[Ian S]

Hi guys, many of you may have already seen this but I thought I'd provide some Friday afternoon reading material (you need something to do at work!) as reading this really did affect me.

It's written by a member of Pistonheads who lost control of his car and ended up sideways across the road. A motorbike then came around the corner and went into him, causing serious injuries to the biker.

The original article can be found here http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&t=629763&i=0 or you can read it from http://prisondiary.co.uk/.

Ian

 

[Mighty_5series]

fascinating read. Its a true sense of humanity.

It just goes to show how lives can be turned upside down in an instant. whilst there is a guy in prison currently who has turned my families lives upside down, i certainly know, he didnt intend to do what he did, and my anger has come and gone and now only feel saddened by what happened.

I take a strange sense of comfort from this....

Thanks,
Lee.

 

[Ghazoobe]

hmmm, is that actually a real story?

I've seen one exactly the same except for a few different words on forums before.
(the only difference was instead of losing control of the car and ending up sideways, was slightly over on the bikers side of the road going round a bend or something)

 

[Mighty_5series]

hmmm, is that actually a real story?

I've seen one exactly the same except for a few different words on forums before.
(the only difference was instead of losing control of the car and ending up sideways, was slightly over on the bikers side of the road going round a bend or something)

yes it is true by the looks of things,

you probably have seen similar accounts on the internet, but you'd be suprised how many times this sort of accident happens on the road,

I mean, how many times have we all seen a car chancing an overtake on a crest or blind corner? well, ive seen this many times.

 

[maikothegreek]

i have never read such a detailed story that is so sad.

 

[Ian S]

hmmm, is that actually a real story?

I've seen one exactly the same except for a few different words on forums before.
(the only difference was instead of losing control of the car and ending up sideways, was slightly over on the bikers side of the road going round a bend or something)

Absolutely. I have read the newspaper reports etc. It's a well known case as comments he had made on a forum were presented as evidence as to how he regarded the road and his usual driving behavior etc.

 

[redadair]

yeah it's a sobering read and a half!

 

[whacky32]

A sobering read

It just shows you are only one silly mistake or a stroke of bad luck away from a very different life.

Whacky

 

[Midlander e46]

A very Sobering read, really makes you think.
All credit to the guy for posting his story....A true lesson to us all

 

[DSK]

At least some people learn the hard way..... trouble this indicates the punishment someone whose made a mistake gets compared with the utter lowest scum of society with no remorse who just get a slap on the wrist or a 6 week ankle bracelet.

 

[Boostist]

Great post Ian.

A sad story indeed. But he should think himself lucky he only got 12 months.... if he gets out in 3 months with a tag, thats easy time compared to the motorcyclist who will have his injuries forever...

Sobering though....the lesson of this story??

Dont post your racing exploits on the internet and dont go in convoys with other cars from the same forum complete with window stickers


and and dont be a crap driver or drive front wheel drive cars :hihi

edited to add//

Joking aside....this shows what NOT to do and how things can go badly wrong in a split second.

 

[cjack]

so sad felt gutted for the poor guy on the bike

hell of a story realy makes you stop and think

 

[Unknownsoldier]

Doesn't mention what the biker was doing though, having read it, I would be inclined to have asked what speed was the biker doing as at the point he rolled the car the biker was nowhere in sight, he technically didn't hit him, it was the other way around surely??? If it was such a blind bend surely one should slow down until you can see it's clear? Not heaping anything on the biker, it's just an observation....

Tom

 

[emphasis303]

exactly, what speed was the biker doing?

Also Im curious to know the speed that the driver was doing, its been asked on the linked thread however theres no answer.

Also if you think about it, in germany on the autobahn theres only a suggested speed limit right? so if this incident had happend in germany the driver of the car wouldnt have been sentenced right? Im guessing the driver was only sentenced for doing over the legal limit.

