I’m sat watching your video. Yes it is mind set. One thing we all forget is not a right to drive it is a gift. If we all thought about we are in control of a deadly weapon we may look at things different. I am an observer for the IAM motorbikes and all the time it comes to planning and observation and not taking it control of the information they see. Still like the videos keep them coming. 👍
Thanks, an interesting subject. It seems like impatience, aggression and 'me first' on the roads is increasing. I find focussing on my own space rather than having expectations of others has increased my enjoyment of being on the road.
Unfortunately that doesn't work for me. I frequently have oncoming overtaking cars in my lane. Even when overtaking bicycles on straight roads with good visibility some cars do it right in front of me. They pass as far away from the cyclist as possible leaving no or very little space for me until they panic in the last moment. The most dangerous situations I encounter is due to the drivers and not the road or speed limit.
People just don't take driving seriously enough. I feel that most of the time, speed limits are arbitrary, however, I can't think of a better solution because people cannot be trusted to behave in a safe and courteous manner....... also, the uk road condition at the moment is atrocious, you never know what horrors are sount the bend. Great video, thanks
I seem to remember someone famous once said, “What’s wrong with the world? I am!” My own attitude will lighten and make safer the whole day. Or not. Thanks for a really good video and discussion. Les
There is a goofy cartoon from the 1950’s where it illustrates the calm and polite person turns character when he gets behind the wheel of his car. If we were in a queue at the checkout of supermarket and someone pushed their trolley in front of ours we would be surprised but it’s common on the roads
Really well said. I totally agree. People are basically good intentioned; but for whatever reason get behind the wheel of a car/van/lorry and become monsters sometimes. I learnt from a very young age (was a bus driver in Bath aged 25) that attitude is a huge factor in road safety; and not just road safety, it transfers to a lot of other areas of influence in our own lives where we can potentially put other at risk just by making bad decisions and not considering the outcomes that a bad attitude can cause.
Could be that 'people are basically well-intentioned'. Could also be that the motor car acts as a dis-inhibitor ... a space which insulates the driver from the consequences of his own bad behaviour, and thus liberates him to act without restraint. For instance, if I'm ambling along the street, and you can't get past easily, you probably won't stand real close and begin shouting at me, gesticulating and calling me a twat. I mean, you MIGHT do that, but it's much-more-likely that you'd adopt a more passive stance. I'd argue that you're more likely to fly-off-the-handle when you are in your car. Many people do need the prospect of negative-feedback to moderate their actions.
Condition of the road is the number 1 hazard for me. Pot holes, poor joints, road snakes, gravel, line paint, manhole lids, cat's eyes, metal bridge expansion joints, mud, wet leaves, acorns in autumn, sheep and cow shit, cattle grids, oil and diesel spills.......Have I missed anything?
My friend, this is so true and very close to my heart . This video is one I would have made myself so thank you for making it. I've been driving for years both powerful motorbike and cars and I've noticed a terrible change in the attitude of drives today whether it's the way they've been taught or just as you said thier attitude towards other people's lives. Well said 👍🏼👍🏼
You mentioned the 80s, I was a Instructor with the KMCTS in the late 70s early 80s the issues of which you spoke were the same then, what has changed is the number of those issues being on the road coupled with a deteriorating condition of the roads that we now have, I distinctly remember having conversations on the odd occasion after completing the test with recommendations on attitude improvement, as back then a lot of young trainees were only there under duress as their parents would not buy them the bike unless they took the training and passed.
As a cyclist and motorists (cars and motorcycles) I definitely believe there is a huge issue with attitude. I often read many comments relating to dash cam videos where many driver’s don’t value the life of others particularly with pedestrians and cyclists.. also what really annoys me most about drivers in the uk when compared to many countries in Europe I have driven in. Many British driver tend to lack vehicle control skill and drive well beyond their limits during poor weather situations and very much more selfish defending their bit of road space rather than easing off a little let the other car merge in lane just keep traffic moving.
You only have to watch a few You Tube video to see where attitude to other groups of road users is a big problem, not just with the person in the clip but also the people in the comments.
Constant judgment of other road users behaviour certainly contributes to the decline of my own attitude. It also reduces my concentration on the road and potential hazards. Thank you for highlighting this issue. I suppose I cannot change other people’s attitudes but I can certainly try to change mine.
First of all, nice ride, loved those lanes. For me there's a massive issue with attitude, stemming from a general state of "car brain" in the culture. People think that the roads belong to motor vehicles and that they have priority, they believe the advertisements showing motor vehicles bringing them "the freedom of the open road", that they pay "road tax", and therefore "own" the roads. I prefer to think like this: pedestrians, horse riders and cyclists are what roads are built for. Motor vehicle users require a license and insurance to use them, and their use of the roads is contingent on them complying with the terms of the license. There's also a general break down in norms, because people have seen the country's leaders and elites playing fast and loose with the rules and getting away with it, so if they can do it, why not I?
Absolutely correct. I worked on motorways for 15 years. Over time they have got busier and more congested, but the biggest change was in peoples attitude. The selfish, couldn't give a toss brigade who will do anything to get 2 cars ahead of where they are now, hurl abuse at emergency workers trying to clear an RTC from the carriageway, or get their phone out to get some footage they can use on social media.. They have no respect for workers or other drivers, and don't see a problem in putting other people at risk. Sadly, I don't think any amount of education will change the attitude of these drivers/riders.
Another factor has always been "perceived safety" - human beings all have varying levels of risk tolerance or averseness - that's why some love the thrill of extreme sports etc. and others get terrified even watching such things. Many studies over the course of the years have shown however, that the safer you make a person feel, the more likely they are to compensate for that additional safety margin, to bring it back to their own perceived levels of acceptable risk. With vehicles and technology of course, this has led to people frequently overestimating both their own abilities and the ever growing list of driving aids and safety features built into their cars, motorcycles and equipment. Back in the 80's and 90's, it was Volvo drivers who were stereotyped, particularly by motorcyclists, as some of the most inattentive and most dangerous and, like all stereotypes, there was a certain truth to it. Marketed as they were, as the "safest" cars to be in if involved in a collision, they most definitely engendered a feeling of (false?) security and they were often, it seemed, driven with that in mind. Then with the advent of things like ABS, many drivers seemed to feel that they could now drive faster, more aggressively, could ignore road and weather conditions and that ABS alone would save them from incidents that previously would have been inevitable. Obviously this is complete nonsense, but it didn't change the prevailing attitudes of many - they didn't understand the technology being provided and thus, much of the time, its potential benefits were lost, if not completely, at least to a great degree. "Pedestrian friendly" construction of modern cars, front and side airbags, ever more stringent crash testing requirements seem to have led to a crazy situation where a great many people actually feel safer barrelling along inside their climate controlled steel cages weighing several tons than they do sitting on their couch at home, and consequently pay either activity about the same levels of attention. With all the electronic trickery now available - ABS, traction control, anti wheelie etc. etc. It's amusing to me as a rider of over 43 years and an accredited instructor and observer for both RoSPA and the IAM for a good 35 of those years that a lot of riders today have never even ridden bikes that have no computerized aids in one form or another and often regard the absence of such things as "dangerous". You would think that compared to the days when most cars weren't even fitted with seatbelts, when crossply tyres were the norm, halogen headlights weren't even on the horizon, power steering was almost unheard of, synchromesh gearboxes were uncommon, cable operated drum brakes were the height of technology etc. etc. that the accident and death tolls on the road would have been a total bloodbath. Throw in the fact that once upon a time there wasn't even a driving test, there were no drink driving laws, no MOT tests, and no crash helmet laws for motorcyclists and most certainly cycling helmets didn't even exist. There was a time when speed limits were non-existent and even when introduced took a long time to be implemented even in a lot of urban areas. To modern road users, the picture being painted would be one of a lawless free for all. Yet, surprisingly, the roads were not nearly as dangerous as such conditions might suggest they would have been. Now, obviously, we didn't have the extensive motorway networks we have today, cars were far less powerful and there were far less of them vying for road space but by the 1970's, traffic was more than plentiful, especially in more densely populated parts of the country. All those things are relevant, yet my memory of those days were that there was most certainly less aggression, there were far less pedestrians, mindlessly wandering into traffic and people generally seemed to have their wits about them. Much of this, I am sure, was due to a heavy focus on education where all kids were given the benefit of school visits by the police and road safety organizations to teach them the basics of crossing the road safely, and cycling proficiency courses to set them on their early journey as road users on the right foot. Based on the behaviour I see on a daily basis, a great many people have absolutely zero sense of self preservation any more, whether they are walking, riding or driving. We have many advances in technology and safety but conversely technology has also been indisputably responsible for creating dangers that never existed prior to their introduction - obvious ones would be the somewhat erroneously labelled "smart phone", or indeed all mobile communication devices, things like satnav/GPS, action cameras, social media - all have which have contributed to major behavioural changes whether driving or not. More and more distractions, which I believe have had a major negative impact on the public highway. People have also become far more insular, far less socially adept and far quicker to anger - civility has most certainly been in rapid decline in all walks of life. We have also had a drastic shift in population demographics and however "uncomfortable" that might be for some people to talk about or even accept, it's another societal factor that has had and will continue to have, an impact on the situation. The only "solutions" that those in power seem to have to fall back on, are ever more intrusive, frequently pointless and dangerous speed limits and very poorly conceived "traffic calming" measures - things for which there seems to be an abundant supply of funds, yet basic road maintenance, street lighting etc. always draws the cry of "poverty" from those same "authorities". Of course, in their "brave new world" of net zero absurdity it should be abundantly clear to everyone by now, that the ultimate goal is to deny the masses access to all powered personal transportation. In the meantime, extract maximum funds from those who have the temerity to use the roads they have paid for over and over as intended, whether that be in the form of duty or fines and numerous other financial penalties - the motorist has historically been a reliable cash cow for pen pushers and bean counters since time immemorial, so none of that should surprise any of us. So, ultimately, what has been created, is an ever more frustrating experience for road users of all types - leading to ever greater conflict and division amongst the various groups "sharing" those roads with one another. Poor education, bad attitudes, congestion, distractions, ever more inconsiderate behaviour, unreasonable costs, ineffective legislation.....the nanny state completely out of control. Driving for pleasure is not a concept even understood by the vast majority any longer. It's all very sad, that, for so many, one of our greatest freedoms and something which once was a source of such joy and exhilaration, is gradually becoming one of the greatest millstones around our necks, more frequently than not, just a necessary evil, a chore, no more and no less. I personally believe that training and education has and always will be one of the most effective road safety approaches when it comes to addressing attitudes - unfortunately, if you make it mandatory it leads to resentment, and those who voluntarily submit themselves to such training and who are willing and able to accept that they can, and have a desire to improve their skills, are invariably, by their very nature, the ones who least need it.
Absolutely. Skill, knowledge, and experience all contribute to road safety. If car drivers had motorbike experience, they would be more safety conscious on the road.
As always a well presented and thought provoking video. With respect to advanced riders, the number of riders that actually take advanced training is a very low %, however that number are highly invested both in time and money in improving their riding. There is a problem with the Insurance Companies not recognising an advanced driving certificate, if there was actually an incentive from the Insurance Companies in a decent reduction in insurance cost that would help get more people to take further training. With both Bike Safe and Fire Bike courses there is a link into an Insurance Company to get a % off insurance. The problem is it is with one of the most expensive companies so it does not actually save you anything. I take as much training as i possibly can, there is always more to learn and improvements to be made.
