Bluebottle wrote:Let's not be too hard on the rider though.
Oh no, lets tell it like it is.
Approaching a junction with traffic islands and hatched areas he is following far too close to the vehicle in front.
When the Micra slows and indicates left he attempts to overtake, manouevers dangerously close alongside and fails to ensure that his overtake can be done safely.
He has failed to observe and react to the traffic queing in the side street on the left.
Having failed to asses the initial risk of those vehicles waiting to join the main road he has also failed to acknowledge the additional risk that there is clear space on the other side of the main road so that queing traffic is
much more likely to pull out of the side street.
Having failed to assess the situation properly he has now placed himself in a position where he has no options and no margin.
Going for this gap is pointless as the traffic beyond the junction in the direction of travel is slowing to a standstill.
The truth of this incident is that the rider of the Tmax has contributed massively to his own demise.
Mr. Tmax could have held back, waited for the Micra to turn in, seen the traffic, even let it out then move on past the junction and overtake the now stationary traffic further on, time lost overall, nil.
Festina lente and all that.
When I was a pilot I was taught never to be surprised when the engine fails, only be surprised when it keeps going.
The idea is that you prepare for and expect the worst then when it happens its not a surprise.
On the one occasion when my engine did fail shortly after take off, I already had my field picked, knew what way the wind was coming from and I landed safely, no harm done
Apply this way of thinking to the road and its called "defensive driving".
Mr Tmax has got a lot of learning to do, lets hope he survives long enough to do so.