Inconsiderate N1 Bikers

Cray said:
I can understand acting in the heat of the moment with almost getting killed, a friend of mine did the exact thing. He smacked a taxis wing mirror off with his hand, forgetting he wasn't wearing gloves which led to him needing stitches. It's the pre-meditated notion that gets to me, in the calm, rational light of day you guys are all promising to destroy someone's property if they happen to act negligently...
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That's just it. It's not like we're riding along thinking... who's next...

It's the ones who after you show them they made a mistake take offence and jump on their defence screaming, showing gestures, even aiming the car at you again who get their mirrors taken off. As I said, I too have made similar mistakes in a car and I promise you so has every other biker. Admit you made a mistake and everyone gets on with their lives. Trying to take your frustration of the traffic out on the biker will cost you a mirror guaranteed.
 
supersunbird said:
The taxi encroached on his lane, it didn't occupy his whole lane, so he didn't have space and used up all the right side of his own lane.
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If that was the case the biker would have been able to get past no problem. as there would have been space in the next lane even if he occupied his whole lane. He crossed the lane into the next one. I'm sure OP will openly admit that even though he's pissed about his mirror.
 
supersunbird said:
And they will find the numberplateless biker (or one with a number plate so small, I hope your dashcam is UHD :p) how?
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Pretty much every biker in Durban at least has the number plate on the back of the bike at least since Metro are very happy to pull bikers over with no plates, and the resolution is good enough to see the number plate....
 
SykomantiS said:
There was a golf once, speeding in a 60km/h zone, overtaking on a solid white line, on a blind rise, that nearly killed me. Single lane both ways, and he was completely in the oncoming lane (mine). I turned around first chance I got, fetched him and removed him from his car and explained what he did wrong. Now this was a guy and there was no violence involved, as he apologized profusely. But my point is here, just because a woman can and will often do the same thing, doesn't make her exempt based on gender. Gender equality and all that.
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You win the tough guy award. You probably get laid often.
 
Pitbull said:
That's just it. It's not like we're riding along thinking... who's next...

It's the ones who after you show them they made a mistake take offence and jump on their defence screaming, showing gestures, even aiming the car at you again who get their mirrors taken off. As I said, I too have made similar mistakes in a car and I promise you so has every other biker. Admit you made a mistake and everyone gets on with their lives. Trying to take your frustration of the traffic out on the biker will cost you a mirror guaranteed.
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Honest question,

Say the prevailing traffic is travelling at 40km/h an hour, and you are lane splitting at 100km/h. I try to change lanes and nearly take you out because I CAN'T see you and you are travelling to fast.... Do you expect me to apologise to you for you being a retard with a deathwish?
 
As is usual on this forum, The OP was immediately attacked by the bikers on the forum. Clearly, those that responded on this thread DO NOT KNOW when lane splitting is technically legal in SA. It is thus legal only because it is not specifically prohibited anymore.

The best reference available is this one https://arrivealive.co.za/Lane-Splitting-Advice-and-Guidelines-for-Bikers-from-the-Experts

There is NO justification anyone has (biker or other car owner alike) who damage another person's property, and if it ever did get to a Court of Law you would all lose and be found guilty.

The "rules" that make it technically legal to lane split are very clear, and travelling over 50 km/hr is not one of them! You could be found guilty of reckless driving.

There are no special rules for 2-wheel vehicles. The rules are the same for all. Bikers are NOT allowed to drive on the line designating the boundary of a lane. They have to remain within a lane. Just like bikers, drivers cannot always see everything that is happening around them on the road. The onus is on those at the back of a vehicle to always take evasive action as they CAN see what is happening in front of them.

So OP has very right to be more than a bit upset by what happened this morning, and equally completely aggrieved by having is mirror taken off. He took every precaution to try and mitigate what was happening in front of him.

The rest of you who tried to defend and justify the actions of the biker, are all just plain WRONG!
 