Changing the mindset of people works in my opinion. In 40 years of driving, I’ve been caught speeding twice. The first time I received a fixed penalty which just annoyed me. The last time, I took the offer of a speed awareness course and that changed the way I think about driving and riding. Another point you raised was that of people feeling invincible. I think some of that is down to age. When we’re young we just don’t see danger & consequence like we do as we get older. But also, as cars and bikes incorporate more safety features, riders and drivers feel more protected/invincible. There’s a long standing joke that replacing the steering wheel airbag with a metal spike would make everyone drive more carefully.
Not a joke. That proposition emerged indirectly from a researcher called Wilde, and his 'risk-compensation theory' (or something like that). He supposed that each of us has an acceptable level of risk, and that each technical safety enhancement would be somewhat ineffective. For example, the fitment of better brakes might lead to drivers closing the gaps between vehicles. It has a certain plausibility, and I'm confident that a steel spike would concentrate my mind, at least until I habituated to it. Maybe helmets and body-armour DO change the way that we ride. I mean, you can ride with abandon in a video game, because the consequences of failure are trivial.
@@garylewis3780 I like what you’re saying but feel you are saying the younger riders and driver are a higher number of invincible ones. I feel we have all forgot we are in control of a deadly weapon like holding a gun. A car or a bike can kill just the same. I’m 52 now done every license but my HGV , I’m advanced rider and observer I love with all my heart riding to as higher standard as I can. Now even I’m not perfect the thing I look at is safety and not pushing that bad position upsetting people. If the mind set and test were more stricter I feel it would be better.
Training and practice is always a very good idea. I try to practice something, obstacle avoidance etc., every time I drive or ride. I was taught to ride to the conditions. The speed limit might be 60 mph but the conditions dictate 20 mph, I'm driving at 20 mph! I note that some Insurance companies are no longer offering discounts for IAM, ROSPA etc. The reason seems to be that certain advanced riding styles and doctrines are causing more accidents due to claims from riders who seemed to have _sacrificed safety for position._ 🤔 e.g. Too close to the edge of the road and having problems with debris or too close to the centre line. I will try and find the source of this information. I have a feeling it was an (advanced) driving instructor, but I need to check.
As a driving instructor i love it if a learner comes to me as a qualified motorcyclist. Their observations are usually on a different level. Experienced cyclists too!
@@adinigel that’s bcs EVERYTING is your enemy! Leaves twigs bitch strips but most of all, car an van driver with head up ass syndrome. They are fuckin lethal.
Road safety is always 100% a driver issue. Even if a car is not roadworthy, bald tyres and it hits black ice...it was the driver decision to take an inadequately maintained car out in those conditions. The driver is the only conscious agent in the situation, it's no good saying that tree was growing in the wrong place etc
It is bad attitude rather than no training that causes problems. I was a teenage biker in the 70s, in those days, without any training at all, a 17 year old with a provisional licence, could jump on something like a suzuki 185GT..(i had a 175cc) All my mates had bikes back then, 20, 30 of us, 50cc at 16, and then anything under a 250CC at 17 without any training at all. in all the years i was riding, i knew of only two mates that had killed themselves, and both times they were racing about on the road, in fact one of them wasn't even another car involved, he just hit a island in the middle of the road, speeding...But that has always been a tricky combination, teenagers and speed.
I too was there at that time but I had learned to ride off road (we lived in a very rural area and I had a hill to practice on😊), with wet grass, loose gravel, and smoothish road tyres you learnt throttle and machine control very quickly, most often at little more than walking pace, it was the finest teacher you could have, and has stood me in good stead all these years, I appreciate that unfortunately very few will get the same opportunity but a bunch of lads sliding their bikes or cars in a snowy deserted car park are likely to get done as it's seen as "dangerous", not as a skill that may one day save lives, it's not until you have had the whole thing sliding that you can appreciate how little control you have in those situations, as I say unfortunately very few will ever get to experience this, I was very fortunate.
Totally agree with your thoughts. Got my full licence last week and have my first " big bike". At 63 my attitude to riding is a million miles away from my attitude at 18. If l feel angry or depressed l don't ride my bike. Even now l struggle to contain my anger at poor driving/riding. I am glad l learnt to ride and drive in an age with driver aids. It makes me respectful of what can and does go wrong.
Thank you so much, I absolutly agree, really interesting insights. Developing self awareness and understanding of our individual personalities and characteristics I feel is helpful. Understanding ourselves more clearly and acting on these insights offer the opportunity, may I suggest - to improve our own road safety and the safety of others. Thank you so much once again.
It seems from what you're saying about attitude versus lack of skill versus genuine error: things could certainly improve with an increase in skill levels ie post test training. The dunning Kruger effect is clearly seen here,and training to raise skill levels would also improve attitude levels as people would understand how the two are inextricably linked. A motorcyclist was killed near me last week in a thirty. A queue of traffic at lights in the rhlane waiting to turn right,and the bike went through on the permanent green for the straight ahead route. A car made an impetuous unplanned lane change and cuased the biker to swerve or hit the car and he ended up hitting the traffic light poles Impatience and and frustration is the bad attitude. Unplanned lane change is the lack of skill,and awareness of consequences. RIP anonymous biker. .
Interesting topic. It all boils down to experience, the amount of years you spent in the saddle, which has taught you that you are the issue when it comes to road safety. And the road conditions are appalling, to say the least. So you adjust accordingly. But that is me at the age of 58 years old. It seems though that the percentage of crazy drivers has risen exponentially in the last years and concern for others is utterly discarded. Also I know quite a few people who shouldn't be driving needing sometimes up to seven attempts to pass their license. I passed my driving test at the age of 15 ( I grew up in the States) and I'm forever grateful for my driving instructor whose first mission was to take us into A&E on a busy weekend showing us the consequences of what happens to you when you are involved in a crash. That moment sobered me up to this day. So my take on road safety is- it starts out with your driving instructor. Enjoyed your vid! Subscribed. Safe riding!
Hi, I have been watching your channel over the past few months found the videos to be very good, certainly has made me think about the way I ride relating to speed and general road position. Thanks.
As an old git, a motorcyclist a car driver and has been hgv driver I would say the biggest threat to safety is selfish drivers that fo not consider other road users. My pet hate is those that are incapable of indicating correctly closely followed by those that just don't use indicators and that includes numerous police drivers they need to leaf by example
I agree that the mindset is the biggest problem. It isnt always easy to stay calm. In my experience Tailgating is the biggest trigger to instigate road rage. It makes the car/motorcycle being tailgated feel very vulnerable and lose focus on other hazards the roads may throw. On a side note it was good to see you give the beans to the RT at the end. Please keep the videos coming in they are very informative and helpful.
So, the next questions to ponder are, "What ARE 'attitudes' ... "How do they form, and how are they altered?" I'll start with my off-the-cuff definition of a 'bad' attitude, as being 'a behaviour which has become intrusive'. For instance, we each of us are capable of aggression, and we all display it on occasion ... but a man with an 'aggressive attitude', displays this behaviour both repeatedly and consistently, and usually inappropriately. (in the judgement of the observer) I think that attitudes are formed as 'whole-of-life' responses which have proven to be beneficial to that individual; or sometimes in responsive to specific traumatic incidents. I'd guess that they can also be inculcated by external Agents, especially by authority figures. I might develop a positive attitude towards deception, if I have found that I'm good at it, and that it confers benefits to me. Ah, but the tricky bit, 'How can attitudes be altered?' I don't have any answers for you. I do know from life-experience, that attitudes can be extremely resilient. I am fairly confident that mere 'training' won't do the job. But, I do think that training can bring focus to a man who already possesses a 'good' attitude. All speculation, of course.
One of the striking things for me is how your speed matches the conditions on the road; too many of these "instructional" videos feature riding which causes me to clench my teeth, and everything else. I'm a new rider; I find it relatively easy to fly along the roads at speed, much more difficult to ride with the bike controlled, on the throttle, suspension engaged, and fully alert ready to respond. That's the sense I get from watching your riding, quite often reviewing the ride several times, as there is so much there to learn from. Appreciated.
Thank you for your comments. I’m glad you find the video useful and it’s great that you have identified the style of riding in response to hazards and also having a realistic assessment of your own riding. I wish you well with your riding and any further development you decide to take. Ride safe, all the best
@@MotorcyclePWR Experience and knowledge count for a lot of it. Then there is the advice that one should never exceed 70% of ones abilities. Don't be in a rush or hurry, take your time and enjoy. Take it easy, relax enjoy. Concentrate on the road as if it were a river taking you down stream. Its comfortable, relaxing riding, easing into the bends, some slow and some a little faster. Not using excessive speeds as you are taken along by the rivers flow. Unlike as you say, seeing some instructors maintaining the highest speeds possible to make as fast a progress as possible and thus on country roads catching up with other vehicles being driven just slightly slower and then having the NEED to overtake each and every one of them. Placing yourself in greater danger on overtakes, many of which would be undesirable or unnecessary in the first place. Why commit to overtaking say 9 or 19 vehicles that one is constantly catching up with merely to be at the front of the queue. Its a hell of lot safer to slow a little, pull back to give more than the safe stopping distances and then lo and behold you will be at the front of your own queue. with fewer or no dangerous overtakes to make. As regards to speed there is a saying that any fool can ride fast but a safe rider knows when to slow down. Remember that and ride just a little slower and that will help you take in more if not all of your surroundings and in particular more of whatever maybe a potential hazard for you further along the road you are travelling. Develop the defensive riding skill of being by oneself [ keeping well away from other traffic ] and not caught up in that traffic. Keep a good safety bubble of distance ahead of you and around you and that mean that you will no longer be seeing the rear of other vehicles but by the giving of safe space you will see beyond that vehicle and to the road ahead. Well ahead and therefore having seen a potential danger you will deal with it earlier so it no longer exist. as a danger to you or any other road user. Ride well and ride safely.
We need to change our training . All of it. Just the CBT is not enough and never has or will be. We need some form of extra training requirements to take into account country roads, bends, overtakes and motorways etc. To date riders are just left to their own devises in all of those matters and learn nothing at all about their potential dangers.
@@rcraven1013what you say is true, post CBT on your own can be very intimidating, perhaps ask an experienced rider to ride with you sometimes, if you know of one, they can help you a lot, but just having them there can be a big aid to confidence.
Everytime I set out on the road, however I use be it car ,motorbike or cycle, i consciously think about whatbi am doing, my safety is primarily on how I ride or drive, which has a knockon effect on how others react to me. Sadly, i have noticed how impatient a lot of drivers are, be and like Phil said a bit of courtesy goes a long way,and its free ! Another point I must mention, that what you are using also affects road safety, i have several different cycles, and one is a very unusual recumbent trike, out of all my 'bikes it is probably the safest to ride despite its low aspect to the ground, I get far more consideration riding that than i do anyother bike, I guess thats because its unusual, or drivers may think I am disabled riding it, so I find it inexplicable that they will give me extra consideration when passing me ,than my fellow club cyclist, yet I am in the same group. There is an attitude problem with road users, proportinate with what the drive or ride, or even if they are working drivers, taxi drivers arevthe worse for that ,it need't be ,
I believe riding a bike, has improved my driving. The requirement to do a motorcycle road test required me to review how I drive. Plus understanding on a bike I am at additional risk. Spending time on rural Island and in a busy city. The people complaining about all the terrible drivers on the local facebook page on the island is quite funny. I can only control what I do and how I react.
