hawk, which most car drivers simply do not do.
They don't appear to give a monkeys if a car door is about to be opened in front of them, or the wet leaves on the manhole cover, or the sudden oil slick on the road which has appeared from nowhere because it's just rained for the first time in a week, simply because it doesn't really affect them like it would when you're on your bike.
So as far as crash statistics are concerned then i really think that each one is totally unique depending on the individuals biking skill, knowledge and more importantly experience, which also applies to the driver/rider of the other vehicle if there is one involved.
Then you have the obvious things to throw into the equation, like weather conditions and visibility, the condition of your bike (tyres, brakes, etc), YOUR visibility, speed, junctions, etc. Then there's always the possible factor that someone was simply riding or driving like a complete and utter arsehole, or on their phone, adjusting the radio, shouting at their kids in the back seat, etc!
Unless you're really unlucky and get randomly hit for whatever reason, then it does all boil down to the individual bike riders judgement and experience, in my opinion anyway, so i don't reckon you'll really gain too much info by looking at statistics as a whole to be honest.
A video of an incident however can speak a thousand words, then you can look and decide for yourself who was in the right or wrong and how things could've perhaps been done a bit differently to avoid a collision or an accident.
A good example of this is when i'm a passenger in a car, i literally can't stand it, as i see first hand what other peoples awareness skills are like.
I end up flinching all the time and try my hardest to resist pointing dangers out to the driver so as not to sound rude.
It seems like my observational skills can be anything up to 10 seconds ahead of the average car driver who's never sat on a motorbike before, and to be truthful i would rather sit in the back with a seatbelt on and not watch what's happening rather than having my foot pressed hard on the floor all the time and watching all around me like a hawk, which most car drivers simply do not do.
They don't appear to give a monkeys if a car door is about to be opened in front of them, or the wet leaves on the manhole cover, or the sudden oil slick on the road which has appeared from nowhere because it's just rained for the first time in a week, simply because it doesn't really affect them like it would when you're on your bike.
So as far as crash statistics are concerned then i really think that each one is totally unique depending on the individuals biking skill, knowledge and more importantly experience, which also applies to the driver/rider of the other vehicle if there is one involved.
Then you have the obvious things to throw into the equation, like weather conditions and visibility, the condition of your bike (tyres, brakes, etc), YOUR visibility, speed, junctions, etc. Then there's always the possible factor that someone was simply riding or driving like a complete and utter arsehole, or on their phone, adjusting the radio, shouting at their kids in the back seat, etc!
Unless you're really unlucky and get randomly hit for whatever reason, then it does all boil down to the individual bike riders judgement and experience, in my opinion anyway, so i don't reckon you'll really gain too much info by looking at statistics as a whole to be honest.
A video of an incident however can speak a thousand words, then you can look and decide for yourself who was in the right or wrong and how things could've perhaps been done a bit differently to avoid a collision or an accident.
More people are born because of alcohol than will ever die from it.