NetNews Usenet Archive 1993 #3/NN_1993_3.iso/spool/uk/transpor/352

Internet Message Format | 1993-01-26 | 2.1 KB

Path: sparky!uunet!pipex!ibmpcug!robobar!stl!bnr.co.uk!stc!nnsgs52!ianking
From: ianking@nnsgs52 (Ian King)
Newsgroups: uk.transport
Subject: Motorbikes on Congested Motorways
Date: 20 Jan 1993 10:43:03 GMT
Organization: Northern Telecom Europe Ltd
Lines: 31
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
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Here is a question I've been meaning to ask and it can really only be
answered by those of you who ride motorbikes on motorways during the rush hours.

Q. Suppose the traffic is stop/start and all three lanes are full. It is early
   morning (7am ish), in the dark, on the M1 southbound, say around Junct 9 (to
   give an idea of traffic density). What is happening is that cars/vans/lorries
   are changing lanes when the traffic does start to move and this happens every
   morning. The motorway is lit here.

   Now along comes a motorbike(s) between the outside lane and the middle lane
   travelling faster (say 10-15mph) than the rest of the traffic. This happens
   most mornings.

   Now I dont ride motorbikes and if I could I wouldn't dare go on the M1 on one.

   What I'd like to know is, why it seems that motorbike riders are not aware
   of the perils of this practise when traffic is changing lanes ie cutting across
   the riders path. There are rarely long signals from the drivers doing this.
   They just see a gap, stick the indicator out & go. Its bad enough for the
   other drivers but for a rider its almost suicide because the drivers cant
   make out their single headlight from the mass of lights behind. I've seen
   this quite a few times. I always treat motorbikes as though they were small
   cars & give them enough room (which proved fortuitous sometime last year).

   Is it illegal to ride  between the lanes?.

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