I agree that the behaviour of riders and drivers is a key to road safety, however one of the biggest issues that needs to be addressed is social conditioning. Social conditioning says that it is alright to tailgate, speed run red lights etc. How do I know? I just watch the way that 95% of the population drive, the example they set says that poor and risky behaviour is perfectly acceptable, and with very little policing of drivers these days it is just easier to drop the speed limit and say that will make us safer
On the subject of social media, you mentioned seeing crash videos. I’ve noticed on RUclips shorts I get an awful lot of young people (mostly Americans) on sports bikes, little gear, no licences plates, vlogging about running from cops, or going 150 mph on the highway. I don’t seek this content out, I watch mostly videos on fundamental skills or roadcraft. But the algorithm serves it to me. I feel like there could be a lack of short form content on based on roadcraft and safety to allow younger people to be aware of it. Have considered creating short form content? Just edited clips of your videos mights help get your content to a different demographic.
The quality of life itself is largely governed by one's attitude and the attitude of those around one. As a rider one has to accept the likelihood of a predominance of bad attitude; because the consequences of not doing so could be lethal. Thanks for your clarity on this subject.
I totally agree. However, speed is an issue. In my country the max speed on a lot of B roads is 60km/h. I believe in many cases that's quite correct. However almost all drivers/riders pass me when I drive around 65 km/h on these roads. As usual I'm behind them at the next traffic lights. You gain nothing. The added safety features in especially cars are not making them safer as drivers tend to take more risks. Whether I'm in my car or on one of my bikes I regard where I drive/ride as a hostile environment. First of all I like to get home in one piece, secondly I use older vehicles which are not that easy to repair or replace. In short I care. And to me that is the problem indeed: a lot of road users do not care. As you said: attitude!
On a different note, i passed my CBT (Even though i crashed on leaves doing a u-turn lol, not my fault and no harm/damage was caused). Should be getting a 125 soon :)
Perhaps that's an example of what Phil is talking about, was it safe to perform the manoeuvre in that particular place. In my view if the instructor asked you to do a u- turn on leaf litter ,it wasn't the best place to do it. But then I've had 40 years or more on the roads,, I've not come of on wet leaves yet, but that's not to say I won't. Congratulations on your road journey, and I hope you progress to a full licence soon.
Congratulations, though I hope you do not progress to a full licence soon! Enjoy your 125, it is a really valuable learning experience. I live in London and consider myself mostly self taught because both my CBT and Mod2 never took me on roads faster than 30 mph. But in between I did about 23,000 miles on my 125 on all types of road. Technically not motorways, obviously, but the same standard on road like the A2 between the M25 and M2. And on a bike that barely passes 60mph if you have to pay attention to keep safe as you cannot just accelerate out of trouble. One of the most awkward situations I got in was overtaking some lorries on the A1 in Lincolnshire when the gradient of the road started going uphill. It was only a slight change, but I guess I should have been able to notice it. Going flat out I was stuck level with the font lorry with cars behind me so had to slow down enough to be able to pull in and let them pass. People who go straight to bigger bikes miss out on that kind of experience in the same way that car drivers miss out on the experience of bikers.
I believe that as motorcyclists we encounter three types of motorists. The most common being the 'neutral' driver. Does nothing wrong, but won't do you any favors should you want to pass/filter. Then in equal measure, there are the drivers who will do anything to prevent you from say filtering and those who are incredibly bike-aware and more left giving you plenty of room. Then there are us bikers. Some of us are twats, myself included during my youth, Riding recklessly ignoring or being oblivious to hazards as if trying to seek attention, risking lives. Not just their own but those around them. In essence. It's like you say, our attitudes which do change over time.
40 plus years of motoring, I don't feel any safer riding motorcycles now than I did back in the 80's, modern cars with all the airbags etc give a false sense of security I do believe. I don't get why so many middle aged men do ride like idiots though, I gave up going on ride outs with a local club because they treated the road like a race track.
Generally, I think you make a very good point about attitude, which might explain a great deal of the poor driving i see every day. On the specific issue of dangerous overtaking, I'm shocked how often car and van drivers overtake going into bends or through them, when it's impossible to see what is oncoming! Head on collisions are frequently catastrophic but if the offender's driving is judged just careless, the punishments are trivial compared to the harm caused.
I went from total novice to a full A licence in about 7 weeks (18th Nov to 12th Jan 2024). I had no access to a bike other than on the limited training days. After I passed I looked for extra training but was told to get a few miles under my belt first. So I bought a RE Int 650. I still need more training to be safe and I even struggle to find empty car parks where I can practice low speed control. Any suggestions? Safety is key for me, I am not interested in speed.
@kevin30b90 Thank you for your comment. Your journey to a full license isn’t unusual these days. But you are right that more training is needed. The DVSA Enhanced Rider Scheme is technically suitable for a newly qualified rider, but you can get more out of it if you have a few miles under your belt. That said the scheme is flexible enough to help you either way. But any motorcycle trainer should be able to offer you some extra training to help you out, it’s something that I do but I expect you are not local to me in Kent. To find an ERS instructor please go to the gov.uk website where you can find trainers local to you and also see the course syllabus. Let me know if I can advise further. All the best.
There is research in to road safety that has been used to design Vision Zero strategies. It comes down to reducing risks along roads, through better road design. Reduce the risks at intersections, reduce the risks when transport at different speeds come close together - and not just where there has been accidents but all along the road. There is also psychological road design. E.g people drive slower down narrow tree lined roads than when there is just a speed limit sign, so road designers in the Netherlands make use of that. The effects of impacts on pedestrians and cyclists at 20 and 30 mph shows a staggering difference, hence the need for 20 mph speed limits in places where they come into conflict - but not in places where they are separated. Training is more important where the risks are still high. That includes risks from the worsening weather extremes and Audi drivers. It can help you avoid impacts (even from just looking further ahead) and make them less serious. Vision Zero doesn't stop all casualties, it just tries to stop deaths and serious injuries.
Seems to be a matcho attitude from all the bike magazines & papers about how many horsepower certain models have, motorcycles are fast & exciting but we need to be sensible & grow up.
I ride a bike, drive a car and drive a school minibus for a living. I have never had so much trouble than when I use a bus-lane while transporting disabled children. Drivers swerving to prevent me using the bus lane or trying to prevent me re-joining the flow of traffic. I've had cyclists stop in-front of me pointing to the - "Bus lane" sign or slowing down to punish me for daring to use the lane I'm entitled to use. On my bike drivers try to prevent me filtering (I don't like filtering very often and only do it when it's very safe because I often have a pillion and it's a big bike). I'd say it's got worse over the last 10 years
There's a shocking number of drivers and riders whose knowledge and application of the highway code falls too far short of what a competent road user should have. Common transgressions seen are overtaking on the left, jumping red lights and blocking box junctions, and that's without factoring the most common transgression of mobile phone use. Arrogance and incompetence lead people to operate vehicles in a sub standard manner.
One thing that gripes me is when people in cars/vans (even worse lorries) want to turn right, and instead of waiting for both lanes to have a sufficient gap between cars, they pull completely into the first lane and wait for their lane to clear/let them in and block traffic in the first lane.
@@Gazooka I would argue that it is the other way around, it is worse that car and van users do this with trucks coming 3rd. If you have ever tried getting out of a side road onto a busy road in an artic lorry that is slow to get going because of a heavy load, you might understand the frustration involved when nobody volunteers to stop and hold back traffic and you are under pressure to deliver, there comes a point where you need to force the issue. Not saying it is right, but a car or van should manage to get out way easier than a heavy goods vehicle.
@@nononsense7867 part of being a switched on driver is to be able to recognise when a vehicle is having difficulty progressing in such a situation and help them out by giving way, it's not necessarily something the HC acknowledges but its good manners and breeds good attitude with other drivers.
@@LarRoachwell there often is, I think there’s a video on here that explains why . Not only that, reading about convictions for carelessness driving where people have undertaken shows it can usually be a problem
As for the driver at the bridge at 4:54, I think he might have had a lot of sun in his eyes. Whenever I drive with the sun low and just behind me I have to assume that anyone coming or looking the other way just can't see me at all. I find that situation way more dangerous than driving when the sun is in front (i.e. in my eyes, rather than in the eyes of people looking towards me)
If you read the road safety stats, those who just look at the headline figures will tell you speed is the largest contributory to accidents, hiwever if you rectify the next two factors this will remove speed as they will corredt the excessive speed with a better attitude.
When stating that speed is the greatest danger one means any speed be it above the speed limit or indeed below it and at an inappropriate speed. One can still be reckless within a 30 mph zone and doing only 20 when one should be doing less. Stats. can be wrong as a police officer fills in a tick box and rather than stretch his brain looking deeper for a real cause he merely ticks speed as being the cause. Basically any speed can lead to an accident / collision., ie 1 mph. or above.
I am a person that rides a bicycle , a motorcycle and drives a car and a van. I have been a road user for over 50 years and in my recent experience, I can forgive the old lady, gentleman or young inexperienced driver for their mistakes, but I find more and more in recent years BMW drivers and lately AUDI drivers appear to me to be very arrogant and disrespectful to other road users to the point of what I would consider to be a danger to other road users. Whilst I appreciate that I am painting a picture of a Type of road user under the title of a manufacturers brand, it is I’m sorry to say what it is it is!
We all know there are some winding narrow roads where nobody can pass a cyclist safely for miles. Most cyclists avoid those roads for common sense safety reasons, but now and then we meet one, and we are put under great pressure by the motorists behind to take risks. No cycling would be a good sign for those roads, or be a cyclist that will stop and pull over.
Agree 100% its attitude that is the problem on the road. People do not give a monkey's and do what they will. Unfortunately i do not see how this can be changed now especially in the south.
And that is the biggest problem. Decades ago drivers wanted to keep their licences clean and would drive accordingly. Now people don't give a ship. The smell of cannabis from cars, drivers using phones people don't care. Again this is another video that is pushing against an open door, confirming views of like minded riders, other than views does nothing.
The biggest road safety issue in the UK is the speeding obsession of the authorities which distracts them from the real problems and has allowed road death figures to flatline. Once you have failed to make proper road observations or made incorrect hazard decisions, there is very little that automation can do other than operate airbags. Reported Road Collisions Great Britain (RRCGB) are the accident stats for Great Britain (no NI) published by the DfT every year. Twenty years ago, the most common type of "primary cause", as they were termed then, were those associated with not looking properly and those occurred in about 36% of cases. Next were those associated with making poor hazard decisions at about 19%. So a total of more than half of collisions caused by these fundamental driving errors. Across the years, exceeding the speed limit varied in the range 3.5% to 5% and going too fast for the conditions about the same, so, even combined, those were typically many times less prevalent. In spite of that, government, safety campaigners and police chose to ignore these numbers and obsess about speeding. Left unchallenged, bad driving got worse and the 55% rose to 60% and then 65%. The DfT removed the term "primary cause" from the stats to help the stats to comply with policy! Later, in 2017, "following too close", which had appeared at a steady level of 7% previously, was removed so that exceeding the speed limit could, for the first time ever, be forced into the list of top ten causes. By that time, the 1700 deaths per year flatline was already well established. But what purpose does the speeding obsession serve? Internet posters try to tell us that it's about revenue collection but that is rubbish. It's about numbers and it's about cost. For government, speed cameras are a quick and cheap fix since they don't need wages, world-class training, or high-spec BMWs to drive around in. For the police, big numbers like the hundreds of thousands of speeding convictions are the kind of revenue with which they purchase approval from their police authority and government. The answer is more highly trained road policing officers out amongst the driving public helping them to understand how their improved driving behaviour can save lives.
Absolutely right. 100%. But in true tradition we mustn’t let facts get in the way of the desires and beliefs of so called experts. As I said previously, I fear for the future of road safety in the UK. Until the message that you, I and others like us have gets taken seriously and l changes are actually made, more people will be injured and worse on our roads. And still the ignorant will blame speed. Thank you for your comments.