Ive always thought we should be like germany with only an advisory and this story makes me feel even stronger about this. This man wasnt a criminal and although he says he deserved prison I think hes only saying this because he feels guilty and wants to have to suffer in one way or another to compensate the biker. However I feel him being in prison for however many months doesnt compensate anyone but instead uses up taxpayers money and ultimately is the biggest punishment for his family. Im sure the pictures in his head of the biker is enough punishment and that him living with the memories for the rest of his life is enough punishment.

That said, next time im speeding I will remember him and most probably slow down, but it frustrates me even more at the way our bent system is set up that its not enough for one person to suffer which in this case is the biker but then the government ruins another persons life along with his family.

Another point to make is, Ive never thought bikes to be safe but are accidents waiting to happen, I have a neighbour whos been riding bikes for the last 40 years and had an accident on his moped not even bike and now suffers from loss of control of his hand due to the bike crushing his hand. The point im trying to make is, as much experience as you have and as safely as you drive bikes do not offer any protection for the rider and should be taken off the roads.

 

[Pilau]

Scary to think how quickly having a bit of fun,can turn into a complete nightmare in seconds. Lost a couple of friends from bike accidents.

 

[Unknownsoldier]

My point was really if the guy had been doing say 60mph on a NSL road, and his vehicle capsized, but the biker was doing say 100mph, would the car driver still be at fault for causing the accident???

And tbh is the fact he feels so guilty not his punishment, as prison can't really be worse than that.

Tom

 

[Mighty_5series]

exactly, what speed was the biker doing?

Also Im curious to know the speed that the driver was doing, its been asked on the linked thread however theres no answer.

Also if you think about it, in germany on the autobahn theres only a suggested speed limit right? so if this incident had happend in germany the driver of the car wouldnt have been sentenced right? Im guessing the driver was only sentenced for doing over the legal limit.

Ive always thought we should be like germany with only an advisory and this story makes me feel even stronger about this. This man wasnt a criminal and although he says he deserved prison I think hes only saying this because he feels guilty and wants to have to suffer in one way or another to compensate the biker. However I feel him being in prison for however many months doesnt compensate anyone but instead uses up taxpayers money and ultimately is the biggest punishment for his family. Im sure the pictures in his head of the biker is enough punishment and that him living with the memories for the rest of his life is enough punishment.

That said, next time im speeding I will remember him and most probably slow down, but it frustrates me even more at the way our bent system is set up that its not enough for one person to suffer which in this case is the biker but then the government ruins another persons life along with his family.

Another point to make is, Ive never thought bikes to be safe but are accidents waiting to happen, I have a neighbour whos been riding bikes for the last 40 years and had an accident on his moped not even bike and now suffers from loss of control of his hand due to the bike crushing his hand. The point im trying to make is, as much experience as you have and as safely as you drive bikes do not offer any protection for the rider and should be taken off the roads.

Understand your point, However, on the flip side of things, the bikers could turn around and say, take the cars off the road, as they keep being hit by them.
The fact of the matter is, they can through technology and maths, work out how fast the biker was going almost exactly. They can use the dent in the car made by the bike, skid marks, how far the biker was thrown, damage to the bike, witness accounts etc...
The driver of the car admitted to driving 'enthusiastically' and 'lost' control of his car so that instantly puts him in the frame as the guilty part. The trouble is with the justice system is, how do you punish people for acts like this, if you dont put him in prison, what do you do? trust he's suffering mentally enough so, that is punishment enough? We all felt sorry for the guy in prison, so that makes us think emotionally about the incident, but imagine if you were the biker, or a person in another car, or it was your daughter/son, mum or dad etc that was the victim, would you still hold the same views??
If weather conditions such as ice, fog, snow etc... was to play a part, then im sure matters would have been so much different legally, but he basically admitted speeding/dangerous driving and causing an accident, and its that, that he went to prison for.

 

[Ian S]

"For about 50 metres down the direction I'd come from, were the tell tale black lines of a skidding car. These were only interrupted by gouge marks on the road surface where car had met bike"

The guy who caused the accident admits that he was still skidding when the bike hit him. All the skid marks were measured as part of the police investigation and the biker was absolved of any of the blame.