why do car drivers seem to think they have more rights then motorcycle riders?

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kezza66

New member
the other day I was riding my motorcycle(suzuki drz400) back from college, I was on a dual carriageway with a 50 mph speed limit approaching a roundabout with 4 exits and I was intending to go straight on 2nd exit, I was in the right hand lane as you can use either lane to go straight on and I would be in the correct lane to turn right at the next roundabout that was only 60 ft or so from the exit, there was a lady driving her car in the left hand lane and she was right beside me crossing the roundabout, of course I knew she must be either turning left or going straight on, I indicated left as I was about to exit and looked left to check for idiots (thank god) and as I did that the lady beside me panicked as she realized she wanted to take the 3rd exit, she did indicate but she did it as she started her very sudden sharp turn right across my direction of travel without even looking to see if she may in fact kill someone with this maneuver, luckily my bike is very agile being a supermoto and I put the bike into a slide under heavy braking and went behind her car hitting my foot peg (and foot) on her bumper, somehow I kept the bike upright and came to a stop on the grass between the 2nd and 3rd exits, another motorcyclist stopped and so did another car driver who saw what happened, the lady who cut me off was very angry and went the whole way round the roundabout in the left lane at speed and came screeching to a stop beside me, she started screaming at me and a heated argument developed, the lady could not see what she had done wrong and said how is a car driver supposed to see, when I said she could have killed me she said its a shame she hadn't coz that would be one less ****** biker on the roads,she said how is a car driver supposed to be able to see a ****** biker when they are so hard to see, the other motorcyclist was furious at the lady and the other car driver (another lady) agreed that the lady had done wrong but said bikes should be banned as they are so hard to see. Well that excuse is simply not acceptable, bikers also have to watch out for other bikers and a simple shoulder check is all it takes, car drivers seem to rely only on their mirrors but they should do shoulder checks as much as bikers do, it seems she thought that because I was on a bike it was totally acceptable for her to cut me off and bikers should give way to car drivers under any circumstances. when the police turned up it seemed they were going to believe anything the lady said over me or the other biker but luckily at this point the other car driver told the truth and it was all sorted out and the lady will not be able to make a claim against me. I know not all car drivers are the same but please check your blind spot before making any maneuver, bikers are not riding invisible machines but any vehicle in your blind spot is invisible, bikers have equal rights to car drivers so we do not have to give way under any circumstances a car driver would not. Please use "lifesaver" checks, they are called that for a reason.
 
I live in an area where we have bike rallies 3 times a year, and we now have a local government that is trying to get rid of it, not realizing that bikers are some of the most amazing people. It saddens me to read this because it just reminds me how narrow-minded some people can be. I honestly don't know why they act that way. I think some of it is the stereotype they have placed on bikers, not realizing that a good portion are doctors, or lawyers, or important figures in their own communities with families. Usually it's the type of person that fears what they do not understand who acts that way.
 
Well this seems like more of a rant then a question. But keeping in the spirit of Yahoo answers I'll answer your original question. Then we can chat about car drivers.

The simple reason is that there are some people in this world who honestly think that they can do no wrong. Then there are the ones that just don't care. My car is bigger then your bike so I should have the right of way type thing. So there's my answer.

Now let me just let you know that your not alone. It's like this all over the world. I'm in the US and ride. We have our share of idiots. I have the scars to prove it. The 4 worlds I hate the most are "I didn't see him". Yes there is a story behind that. If you ride a bike you'll have a story. It comes with the territory.
The "I didn't see you" thing isn't an excuse. Where is that defense when a truck (laurie ?) driver does the same thing to a car?
What you should have told the lady, after she said that motorcycles should be banned, was that they will be long after women drivers are.

I'm glad your situation turned out for the better. And that it wasn't a serious incident.
 
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