Yes without doubt, attitude and behaviour. Few drivers/ have any interest in good driving. I used to Also think education was better than detterent, but without deterrent standards/behaviour slips. Retired Adi so to answer your question, only the really enthusiastic and keen students care about their driving over just passing the test. Dvsa live in a idealist world, which unfortunately dosent help, they need to show a bit of teeth. Fantastic subject, thank you.
Hi Rufus, i drive and ride BMW’s. I would have to agree with you, people actually look surprised if i let someone merge or change lanes to allow traffic to flow. There are a number of other brands of car i would add to the list though
I'm not a biker and don't know why this appeared in my stream. Still, I watched it and agree that attitude is a major element. I'd like to add that the learned inutition/experience of how other road users are going to act and take defensive action accordingly.
I think a common problematic attitude is an over estimation of your own abilities. A lack of understanding of our limitations as human beings when it comes to driving/ riding on public roads. With this atedude, it's common for people to think they are better than average drivers. If you think that then you won't feel the need to change anything about your driving, you won't do any critical analysis of your own driving and won't try to improve it. That person tail gating you is probably not feeling particularly aggressive they are just comfortable driving a few feet from the back of you because they haven't hit the back of any one recently so they think it ok. They don't realise that this is basically a statistical thing, they have never been in a situation that needed the safety margin, When someone a few cars down does an emergency stop for some reason then they will hit the vehicle in front and maybe then adapt their driving for a while. This is how human beings have evolved to deal with risk and its fairly optimal on a population wide basis by which I mean if you die because you were too close its fairly rare and everyone else got away with it so it works overall. This is not however a very good way to drive :-). I am just as shit as everyone else it's just maybe a realise it and now I'm old enough i try to do somethings to compensate which is what training is basically.
Since you didn't see the silver car approach the junction you don't know what he did, however what he may have done is edged into the junction to gain a better sightline and hence to not pull out in front of you on your motorbike.
Does advanced riding make you safer? Great question. I do have some personal data on this point - if I count the number of (i) near misses and (ii) surprises that I encountered both before and after doing the advanced riding course, I am pretty certain that these are now far fewer than before. For instance, I can't remember the last time I misread a bend and came in too quickly, or when I drifted too near to (or over) the centre line on a left hand bend. Both of these things did happen to me (occasionally!) before doing advanced riding. So I think it is possible for any individual rider to build up some empirical evidence of being safer after starting advanced riding, just by counting the number of surprises and mistakes around bends.
Any driving instructor who says you must ride of drive from lane 1 to 5 and back again to pass a slower moving vehicle hogging lane 4 should have their licence revoked.
I do not disagree with your point, when done with appropriate awareness I find it is usually safer to pass on the inside. But I think instructors will always say to move out like that because legally it is never wrong. Although it is not technically illegal to pass on the inside, the way driving law works is that you could be charged with an offence. And then the onus is on you to justify your actions based on on the specific circumstances of when it happened. As an instructor cannot give advice for the infinite permutations of driver, visibility, weather etc. they will avoid given blanket type advice that could get you convicted of an offence.
To better understand what's going through the minds of pedestrians and other road users just watch any zombie apocalypse movie, ok obviously I'm joking but it sure feels like it out there sometimes. ❤️🇬🇧
Inattentional blindness by other road users. The inability to notice a fully visible, but unexpected, object because attention was engaged on another task, event or object. Human nature. Quite literally, SIMDSY.
May i suggest another way of perceiving the issue. That since cars are so safe and quiet the average driver has lost/ doesn't comprehend the impact force of 3000 lbs. They do NOT train, but slowly get less attentive because there is nothing sharpening them. If everybody had to retest every 10 years (old folks, every 5), I believe we would see improved hazard recognition and awareness.
@@kneadedmassage9751 I'm not sure that would work, to become a better driver you need to be interested in driving, how many drivers know how to revmatch or counter steer ? Less than 1%. Ask anyone why they need 2 hands on tha wheel, guarantee they think they know.
Personally, I think everyone who wants to drive on four wheels, such as a car, should have to ride on two wheels first. It would certainly teach people about awareness and vulnerability on the roads before they get into an metal box on wheels that effectively isolates them from the world around them.
That basically was the case 50 years ago when cars were effectively more expensive and so almost everyone in my peer group had a motorcycle before getting a car licence. The standard of living has improved, and cars are now cheaper and easier to own than a bike (though parking isn't). So a level of skill and training simply isn't there. For example; ask almost any car driver if they moderate their driving according to the road surface and the blank look will say it all.
I'm in a family of bikers. My mum and dad practically met through bikes and still ride them to this day. Both myself and my brother ride, my sister has in the past but still wants to. We've always said that any and every provisional driver should have to pass a bike CBT first, then given the option of a bike or car theory test (or both) and progress from there. The entire point of this is to get rid of that _"I'm nice & safe in a metal box"_ attitude. Forcefeed the awareness, hazard perception and consideration into them right from the start. When I did my car licence 20 years ago, I was surprised at how little of being aware of the existence of motorcycles was even mentioned...I doubt that's gotten any better since. If you can't pass a bike CBT. through being unable to display a level of competence, correct attitude and safety for others, then you have no business driving anything else on the road.
Well , when i was training for a motorcycle test i was told to speed up, i dont like doing 60 mph between hedges, just me i know, but i hit a small deer in the car, it jumped out of the hedge, it smashed the front in and would have written it off had i not been in the trade. Btw i was doing less than 40. ( Quote, if when you are taking your test you have two or three cars behind ,you will fail. Thats what i was told!! ) Aside fron that , councils up and down the country have to fix the roads, not just A or Motorway, instead of trousering all our road fund taxes. Thats 2 things. R
Yes too much emphasis is made especially on some advanced training to speed at the maximum. They fail to realise that tho many instructors are qualified police officers its only police officers with there qualifications that can at times exceed such speed limits and us plebs cannot do that and should not be expected to drive or ride as a qualified class 1 or 2 police officer can.
Car drivers still think its acceptable to drive 60 around narrow country lanes just cause it says national. But the biker can control that speed by being aware slowing down gradually just cruising which slows down the car behind and if the car wants to overtake let them. Being calm shoulders relax needs to be important as that controls your bike like butter. Driver instructors need to mention "you could benefit from motorcycle training too" just so they are aware of motorcyclists.
The wrong machine. The wrong speed. The wrong attitude to self preservation. Shades and tinted visors that hide road defects and gravel that doesn't count as a defect. Poor maintenance. Dumb "upgrades".
Biggest factor in road safety for motorcyclists is speeding. Yeah, car drivers speed, too. But the vast majority of car drivers don't own or drive cars capable of sub 4, sometimes sub 3 second 0-60 times and capable of 150+ mph. No one buys a motorbike like this to pootle around. "ZZR1400, sir? That'll be just £7k for a 10 year old model. We also stock Hayabusas if that's not to your liking."
I personally have the attitude when out cycling that no 1 sets out to kill me on the bike because I'm cycling. Yes people do drive below what is acceptable. I've being hit with a car turning right on the bike and I can 100% say the driver never set out to do it as they where aa white as a ghost . Yes they messed up but that' isn't let's go and hit a cyclist. If I was to personally ride in a manner that was jumpy and on edge all the time i would actually be stressed out not able to deal with hazards etc. Say the roads are flooded and a puddle is half way across my side . I'm as soon as I can see the puddle going to start planning option of can I change lanes or do I need to slow or stop. Is their a single car or group of cars behind would I like to get past before to hazard or not so I may encourage the car to speed up to get past quickly to give room behind or i might ask if I can go first and look a hand signal from the driver or them slowing to allow to go first. If I need them to slow because I can see a car coming i will let the car behind know. I would not arrive at the flood stressed out about the cars behind with no plan of how I deal with the hazards I will have comincated my intentions and made sure people are going to let me.. if i was to ride my bike in a massive group and my attitude was everyone is going to hit me i would be slamming on the brakes about every little thing which would then send panic into the people around which then increases danger . Where by anticipating what is going to happen by the time I get there the issue has being dealt with and what might be a hazard is never a hazard. Personally I think many hazards are only a hazard because you allowed the hazard to become a hazard. The people i find that have the best attitude when I cycle is the hgv drivers and motorbike riders. Yes they may be gping quickly but generally I find the make sure I'm safe when they pass another I have noticed is the last rider in a group may give a wave to let me know last rider which I like . I always think where is the bikers mates behind and it's nice whem the last rider gives a thumbs up to say that's us all through safe
Iv always gone by the rule....there are bold bikers and old bikers but no bold old bikers...and also driven with the idea that everyone's out to get me. Bit defensive but I'm still riding 48 yrs later and manged to dodge more than my fair share of bad drivers. 👍🤞
Despatch rider for thirty one years and your example of the car pulling over the give way lines was absolutely nothing and should be something you'd be aware of but nothing to write home about or make videos about. Every day I was out on the road, I was aware of the danger that anyone could kill me ( lost a couple of couriers in my time) and personally had nine bad smashes as well as hundreds of lesser SorryMateIDidn'tSeeYou's....... Yes, I hear you say I must have been a terrible rider but we sued all the transgressors successfully as i was not at fault. Think about it as a courier with already expensive insurance, no company would touch you if you were constantly at fault. And yes, do remember that everyone actually is out to kill you even if they don't really mean to do so! Keep it between the hedges.
The biggest issue in road safety is for one to consistently apply common sense and respect the highway code. I am glad there were cops in my younger days who's objective was to stop me when I went outside those parameters. I acknowledge that I and others are still around today because the police pointed out the error of our ways. Yes we might call them pigs and other nasty names but at the end of the day they do try hard to save us from ourselves. Once you realise that they see fatalities on a regular basis you have to give them respect and adhere to their genuine concerns. That was a good video and excellent commentary. 👍
The guy over the line was a bad driver. Then followed by a once off rare case of someone reckons their automated car was a bad driver. If everyone followed the rules it would be much safer. Just watch the dashcam videos, almost every accident is not from speed, it's all bad drivers not following the rules. We are not meant to be all different, that is why there are road rules.
I’m sat watching your video. Yes it is mind set. One thing we all forget is not a right to drive it is a gift. If we all thought about we are in control of a deadly weapon we may look at things different. I am an observer for the IAM motorbikes and all the time it comes to planning and observation and not taking it control of the information they see.
Still like the videos keep them coming. 👍
Thanks, an interesting subject. It seems like impatience, aggression and 'me first' on the roads is increasing. I find focussing on my own space rather than having expectations of others has increased my enjoyment of being on the road.
Unfortunately that doesn't work for me. I frequently have oncoming overtaking cars in my lane. Even when overtaking bicycles on straight roads with good visibility some cars do it right in front of me. They pass as far away from the cyclist as possible leaving no or very little space for me until they panic in the last moment. The most dangerous situations I encounter is due to the drivers and not the road or speed limit.
Great video Phil, as always I really enjoy your videos and comments.
People just don't take driving seriously enough. I feel that most of the time, speed limits are arbitrary, however, I can't think of a better solution because people cannot be trusted to behave in a safe and courteous manner....... also, the uk road condition at the moment is atrocious, you never know what horrors are sount the bend.
Great video, thanks
I seem to remember someone famous once said, “What’s wrong with the world? I am!” My own attitude will lighten and make safer the whole day. Or not. Thanks for a really good video and discussion. Les
There is a goofy cartoon from the 1950’s where it illustrates the calm and polite person turns character when he gets behind the wheel of his car.
