I witnessed my first off this morning on my way in to work,
filtering through the traffic at a steady spead about 25mph and a cager changes lane without any warning, only starts to indicate as she crosses the white line but by then it was to late. The biker 2 bikes infront of me had no where to go apart from down!
luckily the guy in a british gas van saw what was happening and hit his anchors or the biker would of been much worse
we got the bike upright and the rider on his feet, the car driver couldnt be bothered to get off her f@#king arse and see if he was alright, apart from some ripped clothing and a smashed up bike he was ok
i could have very easily lost it and smacked her up and down the carrage way but the i remembered what a gentleman i am and didnt want to give us bikers a bad name
that A13 is dangerous, im too scared to filter (like in moving traffic) and dont (lack of experience) but keep debating whether i should practice or not when riding down it but cant bring myself to do it so stay in lane :ermm:
Glad to hear the biker was ok and has a few witnesses!
ive been riding up the A13 into london every day for the past year and this is the first accident ive seen so i dont think its any more dangerous than any other road into the city give filtering a try but start of slow enough so you can stop if you feel unsafe and move over for anyother bikes that want to pass you and you will find its not that bad, better than sitting with all the cages anyway:P
When I had my accident last year, again it was a woman driver in a BMW, she did the same thing. She sat in her car and didn’t come out to see if i was ok. She sat in her car until the police arrived. Later found out it wasn’t even her car, she worked for a garage and was moving a customer’s car from one forecourt to the other…oops!
Oh I filter alright in slow moving/stationary traffic what I meant was say traffic is moving fine at 40-50mph+ …I’ll stay in lane but see loads of bikers stream down in between two lanes, I mean its good cos your on a bike at the end of the day but I just couldnt do it just yet :ermm:But yes your right the A13 is no different to any other road in London and yes when i see other bikers in my mirrors ‘’right behind me’’ waiting to filter past - I let them through.
I use the A13 every day and have seen a few near misses and a couple of accidents and I have to be honest though, its not just women. Every day I see loads of cagers doing stupid things and thats one of the reasons I refuse to commute to Beckton on the bike. The other reason of course being that the company pays for my diesel and the maintenance on the car and not the bike
Person who shattered my leg was of the stupid b1tch persuasion too - have you seen the youtube videos of them trying to park or entering various filling station and cafes via the front window while still in their cars. . .?! :hehe:
As a car driver as well as biker, I use the A13 at least once a week and although there’s no excuse for bad driving, you have to remember that a lot of the bikers who use the A13 ride like knobs. Every day I use it I see a biker swerving round cars they can’t see past, filtering far too fast or trying to race another bike, all in heavy rush hour traffic so car and van drivers don’t get a good impression of bikers on that road.
Also remember that the A13 is one big set of bends and if you’re filtering on a bend vehicles in front of you to the left can’t see you until you’e fairly close because of the arc of the bend. Get a van stuck out a foot into the bend and the cars in front of the van won’t see you until you’re passing the van.
Hope the rider was OK, I’m not trying to make excuses the the car driver but there is a bigger picture to see on that road and probably others like it.
I would normally be coming home along the A13 at that time, unfortunetly i had a appointment with a dentist today so got off earlier.
I ride along the A13 every day and agree with a few posters already, there are a lot of knobs on 2 wheels that filter like a kamakazee pilots on acid. There are equally a lot of knobs in cages thats drive without mirrors.
But to sit in your cage after knocking someone off is just shite.
Hope the biker is back on 2 wheel s soon and the bike isnt too badly damaged.
Most of the near misses I see, not just on the A13 (I use it every day) are not necessarily rider error, but many riders place themselves in stupid places. Or ride too fast for the circumstances. Off the lights before the Lime House Link Tunnel (into town) the other week a rider a green/black Kwacker 636 thought is safe too ride up the empty inside lane at 50-60mph. I could smell fear as that big dumper lorry in the outside lane thought he’d swap to the inside lane just as the kwacker got there.
No thought on the riders part, part fault if there’d been a collision! He then thought it ok to ride up the cycle lanes on Lower/Upper Thames St. past all the high sided vehicles at about 30mph.:blink:
[/quote]
Oh I filter alright in slow moving/stationary traffic what I meant was say traffic is moving fine at 40-50mph+ …I’ll stay in lane but see loads of bikers stream down in between two lanes, I mean its good cos your on a bike at the end of the day but I just couldnt do it just yet :ermm:But yes your right the A13 is no different to any other road in London and yes when i see other bikers in my mirrors ‘‘right behind me’’ waiting to filter past - I let them through.
[/quote]
Whoa there TigerThe A13 is a 40mph limit from (London Bound) just before the Ship and Shovel pub, to just after Aspen Way in the Limehouse Link. (I know that this is nominal and the traffic generally moves at a 60mph in between the camera’s but there you go …) Anyway you get caught by the Bill filtering at speed you will get points. Speeding, will be the least of your problems . They are quite clear at Bikesafe, filtering means moving past stationary or slow moving traffic, anything much about 30mph and you are exposed and on your own. Hit someone and that will be a dangerous driving endorsement and they won’t care if the cager was on her mobile in one hand and doing her lipstick with the other. That’s you Jack Stay in lane when the traffic is moving at approximate road speed. Better 5 minutes late in this life, that 30 years early to the next !
what I meant was say traffic is moving fine at 40-50mph+ …I’ll stay in lane but see loads of bikers stream down in between two lanes, I mean its good cos your on a bike at the end of the day but I just couldnt do it just yet :ermm:But yes your right the A13 is no different to any other road in London and yes when i see other bikers in my mirrors ‘’right behind me’’ waiting to filter past - I let them through. 
what I meant was say traffic is moving fine at 40-50mph+ …I’ll stay in lane but see loads of bikers stream down in between two lanes, I mean its good cos your on a bike at the end of the day but I just couldnt do it just yet :ermm:But yes your right the A13 is no different to any other road in London and yes when i see other bikers in my mirrors ‘‘right behind me’’ waiting to filter past - I let them through.