Safety Last

I don't know whether I've become more observant as a consequence of riding a bike, or there has been a sudden upsurge of the problem, but I've recently noticed a lot of cars with defective brake or tail lights.

The other night, on my way home, I counted 7 (seven!) cars in front of me with at least 1 tail light out. I only started counting after seeing another two or three. And that was on a journey of less than 15 miles!

When I think of the stats on this one, the maths become mind-blowing. The vehicles I counted were those immediately in front of me; there were probably lots more going in the opposite direction and elsewhere on the road. I believe that there must be many cars on the road with a tail light out - with all the inherent danger that brings.

Doesn't anyone do their weekly vehicle checks anymore. Once a week, we are supposed to check our vehicle is in a road worthy condition. That all lights are working and properly adjusted, tyres are at the correct pressures, oil and water are topped up and windscreen wash is not empty. My understanding is that these features are there to protect the driver of the vehicle and other road users. At night, I want to know whether the vehicle in front is a car or a motorcycle, and a major clue to that is the number of tail lights. One tail light generally means bike rather than car.

If the owner is so casual about something so obvious, what else is wrong with the car?

If people are going out on the highway, then please, do so in a car that is fully road worthy. They may not value their life too highly, but I do value mine.

Four-Wheeled Idiots

I have only been riding my bike for a month or so, but I am already aware that, as a biker, I "share" the road with a whole range of imbecilic "drivers".

Twice, I have had someone pull out in front of me without once looking to see if anyone was coming. Mind you, the drivers were very busy on their hand-held mobile phones at the time, which probably is a good enough excuse. But what about the woman busy in an animated conversation with her friend, who changed lanes without realising that I was alongside her at the time! Maybe I am being unfair, as she did have one hand on the wheel, while using the other to describe what she was talking about, and of course, she had to look at her friend/partner to ensure she got the point.

No, it is the "faffyness" of drivers that gets to me! Do drivers not realise that crawling at 2 mph is very difficult for a motorcyclist. The other day, I was in a queue, when the cars in front started to crawl forward - not very far or very fast, so I decided to wait until the queue started to move properly before attempting to move off. Eventually, there was a gap of about six to ten feet in front of me and it was at this point that the wazzock behind me beeped his horn! Now I was both enraged by his idiocy while admiring his bravery. Beeping a large hairy (well in my case - hairless) biker is likely to lead to a short ride to the nearest hospital. In this particular instance, I took pity on his mental illness and just gave him the finger. Sensibly, he left it at that.

Another guy was indicating right - and turned left; someone else turning right, but not moving over to the middle of the road (of course, I am describing driving in Britain where we drive on the proper side of the road) and of course, the nightmare that is the "school run"!

But I am left with the impression of how bad drivers are - something I hadn't really noticed before, and I am aware at how well my driving in general has improved since taking up the bike. I have greater road sense and awareness now and my road positioning and signalling is a lot more clear (the number of drivers that don't indicate on round-abouts are legion). I now also understand the desire of bikers to get to the front of the queue - it helps to keep them away from the idiots. In the UK, there is a big debate about congestion charges, and of course the majority of drivers are up in arms about it, but lets face it, cars cause congestion - bikes don't.