Express & Star

Lets share and look out for each other

This blog was going to be about the state of our roads, potholes and the return of speed cameras, but during the week I saw a video that was shared on Facebook that sent a shudder down my spine and left a lump in my throat. Then I read the comments left on the post and that got me thinking. Thinking about how perspectives exist even before anyone has seen or had chance to investigate or discuss a situation.

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The video was part of a road safety campaign by Norfolk police showing a road traffic accident, interspersed with details about 38-year-old David and an interview with his mum. She describes him as a friendly and decent chap, he'd just returned from 18 months working in Antarctica. It then starts to show footage taken from a camera mounted on the side of his helmet – literally at his eye level.

You see him wave off his friends who he has spent the day with and parts of his journey home, with more of the interview with his mum talking about the day of the accident. She talks about how a driver turned in front of him, and she acknowledges that he did ride fast. You know from the start of the video that David was killed.

As she describes the accident you realisse that you are watching footage of the accident. You see a junction approaching and the car pull across the road, David shouts out, then you see the inevitable impact, hear the crunch and the screen goes blurred then still. The camera, still attached to his helmet, shows the shoulder of his leathers, the side of his helmet and grass. The video ends there.

It's hard viewing and I've seen it shared a number of times on Twitter and Facebook. What really struck me was the polarity of the comments on the posts that were shared by newspapers and other organisations, people literally arguing with each other about who was at fault and making serious comments about the rider and driver.

It was easy to tell who were the car drivers and who were the bikers, although there was also a community of people who sat very much on the fence. I realise that these public posts often attract a fringe of people with extreme views so I looked at those who had shared the video where it wasn't public and found the same polarized responses.

I found my self on that fence; the rider was going too fast, the video suggests 97mph, but the driver of the car wasn't paying attention to the road he was about to cross. One has paid the ultimate price for his part and I've no doubt the other will see that split-second for the rest of his.

When we use the roads - car, bike, van, truck, bus, coach - we all do so having been given a membership card having passed an entrance test into a special club. That club gives us access to 245,000 miles of UK roads, these roads offer us all many things to see and do, some simply offer a way of getting from one place to another, whilst others offer beautiful scenery and wonderful views of our great country.

We need to learn that entry into this club is very special, new members join everyday, and sadly people also leave every day as a result of someone's actions on the roads. As part of the club (being a road user) you are asked to follow some rules that are meant to keep us all-safe. Not everyone will follow them and that is a choice they make in any given moment and they have to understand the consequences of that decision.

So, what we can't do is ride or drive around in blissful ignorance assuming everyone is following the rules and that road conditions are perfect. We have to look out for ourselves, we have to look out for others, and not assume we are riding or driving in utopian world. A friend's grandfather said: "When there is more paint on the road there is more danger on the road" – wise words worth remembering.

We all have to share the same road space so lets play nice and look out for each other.

Ride safe, drive safe.

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