Obviously the judge wanted to make an exmaple of this guy. If he’d have been caught doing the speed he was without his son on the back it would probably have been a suspended sentence at worst. Custodial sentence is just uncalled for, extended ban would have done the trick. Many of us have done speeds in excess of what he did (granted probably not in the wet) and I don’t think anyone believes they should do time for it.
MAG PRESS RELEASE
i dont think people should be put in prison for being stupid,if that was the case why aret our mp`s in the nick ?
for my personal guide as I know little about UK legislation (and I very seldom do less then 110/120 on motorways, especially by car) was he jailed because he had his son behind or really in the UK you can go to jail just for speeding? 120 is just 180km/h… nothing really dangerous with a modern car provided the road is empty and weather good…
I don’t see the problem here other than the kid being undergeared…
Personally I don’t go over a ton in the rain, but it very much depends on circumstances… 120 can be justifiable. Anything over that on wet tarmac is pretty much madness because you’ll lose the rear (power on back wheel to overcome wind resistance will exceed the available grip eventually).
Six months in jail? **** that. Maybe a six month ban would be justified. You can hold up a liquor store and get less time. And who got hurt? Like smoking dope, or prostitution, speeding is a victimless crime… and I’m firmly against victimless crimes being punished.
Ive been led to believe that anything over a ton is a licence looser here in the UK unless you are very lucky (assuming youre caught that is). I would expect thats why he was done esp as it was also raining/wet and he had a pillion/minor ? on the back. So not only speeding but dangerous, inconsiderate and reckless too (debatable I suppose)
Still dont think jail time is the answer to all this, but he did get caught at the end of the day…
Are you serious, or just taking the p!ss?
120mph = 193.2km/h … And you you think that these speeds are “nothing really dangerous”, you need to reassess your way of thinking!
Stopping a car at 70mph: 315 ft. (96 m)
Stopping a car at 100mph: 600 ft (182.88 m)
Think about it, before you kill someone!
I think we seem to be forgetting the fact that accidents happen.
Somebody mentioned that cars kill people, bikes can too.
There was a picture i saw on the net of a car that was hit by a bike at ~155mph, it went clean through about half of the car.
This biker is an idiot. Who give a flying whatsit what danger he is putting himself in more importantly what danger is he putting other road users in.
Accidents wont happen if everybody on the road is doing what thy are supposed to be doing; for better or worse we have the speed limits we have on the roads we have for a reason.
I couldn’t care less if somebody kills them self because they were riding at 120mph; it’s their own stupid fault. But if that guy had killed himself and taken a car full of innocent people with him then that is a major problem.
The public sentencing of this guy is a good thing, jail him for longer ban his licence for ever and other people may take notice and dangerous speed may be taken from our road on both 2 wheels and 4.
Some things are excusable on the road; not wearing your seatbelt- your problem. Threatening everybody else’s safety on the road due to excess speed - my problem.
Yes the guy looked like he had control but the whole point of accidents is that they are not expected, what if he had not noticed some diesel on a corner?
Oh and to those wanting to do 120mph on our roads, do it if you like but keep the hell off of any road that i am on. Make your self known and I’ll post NOTAMs of where i am going in advance.
and why should you stop all of a sudden if you have good visibility and clear road ahead of you? worst case you have to shed 40/50 mph to get down to the average traffic’s speed…that’s it… or you think that germans are a bunch of kamikaze because, under certain circumstances they have no limits? in italy you cannot keep the fast lane if you stay below 100 mph… should we have an holocuast on our roads every year then? all this fuzz for speed is largely “local”, you don’t have all this paranoia elsewhere
Severe case of double standards on here! :blink:
Remember, which our strict speed laws, that we have a better safety record than either italy or germany.
Not necessarily casually related, but something to think about.
Can’t believe he was doing 122 in the vid, doesnt look that fast. But obviously he was.
To me, though, the most ridiculous thing is that the kid had n gear on. How was he to know he was able to hold on tight - what if he simply lost grip? Poor bugger!
Another story covering this here:
Does anyone seriously believe his 14 yr old son was terrified?!
He was probably wanting his father to push it even harder!
The video clearly shows very very little lean angle in the beginning of the corner.
There is NO WAY he was doing that speed in the bend. Nothing like.
Or you would see considerable lean.
It’s a joke. Our ridiculous judicial system strikes again!