ToxicBunny said:
Honest question,

Say the prevailing traffic is travelling at 40km/h an hour, and you are lane splitting at 100km/h. I try to change lanes and nearly take you out because I CAN'T see you and you are travelling to fast.... Do you expect me to apologise to you for you being a retard with a deathwish?
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There is a difference and each incident will have it's own merit.

Honestly, if I was riding in that scenario and you just swerved in front of me while lane splitting I would have expected you to check your mirrors, heard my bike before changing lanes. I'm not saying I'm not guilty of speeding. But what gives you the right to now take the law into your own hands and swerve in front of me just because you can?

Mistakes happen, I'm 100% sure if you didn't see me you would gladly apologise at me waving my hands at you. So then it's all good. if you aggravate the situation it just means you're doing it out of spite.
 
He should never have touched your car.

That's absolutely unacceptable.

This is a road rage incident though, right? I mean this isn't your daily experience with everyone on two wheels, surely.

I think the real question for me is this: were the choice between having a fender bender with a taxi or potentially maiming some oke on a boney - would you really choose to hurt the guy? I'm sure you wouldn't.

But that's not your perspective though - he's the oke who is totally exposed and in many cases at the mercy of some ditz texting behind the wheel of a Range Rover.

When I ride in traffic, I'm almost on the line of road rage perpetually. So much so that I rather don't commute on the bike. I'd love to but it's just too stressful for me.

So while you decry the inconsiderate biker, and now is a good time to reiterate that the moment he touched your car he crossed a line, as a biker myself I'd love for everyone on the road to be more considerate.
 
Pitbull said:
There is a difference and each incident will have it's own merit.

Honestly, if I was riding in that scenario and you just swerved in front of me while lane splitting I would have expected you to check your mirrors, heard my bike before changing lanes. I'm not saying I'm not guilty of speeding. But what gives you the right to now take the law into your own hands and swerve in front of me just because you can?

Mistakes happen, I'm 100% sure if you didn't see me you would gladly apologise at me waving my hands at you. So then it's all good. if you aggravate the situation it just means you're doing it out of spite.
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Wait. The car driver has to apologise?
 
Pitbull said:
There is a difference and each incident will have it's own merit.

Honestly, if I was riding in that scenario and you just swerved in front of me while lane splitting I would have expected you to check your mirrors, heard my bike before changing lanes. I'm not saying I'm not guilty of speeding. But what gives you the right to now take the law into your own hands and swerve in front of me just because you can?

Mistakes happen, I'm 100% sure if you didn't see me you would gladly apologise at me waving my hands at you. So then it's all good. if you aggravate the situation it just means you're doing it out of spite.
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See you completely misread the situation...

Traffic is travelling at 40km/h.. aka traffic jam. I am indicating to change lanes, and waiting for a gap. A gap presents itself and I check my mirrors etc etc and start to change lanes and a biker pretty much appears out of nowhere since they are travelling so much faster than the prevailing traffic... the only person to blame for the situation is the biker. There is NO fault attributable to the driver of the vehicle in that situation.

And no, I wouldn't apologise in that situation, I would call the biker a fscking retard, and if my window was open I would hope he heard it.
 
daniellgr said:
As is usual on this forum, The OP was immediately attacked by the bikers on the forum. Clearly, those that responded on this thread DO NOT KNOW when lane splitting is technically legal in SA. It is thus legal only because it is not specifically prohibited anymore.

The best reference available is this one https://arrivealive.co.za/Lane-Splitting-Advice-and-Guidelines-for-Bikers-from-the-Experts

There is NO justification anyone has (biker or other car owner alike) who damage another person's property, and if it ever did get to a Court of Law you would all lose and be found guilty.

The "rules" that make it technically legal to lane split are very clear, and travelling over 50 km/hr is not one of them! You could be found guilty of reckless driving.

