I have spent time going through the Road Traffic Regulations and from these it seems the right is a grey area. The rules of the road are from Regulation 296 to 323. The only emergency lane specified is the one on the left behind the yellow lines. It could be argued that the area beyond the white line is a shoulder - then it would be illegal but others would argue the shoulder is the other side of the road beyond the yellow lines for the oncoming traffic. I am not a lawyer. I have asked a traffic cop and he could not tell me. There is no official designation for this bit of road. To come out and unequivocally state you know the law and you may not ride here means you would have to back it up with an excerpt from the Road Traffic act. Quoting K53 manuals is not accurate as according to those splitting is illegal. The RTA says it is legal.
I don't understand why everybody is so heated. I have never been inconvenienced by a bike going down the right while I am splitting. Everybody has to do what is safe in their minds. When somebody flies up from behind while I am splitting at what I regard as safe I look for a gap and move over. Most of the bikes do the same when I come up behind them. I don't blame the biker that died. I don't think anybody who regularly commutes in Gauteng has a right to judge the way those who do ride here. He missed a fatal detail and paid the price.
The fatal detail is the women in the cage was using her cell phone. - NOW THAT IS ILLEGAL.
We must ride with awareness. Yes I know that riding down the right is in many minds illegal. But then so is lane splitting to many minds. As a result when riding my bike I am on the lookout as much as I can. Every car is a threat. That is the best I can do. I hope it is enough.
In terms of this accident everybody has lost sight of the fact that she hit the back of his bike. He was past her. If she had not been on the phone the accident would not have happened. She did not have the necessary awareness applied where it was required. Maybe if he had been going faster she would have missed him. When the traffic backs up cars swerve all over the place(I call it popcorn). Nowhere is safe because "NOBODY' is looking. The only thing you as a biker can do is be super aware and ready to react be it with a hooter or a swerve.
Firstly RIP Biker, and I hope it was not someone I knew!! No one deserves to die just because they made a not so clever decision!
I also used to commute in Jo'burg traffic, before I moved to MP. I am always very careful, but no slouch either. Sometimes slowing down, sometimes having to get a quick burst of speed to get out of tight spots before the cars get too close. But riding on the right side is just plain dumb IMO. I also drive a big 4x4 and I would not expect anything to be on the right of me. Besides, that part of the Highway is too close to the concrete for my liking, even in the 'fast' lane... so... just plain stupid to ride there. When lane splitting one usually still finds a gap, as the cars are not always right next to each other... but a concrete barrier... Eish!!
And yes, the lady is definitely a lot to blame... I HATE people on cell phones... WTF, are they out to murder??? I have had quite a few close calls. But fortunately I try to always pay attention to the traffic around me, and I kinda expect peeps on cell phones to do dumb stuff. I have been rear ended twice on my bikes, because someone was not paying attention! The last time I got off, took the guy's key out the ignition and chucked the keys into the veld! People must learn to pay attention!!!
AND as KaTooMatt so rightly pointed out... a point everyone seemed to be missing throughout the whole thread... she hit him at the rear... that means he was right next to her bonnet and she didn't see him? Unfortuantely that could make all the difference, she swerved into something that was in plain sight, but since she was too busy texting, she had no idea of her surroundings!!! That could well be construed as culpable homicide!! I do feel for her, she made a stupid mistake, one that 1000's of drivers make every day, but unfortunately this time there was a biker in the way! I reckon that if he had been lane splitting he may have stood a chance, especially if the traffic was not moving too fast and with some luck there may have even been a little bit of space to recover and not fall... there are many if's and but's and without knowing all the details and real facts, it is hard to put it all together and no one should be too quick to judge either way. I am pretty sure most of us have texted or talked on the phone while driving, we were just lucky to get away with it. I hate doing it and will only text if on open road with no traffic near me. But I have talked on the phone while driving in traffic, even if only briefly to get directions or answer a call to tell them I'm driving.
This is not the first, nor will it be the last of these types of incidents... the nature of traffic and people is just such that there are a mixture off all sorts lumped together, with different skills, out looks, opinions etc etc... it does not make for a harmonious road exsitence. I am generally polite, but there have been incidents with both cars and other bikes where I just got so mad that I sometimes broke stuff... like mirrors... because some people just bring out the worst in me!
So please all, try to be considerate and polite, even if sometimes you are right and they are wrong! And for those of you who do Jo'burg traffic every day... please be careful. I hate reading these kind of things... and one of my very good friends commutes every day, dunno how I would feel if anything had to happen to him!!
But having said all that... I still love coming to the City to play in the traffic for a while, it is quite an experience and I actually don't mind it at all, I'm very good at traffic!!
Topic: Fatal accident near malibongwe (Read 11669 times)
