Summer is just kicking off here in Spain and already I see people riding around in jeans,shorts, t-shirts, flip-flops or any combination of the above. This applies in the UK too so when it begins to brighten up a bit in blighty, I suggest:
It simply isn’t right that we tax payers pick up the tab for irresponsible people who won’t/don’t wear proper gear.If you wear proper gear and come off, the chances are the hospital bill will be less than had you not…simples!
I would propose a fine for anyone not riding with full protective gear (no matter where you are or if you happen to be a courier etc etc) and then after, lets say, 2 offences, a 3 month ban without right of appeal:
I always ride with full armour and temperatures here are much higher than they ever are in the UK. Being uncomfortable and sweaty and (possibly) dangerous due to wearing this gear is not an excuse.
The same could be said for riding a bike, why should taxpayers pay for us when we are statistically more likely to be seriously injured than car users ?
Leave down to the rider I say, if they want to be a clown and wear shorts etc then let em.
Oh and this has been done before on here and resulted in a bit of a rowdy thread, so I’ll sit back and watch now with my popcorn !
Some sort of system(s) for this type of stuff are already in place in some German provinces.
Not in too much favour of draconian penalties but a few easy rules might be o.k.
I think the best penalty system would be to make people pay for their medical costs if they weren’t wearing some pretty straight forward basic protection. The problem with even doing that is the Health and Safety fundamentalists. You can just imagine them setting the base kit so high no one could afford the clothes for riding their Honda Cub let alone a performance bike.
;) Lets see how it goes…
I go to Spain every year and ride in the hills for a couple of days with my dad and we both wear full gear on and bake as temps reach 40c plus. We only ever see a few others wear the right gear which are mainly foreign riders.
But a lot of youngish spanish lads on the superbikes rideing like twats thinking it’s cool to ride like that without any gear on and i have seen a few who found out the hard way, not nice.
These ‘protective gear’ type of threads have been on here for some years and have always provoked debate. Currently in the UK the law is that one wears a helmet. This law is not the same in many other countries in the world, eg India, Rwanda, China, Mongolia, Thailand, Nepal, Kenya, Afghanistan etc etc. For example, when working in Rwanda, Mongolia and China I regularly went on bikes without a helmet, in flipflops and without protective clothing. However, here in the UK I obey the law. If we are going to fine motorcylists for not riding in full leathers let us also fine the following:
Cyclists (particularly those without helmets)
Smokers
Drinkers of more than a certain number of units a week
Horse riders (particularly those without padded jackets and on naughty horses)
People who indulge in extreme sports like snow boarding, skiing, mountain climbing, rock climbing, white water rafting, kayaking, hand gliding, boxing, karate, formula one - the list could go on…and on…and on…
People who go on holiday to out of the way places without travel insurance
People who eat food beyond the sell by date
People who stay up past their bedtime
People who forget to use condoms
People who are couch potatoes and have high blood pressure
In fact - let’s just fine everyone who is overweight, or underweight, doesn’t eat their 5 a day, who has 3 glasses of vino a night instead of none, eats a curry, walks home from the bus stop at 2am instead of getting a cab, or who ventures out of their front door. I am sure I would be alot safer if I just sat in bed all day - but then I might get depression - would this mean a fine too?
Sorry for this rant - I have just had 4 glasses of red wine with my neighbour, landlord and his ex wife - so maybe i should be fined, as I have over exceeded my units and am indulging in anti social behaviour? Laters!!! Hels XX
+1 :D:D:D(Im not gonna disagree, slightly scared)
Sorry Lewis, I just accidently drank too much red wine and ate roast beef, roast potatoes, gravy, ice cream, thorntons chocolates and also drank a lot of caffine, so if anyone wants to fine me you can collect the money from me in A&E, where I might be soon, with these decadent ways
Ive been busy on the calculator…
I have worked out your fine to be £10400. I have no worries about coming to collect tonight. It also means i can pick up on Sunday the Repsol Blade i have my eye on…:D:D:D:D
Winners all round
Who decides what is full protective gear? I would not be seen dead in some brand names (well I would because I probably would be dead) simply because it causes more problems than it solves.
What about the rider who wears the full kit and then collapses because of heat stroke or dehydration and ends up severely injured (seen that on many occasions)
Who enforces such legislation?
The biggest killer to motorcyclists are broken necks, so are you going to suggest that every rider wears an F1 style neck brace?
I deal with so many accidents where the rider believes they are doing themselves a favour by wearing what they believe is good kit when in fact they would be better off in jeans and trainers.
