I Learnt About Motorcycling From THAT!

I was walking the dog in some fields nearby the house. I heard a very loud ‘bang’ which sounded like a collision some distance away.

It took me a good ten minutes to reach the source of the noise which was at the staggered junction of the B5023 and a minor road.

A motorcyclist, approaching the junction from the northwest, travelling at approximately the 40 mph speed limit (according to witnesses) was in the process of overtaking a Peugeot 106 car, travelling southwest, which had just pulled onto the B5023 in front of the motorcyclist.

Unfortunately the Peugeot driver then turned immediately right at the staggered junction in order to continue on the minor (southwest) road. The motorcyclist crashed into the driver’s door. Whether the car driver had indicated or not is not known! (Have you noticed how many drivers/riders just do not indicate these days?)

The biker was thrown over the car and landed on the kerb. Apparently a number of people arrived on the scene almost immediately. It appeared that the rider had a broken leg. The ambulance arrived promptly plus a doctor and at least three police cars. The biker received paramedic attention and was taken to hospital in the ambulance.

The assumption that the fellow would be fine when his broken leg was mended proved to be too optimistic. He died at the hospital. He was 41 years old.

I was just walking the dog that day, but I have had the lesson reinforced; “Do not overtake at a junction!” AND “Be very alert at a staggered junction!”