If we were in a queue at the checkout of supermarket and someone pushed their trolley in front of ours we would be surprised but it’s common on the roads
Really well said. I totally agree. People are basically good intentioned; but for whatever reason get behind the wheel of a car/van/lorry and become monsters sometimes. I learnt from a very young age (was a bus driver in Bath aged 25) that attitude is a huge factor in road safety; and not just road safety, it transfers to a lot of other areas of influence in our own lives where we can potentially put other at risk just by making bad decisions and not considering the outcomes that a bad attitude can cause.
Could be that 'people are basically well-intentioned'.
Could also be that the motor car acts as a dis-inhibitor ... a space which insulates the driver from the consequences of his own bad behaviour, and thus liberates him to act without restraint.
For instance, if I'm ambling along the street, and you can't get past easily, you probably won't stand real close and begin shouting at me, gesticulating and calling me a twat. I mean, you MIGHT do that, but it's much-more-likely that you'd adopt a more passive stance. I'd argue that you're more likely to fly-off-the-handle when you are in your car. Many people do need the prospect of negative-feedback to moderate their actions.
Condition of the road is the number 1 hazard for me. Pot holes, poor joints, road snakes, gravel, line paint, manhole lids, cat's eyes, metal bridge expansion joints, mud, wet leaves, acorns in autumn, sheep and cow shit, cattle grids, oil and diesel spills.......Have I missed anything?
Im always thinking that I’ll be the one that comes of worse if things go wrong, that keeps me in check 😊 and thinking ahead.
My friend, this is so true and very close to my heart . This video is one I would have made myself so thank you for making it. I've been driving for years both powerful motorbike and cars and I've noticed a terrible change in the attitude of drives today whether it's the way they've been taught or just as you said thier attitude towards other people's lives. Well said 👍🏼👍🏼
You mentioned the 80s, I was a Instructor with the KMCTS in the late 70s early 80s the issues of which you spoke were the same then, what has changed is the number of those issues being on the road coupled with a deteriorating condition of the roads that we now have, I distinctly remember having conversations on the odd occasion after completing the test with recommendations on attitude improvement, as back then a lot of young trainees were only there under duress as their parents would not buy them the bike unless they took the training and passed.
As a cyclist and motorists (cars and motorcycles) I definitely believe there is a huge issue with attitude. I often read many comments relating to dash cam videos where many driver’s don’t value the life of others particularly with pedestrians and cyclists.. also what really annoys me most about drivers in the uk when compared to many countries in Europe I have driven in. Many British driver tend to lack vehicle control skill and drive well beyond their limits during poor weather situations and very much more selfish defending their bit of road space rather than easing off a little let the other car merge in lane just keep traffic moving.
You only have to watch a few You Tube video to see where attitude to other groups of road users is a big problem, not just with the person in the clip but also the people in the comments.
Constant judgment of other road users behaviour certainly contributes to the decline of my own attitude. It also reduces my concentration on the road and potential hazards. Thank you for highlighting this issue. I suppose I cannot change other people’s attitudes but I can certainly try to change mine.
First of all, nice ride, loved those lanes.
For me there's a massive issue with attitude, stemming from a general state of "car brain" in the culture. People think that the roads belong to motor vehicles and that they have priority, they believe the advertisements showing motor vehicles bringing them "the freedom of the open road", that they pay "road tax", and therefore "own" the roads.
I prefer to think like this: pedestrians, horse riders and cyclists are what roads are built for. Motor vehicle users require a license and insurance to use them, and their use of the roads is contingent on them complying with the terms of the license.
There's also a general break down in norms, because people have seen the country's leaders and elites playing fast and loose with the rules and getting away with it, so if they can do it, why not I?
I’ve been driving for 30 years. I’ve just helped my niece practice for her theory test. Really opened my eyes - again!
Excellent video. As an IAM rider I wholeheartedly agree with everything you say.
Absolutely correct. I worked on motorways for 15 years. Over time they have got busier and more congested, but the biggest change was in peoples attitude. The selfish, couldn't give a toss brigade who will do anything to get 2 cars ahead of where they are now, hurl abuse at emergency workers trying to clear an RTC from the carriageway, or get their phone out to get some footage they can use on social media.. They have no respect for workers or other drivers, and don't see a problem in putting other people at risk. Sadly, I don't think any amount of education will change the attitude of these drivers/riders.
Another factor has always been "perceived safety" - human beings all have varying levels of risk tolerance or averseness - that's why some love the thrill of extreme sports etc. and others get terrified even watching such things.
Many studies over the course of the years have shown however, that the safer you make a person feel, the more likely they are to compensate for that additional safety margin, to bring it back to their own perceived levels of acceptable risk. With vehicles and technology of course, this has led to people frequently overestimating both their own abilities and the ever growing list of driving aids and safety features built into their cars, motorcycles and equipment.
Back in the 80's and 90's, it was Volvo drivers who were stereotyped, particularly by motorcyclists, as some of the most inattentive and most dangerous and, like all stereotypes, there was a certain truth to it. Marketed as they were, as the "safest" cars to be in if involved in a collision, they most definitely engendered a feeling of (false?) security and they were often, it seemed, driven with that in mind.
Then with the advent of things like ABS, many drivers seemed to feel that they could now drive faster, more aggressively, could ignore road and weather conditions and that ABS alone would save them from incidents that previously would have been inevitable. Obviously this is complete nonsense, but it didn't change the prevailing attitudes of many - they didn't understand the technology being provided and thus, much of the time, its potential benefits were lost, if not completely, at least to a great degree. "Pedestrian friendly" construction of modern cars, front and side airbags, ever more stringent crash testing requirements seem to have led to a crazy situation where a great many people actually feel safer barrelling along inside their climate controlled steel cages weighing several tons than they do sitting on their couch at home, and consequently pay either activity about the same levels of attention.
With all the electronic trickery now available - ABS, traction control, anti wheelie etc. etc. It's amusing to me as a rider of over 43 years and an accredited instructor and observer for both RoSPA and the IAM for a good 35 of those years that a lot of riders today have never even ridden bikes that have no computerized aids in one form or another and often regard the absence of such things as "dangerous".
You would think that compared to the days when most cars weren't even fitted with seatbelts, when crossply tyres were the norm, halogen headlights weren't even on the horizon, power steering was almost unheard of, synchromesh gearboxes were uncommon, cable operated drum brakes were the height of technology etc. etc. that the accident and death tolls on the road would have been a total bloodbath. Throw in the fact that once upon a time there wasn't even a driving test, there were no drink driving laws, no MOT tests, and no crash helmet laws for motorcyclists and most certainly cycling helmets didn't even exist. There was a time when speed limits were non-existent and even when introduced took a long time to be implemented even in a lot of urban areas. To modern road users, the picture being painted would be one of a lawless free for all. Yet, surprisingly, the roads were not nearly as dangerous as such conditions might suggest they would have been.
Now, obviously, we didn't have the extensive motorway networks we have today, cars were far less powerful and there were far less of them vying for road space but by the 1970's, traffic was more than plentiful, especially in more densely populated parts of the country. All those things are relevant, yet my memory of those days were that there was most certainly less aggression, there were far less pedestrians, mindlessly wandering into traffic and people generally seemed to have their wits about them. Much of this, I am sure, was due to a heavy focus on education where all kids were given the benefit of school visits by the police and road safety organizations to teach them the basics of crossing the road safely, and cycling proficiency courses to set them on their early journey as road users on the right foot.
Based on the behaviour I see on a daily basis, a great many people have absolutely zero sense of self preservation any more, whether they are walking, riding or driving. We have many advances in technology and safety but conversely technology has also been indisputably responsible for creating dangers that never existed prior to their introduction - obvious ones would be the somewhat erroneously labelled "smart phone", or indeed all mobile communication devices, things like satnav/GPS, action cameras, social media - all have which have contributed to major behavioural changes whether driving or not. More and more distractions, which I believe have had a major negative impact on the public highway. People have also become far more insular, far less socially adept and far quicker to anger - civility has most certainly been in rapid decline in all walks of life. We have also had a drastic shift in population demographics and however "uncomfortable" that might be for some people to talk about or even accept, it's another societal factor that has had and will continue to have, an impact on the situation.
The only "solutions" that those in power seem to have to fall back on, are ever more intrusive, frequently pointless and dangerous speed limits and very poorly conceived "traffic calming" measures - things for which there seems to be an abundant supply of funds, yet basic road maintenance, street lighting etc. always draws the cry of "poverty" from those same "authorities". Of course, in their "brave new world" of net zero absurdity it should be abundantly clear to everyone by now, that the ultimate goal is to deny the masses access to all powered personal transportation. In the meantime, extract maximum funds from those who have the temerity to use the roads they have paid for over and over as intended, whether that be in the form of duty or fines and numerous other financial penalties - the motorist has historically been a reliable cash cow for pen pushers and bean counters since time immemorial, so none of that should surprise any of us.
So, ultimately, what has been created, is an ever more frustrating experience for road users of all types - leading to ever greater conflict and division amongst the various groups "sharing" those roads with one another. Poor education, bad attitudes, congestion, distractions, ever more inconsiderate behaviour, unreasonable costs, ineffective legislation.....the nanny state completely out of control. Driving for pleasure is not a concept even understood by the vast majority any longer. It's all very sad, that, for so many, one of our greatest freedoms and something which once was a source of such joy and exhilaration, is gradually becoming one of the greatest millstones around our necks, more frequently than not, just a necessary evil, a chore, no more and no less. I personally believe that training and education has and always will be one of the most effective road safety approaches when it comes to addressing attitudes - unfortunately, if you make it mandatory it leads to resentment, and those who voluntarily submit themselves to such training and who are willing and able to accept that they can, and have a desire to improve their skills, are invariably, by their very nature, the ones who least need it.
Absolutely. Skill, knowledge, and experience all contribute to road safety. If car drivers had motorbike experience, they would
be more safety conscious on the road.
As always a well presented and thought provoking video. With respect to advanced riders, the number of riders that actually take advanced training is a very low %, however that number are highly invested both in time and money in improving their riding. There is a problem with the Insurance Companies not recognising an advanced driving certificate, if there was actually an incentive from the Insurance Companies in a decent reduction in insurance cost that would help get more people to take further training. With both Bike Safe and Fire Bike courses there is a link into an Insurance Company to get a % off insurance. The problem is it is with one of the most expensive companies so it does not actually save you anything. I take as much training as i possibly can, there is always more to learn and improvements to be made.
Might it be that Insurance Companies do not actually see a measurable reduction in risk, which can be attributed to advanced training?
Changing the mindset of people works in my opinion. In 40 years of driving, I’ve been caught speeding twice. The first time I received a fixed penalty which just annoyed me. The last time, I took the offer of a speed awareness course and that changed the way I think about driving and riding. Another point you raised was that of people feeling invincible. I think some of that is down to age. When we’re young we just don’t see danger & consequence like we do as we get older. But also, as cars and bikes incorporate more safety features, riders and drivers feel more protected/invincible. There’s a long standing joke that replacing the steering wheel airbag with a metal spike would make everyone drive more carefully.
Not a joke. That proposition emerged indirectly from a researcher called Wilde, and his 'risk-compensation theory' (or something like that). He supposed that each of us has an acceptable level of risk, and that each technical safety enhancement would be somewhat ineffective. For example, the fitment of better brakes might lead to drivers closing the gaps between vehicles. It has a certain plausibility, and I'm confident that a steel spike would concentrate my mind, at least until I habituated to it. Maybe helmets and body-armour DO change the way that we ride. I mean, you can ride with abandon in a video game, because the consequences of failure are trivial.
