Most accidents happen when?

[alone]

Coming down the A4, at the big ol' roundabout in Theale, J12 M4.
Long story short. I was going straight over. Guy decides I'm invisible, pulls out onto the roundabout that I'm now well on my way across (if you know it, it's a wide round about, very clear line of sight). Eye contacts made, but he doesn't brake. I'm braking as hard as possible, release and somehow manage to swerve past the front of his (still moving) car. Think I'm about to catch a very very close call, when I hit the curb (was about a foot from missing it), bike and I get sent into what felt like space. Back down with a thud. Keep the bike up right, and grab the brakes again- Too late, I've managed to leap an entire lane and now I'm heading into the next curb, bike falls sideways on it, and I finally land on something, grass. Thank god.
Little bit of sliding later, stop, and stand up. Bike's neatly wrecked by the side of the road, and I'm in one piece (sore shoulder only) with not a mark on my bike gear.

Only external injury; Cut my finger picking my bike back up..

So, yeah. Badly explained, still a little shaken up, sorry. Only thing on my mind was to not go over his car.

How I know he didn't brake? Witness in car behind said he didn't once see the brake lights come on, either broken or he was out to try kill me. Thankfully witness sides with me (well, he appeared to).

[G]

Is this the one on the M4, or the one about a mile down the road with the a329m / a4?

Sadly, you'll probably have a lot harder time claiming because you took the effort to avoid him .

[Trixie]

It asounds like the one by the business park. I used to ride that every day on the bike and the amount of cagers that think they can make it out in front of you is unreal. I definitely had more near misses on that roundabout than any other part of my journey into work.
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Dead nobodies in company cars...

[alone]

Between M4 and the one for the business park.
I saw him way before I entered the roundabout, cus it's such an open area. The guy's French though, and don't they have right of way onto a roundabout? In their country, obviously...

Looks as though Carole Nash might be getting me a hire bike, cus I really need it for work. Otherwise it's my lil 125 from Reading-Newbury everyday... Fingers crossed.

and I do hope that's not true about my claim.. I've tried flying over cars before, and it didn't leave the bike in a nice way. Nor did it feel to brilliant. He basicly ran me off the road, and that's what we're aiming for. Ug. My last claim froma year ago isn't sorted yet, not until I can find the vanishing man.

Anyone seen this number plate? L 497 OHJ ? If so tell me where, he gave false details after turning without indicating or looking, bouncing me into another car. It's a white escort van.

[Trixie]

[BorderHooner]

how fast were you going? what was the speed limit?

no, in france they do not have right of way, they give way to the left.

hth.
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Benelli. Happy as a pig in cacky.

[alone]

Speed limit was 40, I believe. I may have been going slightly over it, 50/55. But the speed comes down to my word and the independent witness against his and his passangers. The witness said I wasn't speeding, only that I didn't brake for the roundabout, which I didn't. It was clear, and there was a car approaching at the next turn-off. I know, obviously I should have slowed just incase he didn't look.

[BorderHooner]

thats what I was thinking.

a 40 limit doesnt mean 40 'on' the actual roundabout.

Also it means its the limit, not the speed you must travel at, you have to slow down for hazards and 'potential' hazards. Every junction and roundabout is a potential hazard.

A car at a junction is a 'potential' hazard, I keep my eye on them and sit up. Never think he will stop and wait, always assume he's about to pull out and you have time to react - as in this case it is proven that sometimes they dont stop and become a hazard.

had you been within the speed limit, slowing down for the roundabout and paying better observation, you may have been able to stop.

it's getting far too common to blame other motorsists with the biker owns the road attitude.

not having a dig at you matey, just trying to put some perspective on it.

you were speeding. poor observation. inability to avoid the hazard due to your speed. if you had of slowed for the roundabout and been in a lower gear, looking and anticipating, you would have stopped or had enough revs to pull away safely from the hazard.

He was foreign and used to driving on the other side, he perhaps didnt expect you to come across the roundabout at 55mph.

slow down and get it under control before the next off has you in A&E. Hope the bike mends easy.
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Benelli. Happy as a pig in cacky.

[G]

Are you sure it's 40?

There's a 40 limit / unlimited divider between Sainsburies and the M4 round about - 40 the Reading side and unlimited the Theale side. I don't recall seeing any other speed limit signs around there until you get into the business park or Theale.

If it's an unlimited dual carrigeway, the speed limit for a motorbike is 70. So you should have been well within that.

In frace /some/ roundabouts are priority to the left, not all.

[Finglonga]

[EuropeanNC30R...]

It's priority to the right, actually

[Finglonga]

[Aikman666]

I dont know how this one is going to work out with the insurance mate. Because you never acctually HIT him they might find you in error for not being able to avoid him and stay upright. Thats what ive been told anyways. Anyone else heard of this? Not that insurance wouldnt pay out if it was the case, if im right it would just mean there wasnt a 100% payout.
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Will work for petrol
My Design Blog

[Trixie]

[alone]

Checked the road leading up, and it is national limit. So 70 on the approach to the roundabout, which means I was well within the speed limit. I saw him far enough off to believe with all my heart he was stopping, and he was slowing down as he pulled up to the junction, he just didn't see me.
I do know where you're coming from though carlos. It's just when you're halfway over an empty roundabout, doing 50/55mph, it doesn't give you a lot of time to react. Had I slowed down without need, it'd still have been close, except I'd have just missed the back of his car, not the front- Though I would have kept the bike upright this way.

As for the claim, insurance company agree that he didn't give way, and forced me off the road.


And as for that vehical reg. That's the reg taken from the van by myself, and the woman I hit. We hit a dead end when the address he gave had never heard of him, the home number had never heard of him, and the insurance came back saying the reg was a Corsa. Which, you guessed it, didn't belong to him. Police wouldn't get involved in it, and insurance company told me I had to try find him.

[BorderHooner]

with regards to wether or not it is safe to cross that r'bout at 55mph, it's hard to further comment really without seeing the roundabout...

you'll probs be on a winner with the insurance tho.

Dooofus me, for some daft reason I was picturing a car shooting out from the right, not a car pulling out from the left....

At 55mph you are travelling at 24.585 metres per second! no wonder you didnt react in time.

best of luck.

[Finglonga]

[G]

[alone]

Good map, as you look at it, I came from where the white lorry is on the left.. and he pulled out from the top. So you can see he didn't have to move far to completely block my path.

I've drawn my line on that map, along with his. I come in wide for the roundabout, when it's empty at night, to see further down that road.

Hope you can understand a little clearer.

and yes, G, you're right, going towards Reading that roundabout can be taken a lot lot faster.

[Finglonga]

[G]

[the grim reaper]

Your problem, if the purple line is correct, is that you moved into the right hand lane. Even though you wouldn't have been indicating, because no-one ever indicates these days, car drivers tend to think right hand lane = going right. I tend to stay wide, even on clear roundabouts, so that it is obvious that I'm not going right.

Of course, it could be that the bloke was just blind

Cheers

Grim
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Adverts don't always work: Remember that advert, where the army are running across the desert and they have a wounded man on a stretcher. They get to a ravine, the bridge is down and a caption pops up that says, 'What are you thinking?'. I don't know about you but I was thinking, 'Christ, I'm glad I'm not in the f***ing army'.

[Pete.]

He should still have given way.

The car driver either didn't give the bike enough attention to judge it's speed or saw enough of the bike to know what speed he was approaching at and pulled out anyway. He doesn't have a defence.

[G]

That is a very busy roundabout with 95% of the traffic going straight accross using both lanes.

Not that it makes any difference really, but were you indicating left to come off the roundabout?