these drivers and riders , are the guys in the pub saying " never had an accident me, been lucky tho seen loads in my mirror".

Earlier this summer in Germany I found a country road that had some signs on I'd never seen before.

"Motorcycles banned on Sundays"

The stretch of road concerned was not dissimilar to Via Gellia that Rich mentioned in post #1

when I traversed Via Gellia a few weekends ago, a friendly BMW driver flashed his headlights as I approached the hidden Transit van.

Of course he didn't realise that my car was equipped with the ultimate speed limiter at the time,

as SWMBO doesn't like going fast. I returned the favour to another BMW driver yesterday

as he approached a hidden "cash machine".

A little courtesy makes the journey more pleasant, as the stickers in buses used to say.

Edited 16 August, 200916 yr by gcr31463
added a bit

One question that strikes me though, is that when they are out "targeting motorcyclists",

why do they use cameras that face the front of vehicles?

They have a side mounted camera to catch bikes ,those pesky cash machines are everywhere :(.

SWMBO, Ap0gee Jr and I nearly got totalled by a guy driving to his pitch at the local fête yesterday. He was only going walking speed, but not watching where he was going as drove across the grass. What had distracted his attention? The huge bouncy castle? A wet T-shirt competition, even? No, the RoSPA tent!

There are as many bell-end riders as there are drivers. The problem is these guys are tooled-up with what they consider to be a good driving machine, whether that be a 'blade or a Fabia VRS, and then they make the mistake of thinking that makes them good drivers/riders. Worse still, they think that because they enjoy riding/driving that they have more rights to the road than drivers of 'normal' cars who may merely be using the road network to get from A to B. Of course, many aren't good drivers and that brings them into conflict with the 'normal' road users.

The open public road is no place for some of the motorcycle riding I see near my house, it should be restricted to closed roads or the track IMO.

In fact, perhaps some of the most popular roads should be closed for several days a year to allow bikers to get it out of their system and weed out the inept who will die without injuring anyone else.

Also, there should be a more stringent, experienced based, motorcycle course before someone is allowed to ride a powerful bike. The number of hours experience required on two wheels to pass Direct Access is woeful - remember this can apparently allow you to go from a novice to full licence holder in just a few days - you could then go out and buy any number of hugely powerful machines.

Also, there should be a more stringent, experienced based, motorcycle course before someone is allowed to ride a powerful bike. The number of hours experience required on two wheels to pass Direct Access is woeful - remember this can apparently allow you to go from a novice to full licence holder in just a few days - you could then go out and buy any number of hugely powerful machines.

That's no different from cars where all licence holders are equal.

A *really* quick bike is cheaper to buy than a really quick car , but there's still the insurance cost which will greatly limit your access to fast bikes as a new rider and that will be in four figures.

That's no different from cars where all licence holders are equal.

A *really* quick bike is cheaper to buy than a really quick car , but there's still the insurance cost which will greatly limit your access to fast bikes as a new rider and that will be in four figures.

Mmmm, you could just as easily kill yourself on a 125cc if you don't know how to ride it. So I still think a longer experience based rider training program is called for before we let people loose on the roads, no matter what the capacity engine between the two wheels.

I find teeneagers on scooters are a big menace in my village; no road awareness, weaving all over the place, charging down cycle lanes at chicanes etc. All they've done is some CBT and it's frankly not enough.

Mmmm, you could just as easily kill yourself on a 125cc if you don't know how to ride it. So I still think a longer experience based rider training program is called for before we let people loose on the roads, no matter what the capacity engine between the two wheels.

I find teeneagers on scooters are a big menace in my village; no road awareness, weaving all over the place, charging down cycle lanes at chicanes etc. All they've done is some CBT and it's frankly not enough.

I don't disagree with you... but thats why Direct Access is for over 21s when you should have a bit more common sense. Doesn't work perfectly obviously!

I think car ownership should be staggered too on an experience basis.

Winter will be here soon, we'll be hearing about the brainless car drivers:rolleyes: involved in mass pile ups on the motorways and then blaming it on the fog, rain, snow, in fact anything other than their inability/stupidity to adapt to the conditions.

Car drivers rarely have to accept responsibility for the carnage they cause on the roads, everyone else has to adapt to accommodate them.

Lorries, now they have to have cages built around their bases in order to stop cretins in cars going under them. No change to driver attitude, just more cost to the lorry owner.

Lance

Winter will be here soon, we'll be hearing about the brainless car drivers:rolleyes: involved in mass pile ups on the motorways and then blaming it on the fog, rain, snow, in fact anything other than their inability/stupidity to adapt to the conditions.

Car drivers rarely have to accept responsibility for the carnage they cause on the roads, everyone else has to adapt to accommodate them.