@@garylewis3780 I like what you’re saying but feel you are saying the younger riders and driver are a higher number of invincible ones.
I feel we have all forgot we are in control of a deadly weapon like holding a gun. A car or a bike can kill just the same.
I’m 52 now done every license but my HGV , I’m advanced rider and observer I love with all my heart riding to as higher standard as I can. Now even I’m not perfect the thing I look at is safety and not pushing that bad position upsetting people. If the mind set and test were more stricter I feel it would be better.
Training and practice is always a very good idea. I try to practice something, obstacle avoidance etc., every time I drive or ride. I was taught to ride to the conditions. The speed limit might be 60 mph but the conditions dictate 20 mph, I'm driving at 20 mph!
I note that some Insurance companies are no longer offering discounts for IAM, ROSPA etc. The reason seems to be that certain advanced riding styles and doctrines are causing more accidents due to claims from riders who seemed to have _sacrificed safety for position._ 🤔 e.g. Too close to the edge of the road and having problems with debris or too close to the centre line. I will try and find the source of this information. I have a feeling it was an (advanced) driving instructor, but I need to check.
As a driving instructor i love it if a learner comes to me as a qualified motorcyclist. Their observations are usually on a different level. Experienced cyclists too!
@@adinigel that’s bcs EVERYTING is your enemy! Leaves twigs bitch strips but most of all, car an van driver with head up ass syndrome. They are fuckin lethal.
Road safety is always 100% a driver issue. Even if a car is not roadworthy, bald tyres and it hits black ice...it was the driver decision to take an inadequately maintained car out in those conditions. The driver is the only conscious agent in the situation, it's no good saying that tree was growing in the wrong place etc
It is bad attitude rather than no training that causes problems. I was a teenage biker in the 70s, in those days, without any training at all, a 17 year old with a provisional licence, could jump on something like a suzuki 185GT..(i had a 175cc) All my mates had bikes back then, 20, 30 of us, 50cc at 16, and then anything under a 250CC at 17 without any training at all. in all the years i was riding, i knew of only two mates that had killed themselves, and both times they were racing about on the road, in fact one of them wasn't even another car involved, he just hit a island in the middle of the road, speeding...But that has always been a tricky combination, teenagers and speed.
I too was there at that time but I had learned to ride off road (we lived in a very rural area and I had a hill to practice on😊), with wet grass, loose gravel, and smoothish road tyres you learnt throttle and machine control very quickly, most often at little more than walking pace, it was the finest teacher you could have, and has stood me in good stead all these years, I appreciate that unfortunately very few will get the same opportunity but a bunch of lads sliding their bikes or cars in a snowy deserted car park are likely to get done as it's seen as "dangerous", not as a skill that may one day save lives, it's not until you have had the whole thing sliding that you can appreciate how little control you have in those situations, as I say unfortunately very few will ever get to experience this, I was very fortunate.
Totally agree with your thoughts. Got my full licence last week and have my first " big bike". At 63 my attitude to riding is a million miles away from my attitude at 18. If l feel angry or depressed l don't ride my bike. Even now l struggle to contain my anger at poor driving/riding. I am glad l learnt to ride and drive in an age with driver aids. It makes me respectful of what can and does go wrong.
Thank you so much, I absolutly agree, really interesting insights. Developing self awareness and understanding of our individual personalities and characteristics I feel is helpful. Understanding ourselves more clearly and acting on these insights offer the opportunity, may I suggest - to improve our own road safety and the safety of others. Thank you so much once again.
It seems from what you're saying about attitude versus lack of skill versus genuine error: things could certainly improve with an increase in skill levels ie post test training. The dunning Kruger effect is clearly seen here,and training to raise skill levels would also improve attitude levels as people would understand how the two are inextricably linked.
A motorcyclist was killed near me last week in a thirty. A queue of traffic at lights in the rhlane waiting to turn right,and the bike went through on the permanent green for the straight ahead route. A car made an impetuous unplanned lane change and cuased the biker to swerve or hit the car and he ended up hitting the traffic light poles
Impatience and and frustration is the bad attitude. Unplanned lane change is the lack of skill,and awareness of consequences.
RIP anonymous biker. .
Interesting topic. It all boils down to experience, the amount of years you spent in the saddle, which has taught you that you are the issue when it comes to road safety. And the road conditions are appalling, to say the least. So you adjust accordingly. But that is me at the age of 58 years old. It seems though that the percentage of crazy drivers has risen exponentially in the last years and concern for others is utterly discarded. Also I know quite a few people who shouldn't be driving needing sometimes up to seven attempts to pass their license. I passed my driving test at the age of 15 ( I grew up in the States) and I'm forever grateful for my driving instructor whose first mission was to take us into A&E on a busy weekend showing us the consequences of what happens to you when you are involved in a crash. That moment sobered me up to this day. So my take on road safety is- it starts out with your driving instructor. Enjoyed your vid! Subscribed. Safe riding!
Hi, I have been watching your channel over the past few months found the videos to be very good, certainly has made me think about the way I ride relating to speed and general road position. Thanks.
As an old git, a motorcyclist a car driver and has been hgv driver I would say the biggest threat to safety is selfish drivers that fo not consider other road users. My pet hate is those that are incapable of indicating correctly closely followed by those that just don't use indicators and that includes numerous police drivers they need to leaf by example
A good, well balanced video, yes, attitude skill and preservation of life, with a bit of fun thrown in are everything!
I agree that the mindset is the biggest problem. It isnt always easy to stay calm. In my experience Tailgating is the biggest trigger to instigate road rage. It makes the car/motorcycle being tailgated feel very vulnerable and lose focus on other hazards the roads may throw.
On a side note it was good to see you give the beans to the RT at the end. Please keep the videos coming in they are very informative and helpful.
So, the next questions to ponder are, "What ARE 'attitudes' ... "How do they form, and how are they altered?"
I'll start with my off-the-cuff definition of a 'bad' attitude, as being 'a behaviour which has become intrusive'. For instance, we each of us are capable of aggression, and we all display it on occasion ... but a man with an 'aggressive attitude', displays this behaviour both repeatedly and consistently, and usually inappropriately. (in the judgement of the observer)
I think that attitudes are formed as 'whole-of-life' responses which have proven to be beneficial to that individual; or sometimes in responsive to specific traumatic incidents. I'd guess that they can also be inculcated by external Agents, especially by authority figures. I might develop a positive attitude towards deception, if I have found that I'm good at it, and that it confers benefits to me.
Ah, but the tricky bit, 'How can attitudes be altered?' I don't have any answers for you. I do know from life-experience, that attitudes can be extremely resilient. I am fairly confident that mere 'training' won't do the job. But, I do think that training can bring focus to a man who already possesses a 'good' attitude.
All speculation, of course.
One of the striking things for me is how your speed matches the conditions on the road; too many of these "instructional" videos feature riding which causes me to clench my teeth, and everything else. I'm a new rider; I find it relatively easy to fly along the roads at speed, much more difficult to ride with the bike controlled, on the throttle, suspension engaged, and fully alert ready to respond. That's the sense I get from watching your riding, quite often reviewing the ride several times, as there is so much there to learn from. Appreciated.
Thank you for your comments. I’m glad you find the video useful and it’s great that you have identified the style of riding in response to hazards and also having a realistic assessment of your own riding. I wish you well with your riding and any further development you decide to take. Ride safe, all the best
@@MotorcyclePWR Experience and knowledge count for a lot of it. Then there is the advice that one should never exceed 70% of ones abilities. Don't be in a rush or hurry, take your time and enjoy. Take it easy, relax enjoy. Concentrate on the road as if it were a river taking you down stream. Its comfortable, relaxing riding, easing into the bends, some slow and some a little faster. Not using excessive speeds as you are taken along by the rivers flow.
Unlike as you say, seeing some instructors maintaining the highest speeds possible to make as fast a progress as possible and thus on country roads catching up with other vehicles being driven just slightly slower and then having the NEED to overtake each and every one of them. Placing yourself in greater danger on overtakes, many of which would be undesirable or unnecessary in the first place. Why commit to overtaking say 9 or 19 vehicles that one is constantly catching up with merely to be at the front of the queue. Its a hell of lot safer to slow a little, pull back to give more than the safe stopping distances and then lo and behold you will be at the front of your own queue. with fewer or no dangerous overtakes to make.
As regards to speed there is a saying that any fool can ride fast but a safe rider knows when to slow down. Remember that and ride just a little slower and that will help you take in more if not all of your surroundings and in particular more of whatever maybe a potential hazard for you further along the road you are travelling.
Develop the defensive riding skill of being by oneself [ keeping well away from other traffic ] and not caught up in that traffic. Keep a good safety bubble of distance ahead of you and around you and that mean that you will no longer be seeing the rear of other vehicles but by the giving of safe space you will see beyond that vehicle and to the road ahead. Well ahead and therefore having seen a potential danger you will deal with it earlier so it no longer exist. as a danger to you or any other road user.
Ride well and ride safely.
We need to change our training . All of it. Just the CBT is not enough and never has or will be. We need some form of extra training requirements to take into account country roads, bends, overtakes and motorways etc.
To date riders are just left to their own devises in all of those matters and learn nothing at all about their potential dangers.
@@rcraven1013what you say is true, post CBT on your own can be very intimidating, perhaps ask an experienced rider to ride with you sometimes, if you know of one, they can help you a lot, but just having them there can be a big aid to confidence.
Everytime I set out on the road, however I use be it car ,motorbike or cycle, i consciously think about whatbi am doing, my safety is primarily on how I ride or drive, which has a knockon effect on how others react to me.
Sadly, i have noticed how impatient a lot of drivers are, be and like Phil said a bit of courtesy goes a long way,and its free !
Another point I must mention, that what you are using also affects road safety, i have several different cycles, and one is a very unusual recumbent trike, out of all my 'bikes it is probably the safest to ride despite its low aspect to the ground, I get far more consideration riding that than i do anyother bike, I guess thats because its unusual, or drivers may think I am disabled riding it, so I find it inexplicable that they will give me extra consideration when passing me ,than my fellow club cyclist, yet I am in the same group.
There is an attitude problem with road users, proportinate with what the drive or ride, or even if they are working drivers, taxi drivers arevthe worse for that ,it need't be ,
I believe riding a bike, has improved my driving. The requirement to do a motorcycle road test required me to review how I drive. Plus understanding on a bike I am at additional risk. Spending time on rural Island and in a busy city. The people complaining about all the terrible drivers on the local facebook page on the island is quite funny. I can only control what I do and how I react.
I agree that the behaviour of riders and drivers is a key to road safety, however one of the biggest issues that needs to be addressed is social conditioning. Social conditioning says that it is alright to tailgate, speed run red lights etc. How do I know? I just watch the way that 95% of the population drive, the example they set says that poor and risky behaviour is perfectly acceptable, and with very little policing of drivers these days it is just easier to drop the speed limit and say that will make us safer
On the subject of social media, you mentioned seeing crash videos. I’ve noticed on RUclips shorts I get an awful lot of young people (mostly Americans) on sports bikes, little gear, no licences plates, vlogging about running from cops, or going 150 mph on the highway.
I don’t seek this content out, I watch mostly videos on fundamental skills or roadcraft. But the algorithm serves it to me.
I feel like there could be a lack of short form content on based on roadcraft and safety to allow younger people to be aware of it.
Have considered creating short form content? Just edited clips of your videos mights help get your content to a different demographic.
The quality of life itself is largely governed by one's attitude and the attitude of those around one.
As a rider one has to accept the likelihood of a predominance of bad attitude; because the consequences of not doing so could be lethal.
