it comes down to 2 things judgement and experience in my opinion ether of them can save a spill on a bike
The article raises an interesting point. I'd like to see if there is any correlation with national statistics for this type of crash. While I'm outside the main age group listed and commute on a bike I've only returned to riding relatively recently. I tend to underestimate my skill level out of concern for my own safety. It's served me well so far!
So lets go out and pull over every rider and fine them ..... wat a bunch of wankers. How about some government funded training/basic skills courses or advanced riding courses.
Of course. Never let the truth get in the way of a good story. Some truth in the fact of older returning riders buying too big a bike and cannot handle it. I can think of two aquaintances who did exactly that, and one of them is mending his broken ribs from where the bike toppled over on him, the other too scared to ride it.
nothing better in the news.. so they found someone to pick on... in the famous words of Mark Brandon Read "Once you pick up pen and paper, you can take people on a journey anywhere," he says. "The trouble is they come back later on and ask: 'Is that true?' I say: 'Who gives a ****?'"
I think an interesting point is "Riders were typically aged between 45 and 55, all were male and nearly half were riding with either a suspended licence or an incorrect licence." Not sure what the age bracket means (I am almost in this bracket, perhaps we are not as quick as think we are anymore?) but I know what riding either with a suspended licence or an incorrect licence means. No offence to anyone, but people who ride are generally higher risk takers than the norm. Those that ride without the correct license are probably those that take higher risks again. People who take higher risks tend to get it wrong more often than those that play it safe. Sooo in my opinion what the article is saying is that older gentlemen such as myself who are high risk takers (I am not quite in this category) tend to die more often than others. That's not really surprising.