Sorry, it simply would not work.
Unfortunately I was also fined 8k by Tiggi today to get on the roll call list, which I arranged collection for under the Railway Bridge of Lougborough Junction, when I was wearing my dark glasses and smoking my Cuban cigars (Whoops! Smoking fine!). This latest fine means I am now owing another 10 and a half grand - however if I trade in a few, ahem, ‘items’ I am sure we can arrange a pick up in Hackney Marshes, by the canal. I’ll be wearing my underpants over my trousers, a rose between my teeth and carying a copy of the London Times - can’t miss me.I think I need a lie down now… drinking red wine and going online is another fine in itself…
Im in 2 minds…
1…I really want my blade and to rid you of your sins…
2…I want to make my next birthday!
I think im going to waver the fine this time…
Don’t worry Lewis, I am sure you will get your Blade in time without collecting ten grand off me by Hackney Marshes Canal Anyway the people that deserve to be fined rarely are, for example ex PM Tony Blair, the Banks, most of the MPs, Georgie Bush…the list could go on…
Thinks its best i leave you and your drunken fine totaling ways…
…enjoy the hangover!
I think I will fine myself in a minute for spending time on the computer, when I should have been polishing off the rest of the Cabernet Sauvignon, which I might well do now…
Sorry for hijacking the thread:P
I will now go on Online Banking and attempt to sort out all these fines I owe…one day…nearly 20 grand in debt already to members of London Bikers…
Remember though Hels, you offered to clean bikes at £5 a throw so at that rate no-one on LB will ever have to clean their own bike again - you can do a couple each day til you work your fine off:hehe:
Well remembered Jetstream! I wish I had that kind of memory…but I fear Alzheimer’s might have set in…or early senility…I fear there is no hope…maybe a few fines might help pay for the rehabilitation…perhaps I might have a Lapsang Souchang Tea instead of another glass of Cabernet Sauvignon
Once again Whistlet, I must apologize for hijacking this thread on Protective Clothes with comments about Hackney Marshes, Loughborough Junction, Cuban Cigars, Red Wine, Early Senility and 20 k dodgy deals by Canals in Underpants. I am not sure what happened this evening, but I can assure you, it isn’t my fault. I abdicate all resonsiblity. The problems started at 5.45 pm, when my landlord’s ex wife procured not a bottle of wine, but one of those large cardboard cartons, which means it is hard to know the quantity of what one has drunk, as it doesn’t have the units on the side and it is hard to see inside the carton to know, unlike a bottle, where you can see the wine disappearing as you drink.
I blame it on Cartons of wine which should not be allowed in the supermarkets, as it is leading people astray.
Anyway, back to protective clothes…
Hels (19/03/2010)
These ‘protective gear’ type of threads have been on here for some years and have always provoked debate. Currently in the UK the law is that one wears a helmet. This law is not the same in many other countries in the world, eg India, Rwanda, China, Mongolia, Thailand, Nepal, Kenya, Afghanistan etc etc. For example, when working in Rwanda, Mongolia and China I regularly went on bikes without a helmet, in flipflops and without protective clothing. However, here in the UK I obey the law. If we are going to fine motorcylists for not riding in full leathers let us also fine the following:Cyclists (particularly those without helmets)
Smokers
Drinkers of more than a certain number of units a week
Horse riders (particularly those without padded jackets and on naughty horses)
People who indulge in extreme sports like snow boarding, skiing, mountain climbing, rock climbing, white water rafting, kayaking, hand gliding, boxing, karate, formula one - the list could go on…and on…and on…
People who go on holiday to out of the way places without travel insurance
People who eat food beyond the sell by date
People who stay up past their bedtime
People who forget to use condoms
People who are couch potatoes and have high blood pressure
In fact - let’s just fine everyone who is overweight, or underweight, doesn’t eat their 5 a day, who has 3 glasses of vino a night instead of none, eats a curry, walks home from the bus stop at 2am instead of getting a cab, or who ventures out of their front door. I am sure I would be alot safer if I just sat in bed all day - but then I might get depression - would this mean a fine too?
Sorry for this rant - I have just had 4 glasses of red wine with my neighbour, landlord and his ex wife - so maybe i should be fined, as I have over exceeded my units and am indulging in anti social behaviour? Laters!!! Hels XX
F*ck Hels, i’ll have no money left:w00t:
You really are a great big fat twat of a **** anrent* ya…?
(*Spelt just to **** you off.)
Stick your lame posts up your gash…