I strongly advise the best protective clothing at all times. Even though it’s not a legal requirement.
However coming off at very high speeds it’s unlikely to make any difference…
We are now officially a nanny state.
Reduced to the competence level of the lowest common denominator!
And yes if he had been some toe rag he wouldn’t have gone down for sure!
This news disgusts me.
This guy was going too fast on a public road in the wet carring a pillion when ever I carry a pillion I always make sure that they are kitted out properly and I ride at a slower pace than I would if I was riding solo, You are also responsible for your pillion, yourself and the safe control of your bike. If you are riding at 120mph in the wet most of your concentration goes into riding the bike and not scanning your field of vision you will tend to concentrate dead ahead of you, if he had been going at 70 to 80 mph he would have been able to take in more information and he probarly would have spotted the mobile camera.
This man showed no regard for his sons, his own or other road users safety I think the sentence was about right. This kind of sentence should be applied equal to anybody driving or riding excessivley on our roads.
The will do a lot of harm to motorcycling in general it gives the impression that we all are wreckless and speeders it also gives all these anti motorcycling groups more reasons to get us put off the roads.
I’ve just watched the video. I’ve been riding for two years and i very much doubt he was going at 120 through that bend - I reckon you could only take that bend at that speed kissing the apex and almost knee down IMHO. Summink fishy with that camera methinks!
That MAG release is very good.
That didn’t look anywhere near 120 mph - and everyone knows those cameras give bo11ocks results when used on bikes - he obviously had sh1t legal representation.
Saying that - I would have been taking it easier than him if I had my nipper on the back in the wet.
Judging by your post…How would you know that and if you do you should be in prison?
I imagine he was clocked as he overtook another vehicle and peaked at 120 which , on his bike ,takes a few seconds to reach from the legal limit then rolled it back down as he got past…No way is he doing 120 going into that bend…just look at his speed in relation to other vehicles (maybe they were doing 120 too) Seems to me a decent guy has been jailed when others - far worse - walk away or are sent on holiday.
This is a hard one, the law is the law, but the execution of sentancing and punishments in this country greatly differs from case to case, even when the cases appear to be identical. They diifer from copper to copper and from judge to judge. Unfortunatly this is where we live, and this is how it is.
I can both agree and disagree with the jail time that was given.
Agree because…
He had a child on the back
The child was not kitted out with the correct kit (unforgivable no matter your age, experience, weather conditions etc etc)
He was speeding, quite a bit over the limit
It was less than ideal road and wether conditions
Disagree because…
In the moment 122mph doesnt always seem that fast (not that i would know having never been over 70mph)
That child that people are trying so hard to protect, now have lost there father for 6 months
The guy was on a pretty sturdy bike, with all the correct tax, insurance etc
No accident actually happened
Far worse crimes, on the road or otherwise happen everyday and recieve less punishment
I am not sure what I would do, and those that share that feeling and would hate to be the judge feel like that I think because, we all know that the guy commited an act of sheer lunacy and having a child on the back just makes him a complete donkey, but with that said, we are all bikers and can simpathise with his punishment as being harsh, some of us are parents and take our kids out and know that even at 50mph we are riding on a knife edge. And are we not all guilty of commiting acts of sheer lunacy from time to time? I know I do, its what makes us human, we malfunction and get it wrong sometimes, but we learn and have fun along the way.
I leave with a question that can not really be answered, because we are not every copper, judge or jury in the UK!
What would have been the sentance if a man carrying 3 children under 16 in the back of a car, if he was doing 122mph in the wet?
Please ride safe guys, armour and protect every part of yourselves and your pillions no matter yours or their age, and even if its sunny, honestly the pr**ks that ride in jeans and T-shirts?!?!
Oh and I post this respectfully and have enjoyed the posts of those that are similar or different to my own.
Oh dear just looked at the spelling on that, sorry. was typing in a hurry
I don’t know how I survived my early days on a bike…I was 17 and rode like an idiot everywhere I went (only on a CB175 Honda mind). I always wore jeans and whatever footwear I happened to be wearing at the time. I wore a leather jacket strung with chains and heavily studded which would probably have ripped me to shreds had I come off ! I did, however , wear a helmet while many others did not…not because of the safety aspect but because I thought it looked good with my jacket.
Enjoyed every day of it but sadly,lost a few friends along the way…
I think some people do go OTT on the armour lark these days though;)