Thanks for your clarity on this subject.
'Respond, dont react' is the one I always try to remember...
I totally agree. However, speed is an issue. In my country the max speed on a lot of B roads is 60km/h. I believe in many cases that's quite correct. However almost all drivers/riders pass me when I drive around 65 km/h on these roads. As usual I'm behind them at the next traffic lights. You gain nothing. The added safety features in especially cars are not making them safer as drivers tend to take more risks. Whether I'm in my car or on one of my bikes I regard where I drive/ride as a hostile environment. First of all I like to get home in one piece, secondly I use older vehicles which are not that easy to repair or replace. In short I care. And to me that is the problem indeed: a lot of road users do not care. As you said: attitude!
On a different note, i passed my CBT (Even though i crashed on leaves doing a u-turn lol, not my fault and no harm/damage was caused). Should be getting a 125 soon :)
Congratulations! But remember with motorcycles its always your fault
Perhaps that's an example of what Phil is talking about, was it safe to perform the manoeuvre in that particular place.
In my view if the instructor asked you to do a u- turn on leaf litter ,it wasn't the best place to do it.
But then I've had 40 years or more on the roads,, I've not come of on wet leaves yet, but that's not to say I won't.
Congratulations on your road journey, and I hope you progress to a full licence soon.
Congratulations, though I hope you do not progress to a full licence soon! Enjoy your 125, it is a really valuable learning experience. I live in London and consider myself mostly self taught because both my CBT and Mod2 never took me on roads faster than 30 mph. But in between I did about 23,000 miles on my 125 on all types of road. Technically not motorways, obviously, but the same standard on road like the A2 between the M25 and M2. And on a bike that barely passes 60mph if you have to pay attention to keep safe as you cannot just accelerate out of trouble. One of the most awkward situations I got in was overtaking some lorries on the A1 in Lincolnshire when the gradient of the road started going uphill. It was only a slight change, but I guess I should have been able to notice it. Going flat out I was stuck level with the font lorry with cars behind me so had to slow down enough to be able to pull in and let them pass. People who go straight to bigger bikes miss out on that kind of experience in the same way that car drivers miss out on the experience of bikers.
I believe that as motorcyclists we encounter three types of motorists. The most common being the 'neutral' driver. Does nothing wrong, but won't do you any favors should you want to pass/filter. Then in equal measure, there are the drivers who will do anything to prevent you from say filtering and those who are incredibly bike-aware and more left giving you plenty of room. Then there are us bikers. Some of us are twats, myself included during my youth, Riding recklessly ignoring or being oblivious to hazards as if trying to seek attention, risking lives. Not just their own but those around them. In essence. It's like you say, our attitudes which do change over time.
Thanks
Thank you for the contribution, much appreciated
Crappy roads, manhole covers, flooded roads, leaves on road, spilled diesel, nutters in cars, stupid people crossing roads, road works, push bikes 20mph roads i think that covers it!
I think you hit the nail on the head, the way you conduct yourself is the issue.
40 plus years of motoring, I don't feel any safer riding motorcycles now than I did back in the 80's, modern cars with all the airbags etc give a false sense of security I do believe.
I don't get why so many middle aged men do ride like idiots though, I gave up going on ride outs with a local club because they treated the road like a race track.
Great video, i travelled these roads today on my ride out as they are my local ones
I remember watching a wind in the willows cartoon where toad of toad hall is driving recklessly. It is funny but people actually are like that! 🤭👍😎
Yes, I think we laugh in self recognition to that cartoon, still makes me smile so thanks for posting :)
😁👍drive safe folks don't be like toad 🐸 🚗
Generally, I think you make a very good point about attitude, which might explain a great deal of the poor driving i see every day.
On the specific issue of dangerous overtaking, I'm shocked how often car and van drivers overtake going into bends or through them, when it's impossible to see what is oncoming! Head on collisions are frequently catastrophic but if the offender's driving is judged just careless, the punishments are trivial compared to the harm caused.
I went from total novice to a full A licence in about 7 weeks (18th Nov to 12th Jan 2024). I had no access to a bike other than on the limited training days. After I passed I looked for extra training but was told to get a few miles under my belt first. So I bought a RE Int 650. I still need more training to be safe and I even struggle to find empty car parks where I can practice low speed control. Any suggestions? Safety is key for me, I am not interested in speed.
@kevin30b90 Thank you for your comment. Your journey to a full license isn’t unusual these days. But you are right that more training is needed.
The DVSA Enhanced Rider Scheme is technically suitable for a newly qualified rider, but you can get more out of it if you have a few miles under your belt. That said the scheme is flexible enough to help you either way. But any motorcycle trainer should be able to offer you some extra training to help you out, it’s something that I do but I expect you are not local to me in Kent.
To find an ERS instructor please go to the gov.uk website where you can find trainers local to you and also see the course syllabus. Let me know if I can advise further. All the best.
There is research in to road safety that has been used to design Vision Zero strategies. It comes down to reducing risks along roads, through better road design. Reduce the risks at intersections, reduce the risks when transport at different speeds come close together - and not just where there has been accidents but all along the road. There is also psychological road design. E.g people drive slower down narrow tree lined roads than when there is just a speed limit sign, so road designers in the Netherlands make use of that. The effects of impacts on pedestrians and cyclists at 20 and 30 mph shows a staggering difference, hence the need for 20 mph speed limits in places where they come into conflict - but not in places where they are separated.
Training is more important where the risks are still high. That includes risks from the worsening weather extremes and Audi drivers. It can help you avoid impacts (even from just looking further ahead) and make them less serious. Vision Zero doesn't stop all casualties, it just tries to stop deaths and serious injuries.
Seems to be a matcho attitude from all the bike magazines & papers about how many horsepower certain models have, motorcycles are fast & exciting but we need to be sensible & grow up.
I ride a bike, drive a car and drive a school minibus for a living. I have never had so much trouble than when I use a bus-lane while transporting disabled children. Drivers swerving to prevent me using the bus lane or trying to prevent me re-joining the flow of traffic. I've had cyclists stop in-front of me pointing to the - "Bus lane" sign or slowing down to punish me for daring to use the lane I'm entitled to use. On my bike drivers try to prevent me filtering (I don't like filtering very often and only do it when it's very safe because I often have a pillion and it's a big bike). I'd say it's got worse over the last 10 years
nicely put
There's a shocking number of drivers and riders whose knowledge and application of the highway code falls too far short of what a competent road user should have. Common transgressions seen are overtaking on the left, jumping red lights and blocking box junctions, and that's without factoring the most common transgression of mobile phone use. Arrogance and incompetence lead people to operate vehicles in a sub standard manner.
One thing that gripes me is when people in cars/vans (even worse lorries) want to turn right, and instead of waiting for both lanes to have a sufficient gap between cars, they pull completely into the first lane and wait for their lane to clear/let them in and block traffic in the first lane.
@@Gazooka I would argue that it is the other way around, it is worse that car and van users do this with trucks coming 3rd. If you have ever tried getting out of a side road onto a busy road in an artic lorry that is slow to get going because of a heavy load, you might understand the frustration involved when nobody volunteers to stop and hold back traffic and you are under pressure to deliver, there comes a point where you need to force the issue. Not saying it is right, but a car or van should manage to get out way easier than a heavy goods vehicle.
@@nononsense7867 part of being a switched on driver is to be able to recognise when a vehicle is having difficulty progressing in such a situation and help them out by giving way, it's not necessarily something the HC acknowledges but its good manners and breeds good attitude with other drivers.
Nothing wrong or illegal about overtaking on the left.
@@LarRoachwell there often is, I think there’s a video on here that explains why .
Not only that, reading about convictions for carelessness driving where people have undertaken shows it can usually be a problem
Great video Phil! I could not agree more…
As for the driver at the bridge at 4:54, I think he might have had a lot of sun in his eyes. Whenever I drive with the sun low and just behind me I have to assume that anyone coming or looking the other way just can't see me at all. I find that situation way more dangerous than driving when the sun is in front (i.e. in my eyes, rather than in the eyes of people looking towards me)
If you read the road safety stats, those who just look at the headline figures will tell you speed is the largest contributory to accidents, hiwever if you rectify the next two factors this will remove speed as they will corredt the excessive speed with a better attitude.
When stating that speed is the greatest danger one means any speed be it above the speed limit or indeed below it and at an inappropriate speed. One can still be reckless within a 30 mph zone and doing only 20 when one should be doing less.
Stats. can be wrong as a police officer fills in a tick box and rather than stretch his brain looking deeper for a real cause he merely ticks speed as being the cause. Basically any speed can lead to an accident / collision., ie 1 mph. or above.
@@rcraven1013I always say you were going too fast if you fell off on ice, sometimes just moving is too fast, same in any vehicle.
I am a person that rides a bicycle , a motorcycle and drives a car and a van. I have been a road user for over 50 years and in my recent experience, I can forgive the old lady, gentleman or young inexperienced driver for their mistakes, but I find more and more in recent years BMW drivers and lately AUDI drivers appear to me to be very arrogant and disrespectful to other road users to the point of what I would consider to be a danger to other road users. Whilst I appreciate that I am painting a picture of a Type of road user under the title of a manufacturers brand, it is I’m sorry to say what it is it is!
Thank you! 🙏
We all know there are some winding narrow roads where nobody can pass a cyclist safely for miles. Most cyclists avoid those roads for common sense safety reasons, but now and then we meet one, and we are put under great pressure by the motorists behind to take risks. No cycling would be a good sign for those roads, or be a cyclist that will stop and pull over.
Agree 100% its attitude that is the problem on the road. People do not give a monkey's and do what they will. Unfortunately i do not see how this can be changed now especially in the south.
And that is the biggest problem. Decades ago drivers wanted to keep their licences clean and would drive accordingly. Now people don't give a ship. The smell of cannabis from cars, drivers using phones people don't care. Again this is another video that is pushing against an open door, confirming views of like minded riders, other than views does nothing.
The biggest road safety issue in the UK is the speeding obsession of the authorities which distracts them from the real problems and has allowed road death figures to flatline. Once you have failed to make proper road observations or made incorrect hazard decisions, there is very little that automation can do other than operate airbags.
Reported Road Collisions Great Britain (RRCGB) are the accident stats for Great Britain (no NI) published by the DfT every year. Twenty years ago, the most common type of "primary cause", as they were termed then, were those associated with not looking properly and those occurred in about 36% of cases. Next were those associated with making poor hazard decisions at about 19%. So a total of more than half of collisions caused by these fundamental driving errors.
Across the years, exceeding the speed limit varied in the range 3.5% to 5% and going too fast for the conditions about the same, so, even combined, those were typically many times less prevalent. In spite of that, government, safety campaigners and police chose to ignore these numbers and obsess about speeding. Left unchallenged, bad driving got worse and the 55% rose to 60% and then 65%. The DfT removed the term "primary cause" from the stats to help the stats to comply with policy! Later, in 2017, "following too close", which had appeared at a steady level of 7% previously, was removed so that exceeding the speed limit could, for the first time ever, be forced into the list of top ten causes. By that time, the 1700 deaths per year flatline was already well established.
But what purpose does the speeding obsession serve? Internet posters try to tell us that it's about revenue collection but that is rubbish. It's about numbers and it's about cost. For government, speed cameras are a quick and cheap fix since they don't need wages, world-class training, or high-spec BMWs to drive around in. For the police, big numbers like the hundreds of thousands of speeding convictions are the kind of revenue with which they purchase approval from their police authority and government.
The answer is more highly trained road policing officers out amongst the driving public helping them to understand how their improved driving behaviour can save lives.
