Stopping for a fellow rider (or driver).

[Kawasaki Jimbo]

This morning I thought I’d make a nice 100 mile round trip to visit the ancient town of Lavenham and use my National Trust card to see the Tudor-period Guildhall. However, 5 miles into the journey I came across a fallen rider. He was lying on the nearside grass verge of a dual carriageway and two drivers were already with him. There was a sort of lay-by ahead so I stopped there. I wasn’t sure what support I might be able to offer but I’ve had people stop for me when I’ve broken down (even when I’ve just stopped for a photograph) and, while it’s rare a passer-by can help, the fact that they offer has been much appreciated. I did think I might bring a biker’s perspective and, for example, disallow moving the rider or removing his helmet. You’d think these things are common knowledge but certain social media fora make me doubt the general public. In this case they were all golden. The rider was quite agitated and moving about anyway, albeit lying down.

More people stopped, including two nurses arriving separately. I realised in comparison I wasn’t able to offer much more than sympathy and a little bit of traffic management, waving my arms to warn of the Speed Triple lying in the gutter when it looked like traffic hadn’t yet seen it. The bike’s alternator cover was smashed and leaking oil. A crash bung near the radiator had done its job but otherwise the bike looked all right, although I didn’t look closely. Lovely bike actually. Later I pushed it out of the way though I couldn’t find neutral. The rider was as concerned about his bike as he was for his own situation, and I laughed to myself later when I recalled he’d asked me what bike I was riding. We just can’t help ourselves, can we!

The biker was lying on his side, and conscious. He had a sore forearm and pain from a blow to the chest, but he was also spoiling for a punch-up with the van driver who he said had side-swiped him by moving from lane 2 to lane 1 as they went uphill past a fixed speed camera with a blind crest ahead. The van driver said the bike was undertaking with a 20mph speed differential. The driver called the emergency services more than once after two groups of blues ‘n’ twos cop cars and ambulances raced past on their way to other incidents. The rider couldn’t stand for more than a moment due to increased chest pain but he had no trouble speaking or breathing, and the nurses had no immediate concerns so I’d speculate he was just badly bruised, although the adrenaline might have been masking something.

After about 25 minutes two police cars arrived and the lane was cordoned off for safety. At that point I told the copper I wasn’t a witness and I had just stopped to help if I could, adding that the two ladies present were nurses and I had moved the bike 25 yards to safety. The policeman said I could go and in fact the fewer people the better from his point of view unless you were directly involved.

Anyway, I didn’t fancy carrying on with my journey because I had too many thoughts on the matter, and usually when I ride it’s just about the bike and the road. I don’t think about other stuff, which is kind of the appeal of riding. Instead I went home, albeit the long way. I hope (and believe) Alan - known as Bob - was ok and his bike will be too.

I just wanted to get that off my chest but to make it a thread I would ask, have you stopped for a fellow traveller in trouble, or has anyone stopped for you?