Lorries, now they have to have cages built around their bases in order to stop cretins in cars going under them. No change to driver attitude, just more cost to the lorry owner.

Lance

Cars usually end up under lorries because the HGV drivers, from my observations, subscribe to the 'maneuvere-signal-f*** the mirrors' school of motoring. It's too many fry ups and Yorkie bars rot their brains.

The thing is you get complete braindead dolts in all types of vehicle. The difference is that on a bike it's a lot easier for them to go a lot quicker without having any more skill than Mr 40mph in his datsun. Up north I've seen guys who are of retirement age driving their 1.6 Astra with their grandkids in the car way too quickly for the road and conditions and I've also seen bikers up there ride rediculously at not very great speeds. Some riders and drivers are crap and some are good, the key is education and making people realise that riding at 160mph on a busy road on a sunday afternoon is not a good idea. That and making the powers that be realise that dropping the speed limit by 10mph is going to do nothing to change the riders attitudes. Don't get me wrong, I ain't miss daisy but I take the view that if I want to drive quickly then it's up to me to ensure that I minimise the risks to other road users in every possible way. It's a shame that many don't see it that way.

So folks - should they be banned from the Cat and Fiddle or not?

So folks - should they be banned from the Cat and Fiddle or not?

No

I pay my road tax and so I will ride when and where I like thank you very much.

I too will ride on the roads I am taxed on And a few more too....

As an aside - one thing I did notice during my trip to the Nürburgring is the better quality of driving abroad.

Mostly 2 lane motorways and none of this silly tailgating and stomping on brakes you get here.

Folk leave a sensible gap and then allow drivers to enter the gap to overtake. Knowing they'll be back in lane 1 when they've done so.

The standard of driving over here is appalling. Most of the motorway hold ups are caused by people stamping on their brakes unnecessarily, because they're to close, or because they simply cannot read the road ahead.

As an aside - one thing I did notice during my trip to the Nürburgring is the better quality of driving abroad.

Mostly 2 lane motorways and none of this silly tailgating and stomping on brakes you get here.

Folk leave a sensible gap and then allow drivers to enter the gap to overtake. Knowing they'll be back in lane 1 when they've done so.

The standard of driving over here is appalling. Most of the motorway hold ups are caused by people stamping on their brakes unnecessarily, because they're to close, or because they simply cannot read the road ahead.

the exception to this seems to be belgium,they are bl00dy awefull tailgating and cutting you up.

the exception to this seems to be belgium,they are bl00dy awefull tailgating and cutting you up.

Isn't that just the Belgians being a strange bunch?

yes i do believe it is:rofl:

the exception to this seems to be belgium,they are bl00dy awefull tailgating and cutting you up.

I like Belgium, the diesel is usually cheap & the diet seems to consist entirely of chips, waffles, beer & ice-cream

I'd be slightly more specific and say it's Mercedes Benz drivers in Belgium that are the issue!

You forgot Schprinklesch!

Well, did the C&F today and managed to survive

Caught up with a 'busa on the way down and managed to roll through a speed trap into Buxton

Nodded to bill with the camera and he nodded back

Stopped at the next set of lights an a cyclist pulled up next to us.

"Did he get you?" he asked. No, did he get you I asked?

"No he replied, I asked him about that last time I came passed, and he said he would let me go!"

The ride was good and flowed well through the corners, due to the bike being well set up for rider and pillion.

Bit of a bump...... It seems that the Cat and Fiddle will have average speed cameras installed by easter next year, better get up there and enjoy it while we can. :(

Bit of a bump...... It seems that the Cat and Fiddle will have average speed cameras installed by easter next year, better get up there and enjoy it while we can. :(

Will be up there when I next can

I'm a biker and yes what you are saying about bikers is true you do get some complete knobs who think they can ride fast and then cause accidents but there also the other 90-95 % that ride well with in there limits and get taken out by car drivers who just don't happen to see them! Then you also get the boy racers in there Saxo's and Clio's etc that try and race bikes for reasons unbeknown to me as they just don't stand a chance and they end up causing accidents trying to keep up. But i think also the cops should divert there efforts into catching all the drug drivers and the uninsured and untaxed drivers rather than picking on innocent 100% legal drivers who like to drive a little over the spped limit every now and again. I have just recently bought a Fabia VRS which i have to say is nearly as much fun as my bike and have enjoyed some very quick drives home from work over the last few weeks. Its definately not all the bikers fault when it comes to accidents for instance i see a complete **** in a Blue 306 every day to and from work and he has done some of the most stupid things i have seen in ages over taking six or seven cars at a time when his car clearly isn't capable and there isn't the room to do so and he is always well over the speed limit, as to whether he is insured is another question.:(