Another pointless thread

Don't forget to look to the left, too. Not in the Highway Code, but unfortunately necessary. Possibly relevant to continually increasing insurance premiums...

Steve

When I taught people to ride motorbikes, a long time ago in a previous life, the last look was always over the shoulder you were turning too.

It was called 'the life saver' for obvious reasons.

Nowadays it seems that nobody bothers, they just blame the victim for being in the wrong place/wearing dark clothing/ going too fast.

needless to say I still look, as do most motorcyclist of my age group, even when driving a car...

Absolutely! - OTOH, in my case, I've tried to mitigate that by:
- replacing the standard RH-drive mirror glass in the LH door mirror with one designed for LH-drive cars as those have wider-angle lenses, and thus I have a wider view of what could be coming up on the nearside;
- putting a clip-on "panoramic" mirror over the standard one as that shows me the view right across, and beyond, the rear windscreen (it's an estate and so that's wider than in a normal saloon/hatchback). Downside of that is that the view through the rear screen is somewhat distorted, and I lose the the automatic "dipping" / intensity reduction of the view through that screen when headlights approach from behind at night, but IMHO the benefits far outweigh those negatives

As a result I can generally see almost anything coming up from behind and either side in the mirrors except for a very small area just behind the RH rear quarter - which is why I take that quick look backwards on the RHS "as and when necessary"

Insurance premiums are all about risk. Nothing else. I drive two cars, a 2018 Range Rover (before that a Freelander) and a 2005 Aston Martin. The Land Rovers are expensive to insure £600+ now for the Range Rover. The Aston Martin on the other hand is cheap as chips to insure. £280 . Reason.... 50+ year old men where I live do not have accidents in Aston Martins. Land Rovers on the other hand are ten a penny and are always having scrapes in supermarket car parks or wherever. So twice + the premium.

Could not agree more.

I was lucky as a teenager to do a motorcycle course with the Surrey Police. Apart from being great fun and getting the chance to meet Barry Sheene, it taught me me things that today I still use even though not been on a bike for 40 years. Treat everyone as an idiot and anticipate their moves. And NEVER place yourself in a position of danger.

I merely point out that to cover the cost of the Torrey Canyon claims your insurance went up by an amount that had nothing to do with any increased risk from a Range Rover or an Aston Martin

I am sure you are right. But that disaster was way before I could drive

Are you sure about this? I thought marine insurance was offset by spreading the risk across a number of wealthy individuals who were told this was a great investment with minimal risk, only to find that the risk was real and unlimited.

Don’t get me started on Range Rovers in car parks, the reason they get damaged is they are too damned big for the spaces which makes things difficult for those who drive sensibly sized cars, especially when you get back to find your car door only opens a crack because some prat has filled the next space right up to the line. They are used around here as glorified baby buggies and shopping trollies.

I hope you all pratice the Dutch Reach when in your car to prtoect those on two wheels.

No time to photograph flowers - too busy digging up weeds so I can plant some flowers. Might get to the garden centre tomorrow to fill up the newly cleared area.

Second morning running that I've been out for a ride, the roads are realy quiet at 6:30 in the morning..



That's the new(ish) electric bike.

..as for Land rovers and the like, why do people buy them?

The furthest of road most 4x4s ever get is the supermarket car park!

Before they're allowed to buy one all prospective owners should have to prove they can drive/control/park the damn things. That would make the roads safer for everyone...

Because they can - and they want people to see that they can . Same reason that people on the Channel Islands own sports cars...

Steve

Two of my sons have owned Land Rovers, both older than them. One has sold his, but the other still has his pick-up. He spends hours working on the thing at his in-laws place. They are all LR mad there. They go green laning in Wales a couple of times a year, mostly I hasten to add on private roads owned by a friend.
Since he works from home or gets the train to work he never drives it during the week, and it qualifies for old timer insurance and tax. Keeps him amused. Probably slightly cheaper to keep than his horse.
My niece and her partner live in Ambleside and have one of the last Defenders. He works in the countryside and they live up a blooming steep hill so it is very useful for them. They still walk everywhere within Ambleside though.

If you think car insurance is expensive in the UK you should look at the costs in the US. But that's because they let 16 year olds loose on the roads after half an hour of "training" if that.

Sorry Gwyn, I wasn't aiming at Landy owners, I had one myself 20 odd years ago. Great fun Green laning and as reliable as a chocolate fire guard.

It's the big BMW/Merc/Rangerover fashion cars I was poping at.

Just taken a trip out to do some 'essential' shopping..

..on the BMW, nice big panniers and the first time I've ridden her for two months.

How I've missed riding, I was never meant to be a car driver.

That's Ok HG, I knew what you were aiming at.
Glad you got out on the bike for while.
I miss being away in the camper, so I can imagine how much you miss the bike riding.
Things aren't as strict here so my son gets out on his occasionally, but he doesn't want to push his luck.

Insurance costs aren't helped by the industry that has built-up around helping people with their claims. In my latest tumble (lady behind me in a queue at a traffic light went straight-up the back of me when the light turned green), I was told by the 3rd party company used by my insurance company that if I didn't have a "loan bike", the claim would take an extra month to resolve. Given that in my penultimate accident (again, not my fault!), the hire costs for the loan bike were in excess of £10,000, I stuck to my guns and refused the loan. I considered it simply unethical to charge that amount. The third party company were very annoyed because they could not make much profit from my claim (beyond the £30 a day "storage fee", hence, I assume, extending the time taken to settle the claim).

Having had more dealings with insurance companies than I like, it is often the case that even in situations where the accident is not my fault (nearly all of them!), I end-up out of pocket whereas the companies dealing with the claim make a stonking profit. And of course, who is paying for that? All of us.

I'm afraid the motor insurance racket is exactly that, a racket.

OK, rant over.

Kris.