Absolutely right. 100%. But in true tradition we mustn’t let facts get in the way of the desires and beliefs of so called experts. As I said previously, I fear for the future of road safety in the UK.
Until the message that you, I and others like us have gets taken seriously and l changes are actually made, more people will be injured and worse on our roads. And still the ignorant will blame speed.
Thank you for your comments.
These vids 🔥🔥🔥👍👍
Yes without doubt, attitude and behaviour. Few drivers/ have any interest in good driving. I used to Also think education was better than detterent, but without deterrent standards/behaviour slips.
Retired Adi so to answer your question, only the really enthusiastic and keen students care about their driving over just passing the test. Dvsa live in a idealist world, which unfortunately dosent help, they need to show a bit of teeth. Fantastic subject, thank you.
07.48 it's a BMW driver, no further explanation needed.
Hi Rufus, i drive and ride BMW’s. I would have to agree with you, people actually look surprised if i let someone merge or change lanes to allow traffic to flow. There are a number of other brands of car i would add to the list though
I'm not a biker and don't know why this appeared in my stream. Still, I watched it and agree that attitude is a major element. I'd like to add that the learned inutition/experience of how other road users are going to act and take defensive action accordingly.
I think a common problematic attitude is an over estimation of your own abilities. A lack of understanding of our limitations as human beings when it comes to driving/ riding on public roads. With this atedude, it's common for people to think they are better than average drivers. If you think that then you won't feel the need to change anything about your driving, you won't do any critical analysis of your own driving and won't try to improve it. That person tail gating you is probably not feeling particularly aggressive they are just comfortable driving a few feet from the back of you because they haven't hit the back of any one recently so they think it ok. They don't realise that this is basically a statistical thing, they have never been in a situation that needed the safety margin, When someone a few cars down does an emergency stop for some reason then they will hit the vehicle in front and maybe then adapt their driving for a while. This is how human beings have evolved to deal with risk and its fairly optimal on a population wide basis by which I mean if you die because you were too close its fairly rare and everyone else got away with it so it works overall. This is not however a very good way to drive :-). I am just as shit as everyone else it's just maybe a realise it and now I'm old enough i try to do somethings to compensate which is what training is basically.
Since you didn't see the silver car approach the junction you don't know what he did, however what he may have done is edged into the junction to gain a better sightline and hence to not pull out in front of you on your motorbike.
Iam intrested in staying alive but unfortunately other road users aren't so its down to me
Attention and attitudes are the major causes of accidents. Speed is third on the list. Skill is third part B on the list.
I'd agree that handling skills are relatively insignificant to safety.
Does advanced riding make you safer? Great question. I do have some personal data on this point - if I count the number of (i) near misses and (ii) surprises that I encountered both before and after doing the advanced riding course, I am pretty certain that these are now far fewer than before. For instance, I can't remember the last time I misread a bend and came in too quickly, or when I drifted too near to (or over) the centre line on a left hand bend. Both of these things did happen to me (occasionally!) before doing advanced riding. So I think it is possible for any individual rider to build up some empirical evidence of being safer after starting advanced riding, just by counting the number of surprises and mistakes around bends.
Any driving instructor who says you must ride of drive from lane 1 to 5 and back again to pass a slower moving vehicle hogging lane 4 should have their licence revoked.
I do not disagree with your point, when done with appropriate awareness I find it is usually safer to pass on the inside. But I think instructors will always say to move out like that because legally it is never wrong. Although it is not technically illegal to pass on the inside, the way driving law works is that you could be charged with an offence. And then the onus is on you to justify your actions based on on the specific circumstances of when it happened. As an instructor cannot give advice for the infinite permutations of driver, visibility, weather etc. they will avoid given blanket type advice that could get you convicted of an offence.
To better understand what's going through the minds of pedestrians and other road users just watch any zombie apocalypse movie, ok obviously I'm joking but it sure feels like it out there sometimes. ❤️🇬🇧
Great vid
I have known riders and drivers penalised on insurance for declaring that they have taken / based an advanced motoring test
Thanks alot for the good work.
How can I get that Hi-viz riding jacket.
Thank you. My hi viz is from Hideout Leather in Essex. All the best
Inattentional blindness by other road users. The inability to notice a fully visible, but unexpected, object because attention was engaged on another task, event or object. Human nature. Quite literally, SIMDSY.
PEOPLE!!
ATTITUDE...especially to risk ....
May i suggest another way of perceiving the issue. That since cars are so safe and quiet the average driver has lost/ doesn't comprehend the impact force of 3000 lbs. They do NOT train, but slowly get less attentive because there is nothing sharpening them. If everybody had to retest every 10 years (old folks, every 5), I believe we would see improved hazard recognition and awareness.
Yep mandatory retesting and higher test standards are the answer
@@kneadedmassage9751 I'm not sure that would work, to become a better driver you need to be interested in driving, how many drivers know how to revmatch or counter steer ? Less than 1%. Ask anyone why they need 2 hands on tha wheel, guarantee they think they know.
Bring your manners to the Road and be polite and keep the traffic flowing
Personally, I think everyone who wants to drive on four wheels, such as a car, should have to ride on two wheels first. It would certainly teach people about awareness and vulnerability on the roads before they get into an metal box on wheels that effectively isolates them from the world around them.
Another solution would be to simply make cars less 'safe'.
That basically was the case 50 years ago when cars were effectively more expensive and so almost everyone in my peer group had a motorcycle before getting a car licence. The standard of living has improved, and cars are now cheaper and easier to own than a bike (though parking isn't). So a level of skill and training simply isn't there. For example; ask almost any car driver if they moderate their driving according to the road surface and the blank look will say it all.
I'm in a family of bikers. My mum and dad practically met through bikes and still ride them to this day. Both myself and my brother ride, my sister has in the past but still wants to.
We've always said that any and every provisional driver should have to pass a bike CBT first, then given the option of a bike or car theory test (or both) and progress from there.
The entire point of this is to get rid of that _"I'm nice & safe in a metal box"_ attitude. Forcefeed the awareness, hazard perception and consideration into them right from the start.
When I did my car licence 20 years ago, I was surprised at how little of being aware of the existence of motorcycles was even mentioned...I doubt that's gotten any better since.
If you can't pass a bike CBT. through being unable to display a level of competence, correct attitude and safety for others, then you have no business driving anything else on the road.
Well , when i was training for a
motorcycle test i was told to
speed up, i dont like doing 60
mph between hedges, just me
i know, but i hit a small deer in
the car, it jumped out of the
hedge, it smashed the front
in and would have written it
off had i not been in the trade.
Btw i was doing less than 40.
( Quote, if when you are taking
your test you have two or three
cars behind ,you will fail. Thats
what i was told!! )
Aside fron that , councils up and
down the country have to fix the
roads, not just A or Motorway,
instead of trousering all our road
fund taxes. Thats 2 things. R
Yes too much emphasis is made especially on some advanced training to speed at the maximum. They fail to realise that tho many instructors are qualified police officers its only police officers with there qualifications that can at times exceed such speed limits and us plebs cannot do that and should not be expected to drive or ride as a qualified class 1 or 2 police officer can.
People driving and looking at their phones on the move.
Car drivers still think its acceptable to drive 60 around narrow country lanes just cause it says national. But the biker can control that speed by being aware slowing down gradually just cruising which slows down the car behind and if the car wants to overtake let them.
Being calm shoulders relax needs to be important as that controls your bike like butter.
Driver instructors need to mention "you could benefit from motorcycle training too" just so they are aware of motorcyclists.
The wrong machine.
The wrong speed.
The wrong attitude to self preservation.
Shades and tinted visors that hide road defects and gravel that doesn't count as a defect.
Poor maintenance.
Dumb "upgrades".
Biggest factor in road safety for motorcyclists is speeding. Yeah, car drivers speed, too. But the vast majority of car drivers don't own or drive cars capable of sub 4, sometimes sub 3 second 0-60 times and capable of 150+ mph. No one buys a motorbike like this to pootle around. "ZZR1400, sir? That'll be just £7k for a 10 year old model. We also stock Hayabusas if that's not to your liking."
I personally have the attitude when out cycling that no 1 sets out to kill me on the bike because I'm cycling. Yes people do drive below what is acceptable. I've being hit with a car turning right on the bike and I can 100% say the driver never set out to do it as they where aa white as a ghost . Yes they messed up but that' isn't let's go and hit a cyclist. If I was to personally ride in a manner that was jumpy and on edge all the time i would actually be stressed out not able to deal with hazards etc. Say the roads are flooded and a puddle is half way across my side . I'm as soon as I can see the puddle going to start planning option of can I change lanes or do I need to slow or stop. Is their a single car or group of cars behind would I like to get past before to hazard or not so I may encourage the car to speed up to get past quickly to give room behind or i might ask if I can go first and look a hand signal from the driver or them slowing to allow to go first. If I need them to slow because I can see a car coming i will let the car behind know. I would not arrive at the flood stressed out about the cars behind with no plan of how I deal with the hazards I will have comincated my intentions and made sure people are going to let me.. if i was to ride my bike in a massive group and my attitude was everyone is going to hit me i would be slamming on the brakes about every little thing which would then send panic into the people around which then increases danger . Where by anticipating what is going to happen by the time I get there the issue has being dealt with and what might be a hazard is never a hazard. Personally I think many hazards are only a hazard because you allowed the hazard to become a hazard. The people i find that have the best attitude when I cycle is the hgv drivers and motorbike riders. Yes they may be gping quickly but generally I find the make sure I'm safe when they pass another I have noticed is the last rider in a group may give a wave to let me know last rider which I like . I always think where is the bikers mates behind and it's nice whem the last rider gives a thumbs up to say that's us all through safe
Road safety among "drivers" would improve if they were forced to do a cbt.
Iv always gone by the rule....there are bold bikers and old bikers but no bold old bikers...and also driven with the idea that everyone's out to get me. Bit defensive but I'm still riding 48 yrs later and manged to dodge more than my fair share of bad drivers. 👍🤞
Despatch rider for thirty one years and your example of the car pulling over the give way lines was absolutely nothing and should be something you'd be aware of but nothing to write home about or make videos about.
Every day I was out on the road, I was aware of the danger that anyone could kill me ( lost a couple of couriers in my time) and personally had nine bad smashes as well as hundreds of lesser SorryMateIDidn'tSeeYou's.......
Yes, I hear you say I must have been a terrible rider but we sued all the transgressors successfully as i was not at fault.
Think about it as a courier with already expensive insurance, no company would touch you if you were constantly at fault.
And yes, do remember that everyone actually is out to kill you even if they don't really mean to do so!
Keep it between the hedges.
biggest risk is aggresive drivers and poor road surfaces
The biggest issue in road safety is for one to consistently apply common sense and respect the highway code. I am glad there were cops in my younger days who's objective was to stop me when I went outside those parameters. I acknowledge that I and others are still around today because the police pointed out the error of our ways. Yes we might call them pigs and other nasty names but at the end of the day they do try hard to save us from ourselves. Once you realise that they see fatalities on a regular basis you have to give them respect and adhere to their genuine concerns. That was a good video and excellent commentary. 👍
Once you’ve learnt your skills I think it’s how you prepare your mind beforehand , before you go out on the road.
😁
Yes, have to agree with what you say.
Clearly, some of the comments have an attitude problem too 🤣🤣🤣
The guy over the line was a bad driver. Then followed by a once off rare case of someone reckons their automated car was a bad driver. If everyone followed the rules it would be much safer. Just watch the dashcam videos, almost every accident is not from speed, it's all bad drivers not following the rules. We are not meant to be all different, that is why there are road rules.