There are no special rules for 2-wheel vehicles. The rules are the same for all. Bikers are NOT allowed to drive on the line designating the boundary of a lane. They have to remain within a lane. Just like bikers, drivers cannot always see everything that is happening around them on the road. The onus is on those at the back of a vehicle to always take evasive action as they CAN see what is happening in front of them.

So OP has very right to be more than a bit upset by what happened this morning, and equally completely aggrieved by having is mirror taken off. He took every precaution to try and mitigate what was happening in front of him.

The rest of you who tried to defend and justify the actions of the biker, are all just plain WRONG!
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He didn't take every precaution if he did he would have slowed down, allowed the taxi in and would still have had his mirror. This all started with wanting to get one over the taxi in my opinion. He wanted to stay next to the taxi to prevent it from entering his lane. That is just how I see it and I might be completely off the mark. I have seen this way too often.

Taxi pushes into a lane and the driver currently in the lane will show the taxi he will not get in that lane ahead of him... If I'm wrong I apologise as I'm sure the OP will say it's not the case.
 
ToxicBunny said:
See you completely misread the situation...

Traffic is travelling at 40km/h.. aka traffic jam. I am indicating to change lanes, and waiting for a gap. A gap presents itself and I check my mirrors etc etc and start to change lanes and a biker pretty much appears out of nowhere since they are travelling so much faster than the prevailing traffic... the only person to blame for the situation is the biker. There is NO fault attributable to the driver of the vehicle in that situation.
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If you indicated to change and there was a gap for you to change I would have seen it and we would not have had any issues. Even if I was going 120. It's called defensive driving. The problem is that people don't indicate and try and sneak into gaps which doesn't exist. That is what causes mirrors to dangle or fly.
 
Pitbull said:
If you indicated to change and there was a gap for you to change I would have seen it and we would not have had any issues. Even if I was going 120. It's called defensive driving. The problem is that people don't indicate and try and sneak into gaps which doesn't exist. That is what causes mirrors to dangle or fly.
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Nope, given a traffic jam, a lane change doesn't necessarily mean the gap is available for the full vehicle, a person in the other lane may have indicated to me that they will let me in and therefore I would start to move over before the gap had fully formed.

I agree about the defensive driving bit, but you seem to very often err on the side of defending the bikers when very often I see bikers doing monumentally stupid things on the roads and then getting upset when drivers are following the laws and not doing anything wrong.
 
Pitbull said:
There is a difference and each incident will have it's own merit.

Honestly, if I was riding in that scenario and you just swerved in front of me while lane splitting I would have expected you to check your mirrors, heard my bike before changing lanes. I'm not saying I'm not guilty of speeding. But what gives you the right to now take the law into your own hands and swerve in front of me just because you can?

Mistakes happen, I'm 100% sure if you didn't see me you would gladly apologise at me waving my hands at you. So then it's all good. if you aggravate the situation it just means you're doing it out of spite.
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That would be your fault to be honest, because many times a biker appears out of another lane from behind another car after I've started moving out from my lane to change lanes myself, whilst also keeping my eye on the road in front. You're being daft thinking the only thing a motorist needs to do on the road, is looking in their mirrors for bikes doing stupid things at 160. There's plenty happening on the N1, you have to look out in front of you more than anything, because the traffic can flow for long distances, then suddenly everyone comes to a halt. My main priority is to avoid rear-ending the cars in front of me.

If you can't understand this, I feel sorry for you, and bikers assuming people won't move over to other lanes, because it will likely be to the detriment of yourself.

When my parents told me "think for others as well, there are many idiots on the road who cannot think for themselves" when I started driving, I assume they were mostly referring to bikers.
 
In my own opinion, in the given situation, gap or no gap, the key thing here is the indicator. I've been in this very situation countless times (though perhaps at a slower speed) and when a car wishes to change lanes, I'm happy to oblige- if I can see the intention via the persons indicator. It's why all vehicles have them (bikes too). In the given situation, a biker speeding along and getting angry at the car would be in the wrong.
 
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