From costing less than public transport to feeling a sense of freedom, there are many reasons why people ride on two wheels. But there are dangers to being a motorcyclist

I love riding. I dread the days when I have to take public transport or have to get my bike serviced because it means less time on the road. But life on two wheels can be dangerous. According to Think! motorcyclists are approximately 38 times more likely to be killed on the road than car drivers, with nearly 5,000 seriously injured in road collisions in 2013.



Most collisions are avoidable with many bikers experiencing near-misses on a daily basis as a result of dangerous driving (or riding) or lack of visibility. In an attempt to reduce the number of those hurt on the road, undergoing further training is encouraged by instructors such as BikeSafe and the Institute of Advanced Motoring. But sometimes you just get unlucky - like I was last year when I crashed into a car. In spite of it, once I recovered I got straight back on and enjoy it more and more each day.



To coincide with Ride to Work Week in the UK, we’ve compiled a selection of some of your hits and near-misses. From a couple of grazes to losing a testicle, these stories will make you thankful to be alive. And if you don’t ride perhaps they’ll even inspire you to have a go. Or not.

I crushed the petrol tank of the bike with my groin and damaged one of my testicles ID1805358

Only the paranoid survive



“I ride a 1000cc naked street bike and use it to do a 45 minute commute into east London from south-west London every day, all year round. Every day I experience some kind of near death experience. It’s important to point out that there are degrees; the driver that twitches to change lane but sees you just in time - your adrenaline flares but all is fine. Versus the bus driver that barrels into your lane forcing you in between bus and car in the next lane or the Tesco delivery driver who flies through a red light across your path at a junction; near death moments that leave you fuming and furious. I’ve been nearly killed by drunk drivers, boy racers, OAP drivers, white van - gives you the finger for daring to sound your horn - man, Addison Lee assassins (they seem to be particularly inept and unaware).

I ride defensively, I filter carefully, I use my indicators, I only let rip on a clear carriageway with no side roads (we all love the Westway), I don’t race other bikers off the lights. I say two things to myself every time I get on my bike: only the paranoid survive and I don’t want to die today. That mantra keeps me alive.

When I do have altercations with drivers (a weekly occurrence) I tell them my name, that I have a wife and three kids, that I am flesh and bone not metal and plastic. Apologies are requested, an admission of guilt, then all can be forgiven. Mostly I get told to fuck-off. I take their wing mirrors as totems of vengeance. Well, sometimes.

I ride still. Always will. It is often the best part of my day.”

dmac2001

Facebook Twitter Pinterest There’s nothing quite like the open road Photograph: Alamy

A bit lighter in the trouser department...

“My motorbike was big, blue, sleek and shiny. It’s vee-twin engine used to bubble in a deep and reassuring way, like a favourite uncle that was mostly benign but had moments when a bit of a roar was the way to go. Until my crash, I did around 12,000 miles a year on my bike, commuting and travelling inter-city to business meetings.

I was on my way to a meeting in Leeds on a wet January evening near Sheffield when a plasterer in a white van decided to emerge at speed from a side turning to catch a gap in the traffic. I hit the side of his bonnet at 40mph and executed a perfect somersault over the bars into the road. On the way over, I crushed the petrol tank of the bike with my groin and damaged one of my testicles to the extent that it grew to the size and shade of an aubergine and very slowly, than shrank until it was there no longer.

This is a common story among bikers. What hurts most is not the loss of a knacker - I still have the other thanks. No, what really hurts is that I’ll probably never ride a motorbike again. I loved my bike and every aspect of being a high-mileage, all-weather rider. But I also care for my family and it’s clear that they could not tolerate me getting back on two wheels.”

ID1805358

Lost limb instead of life

“I lost my leg two years ago when I was run into by a driver on a rural road, four months in hospital and a prosthetic leg but riding again after 10 months. Has made me much more cautious and would like to raise awareness for bikers everywhere.”

HoppyFreedom

I went through my screen and into the back of a car on the North Circular emilyrrah

Fell off as a young rider

“Twenty five years ago a driver in a car pulled out of a side road and hit me as I was travelling fast on a main a road near my home. My femur was broken in the collision and my right knee had some ligaments snapped when I landed. I also broke my nose and fingers. Fortunately I had some vegetables inside my jacket which I was told protected my ribs and organs. It turned out OK in the end though because it eventually led to me getting married. I had hoped to eventually ride again and buy a Harley with the compensation. However I bought a house instead! Now suffer with a variety of aches and pains and of course arthritis. Would love to get a bike again but I wouldn’t want to put my wife through the worry ... hate the pain I now go through but the quote about suffering producing character was right in my case ... I certainly needed it.”

Steve Barnes

Hit and not a miss

“A friend was taking his bike test in Berkhamsted. The examiner told him to drive an assigned loop and he would walk out between two cars for him to demonstrate his ability at an emergency stop. After numerous loops on the circuit with no sign of the examiner my friend decided to stop and return to the exam center. On arrival he enquired as to the whereabouts of his examiner only to find that he had stepped out in front of the wrong bike and had been hit and had taken himself to hospital.”

NormBlunt



20 Years of London on a motorbike!

“I lived in central London from around 1979 to 1998 and motorcycles were my main form of transport. BMW aircooled twins, Moto Guzzis; a couple of Laverda triples, XS Yamahas and stuff.

Most of my friends rode too. The girls and the boys. We rode to work, rode to the pub, rode to see each other. If we got around, we got around on motorbikes. And we got around a lot. No mobile phones. No internet. If you wanted to socialize you got on your bike and went calling or went to the pub.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The famous Ace Cafe in north London Photograph: Alamy

Commuting every day in all conditions there were innumerable ‘near misses’ and whilst the traffic was a little less dense, I think it was also a lot crazier out there. No speed cameras or lane cameras. The speed limit on the North Circular was 40mph but the mean speed around 65mph I’d guess. My commute included the Euston Road trafffic light drag race, Cally Road, Archway. Slippery when wet, these places.

For myself I can only recall a few actual collisions that had me off the bike, I went through my screen and into the back of a car on the north circular (I was looking over my shoulder when everything in front of me emergency stopped!). The driver just leaped out of the car and ranted at me whilst I picked myself and my bike up. I hit the British Darts team minibus, or it hit me, on the Archway roundabout. They were kind enough to lift the bike off me and we parted amicably, although I had some minor burns. A lady in Brixton punted me off my BMW but I landed on my feet whilst she just drove away! I busted my foot catching a falling Yamaha in the snow. Rode home. Then rode to hospital! Did I mention that we rode everywhere?

Everyone I knew lost some skin and we broke the occasional bone, but for the mileage we must have covered in a busy, dangerous environment we were either brilliant, lucky, or motorcycles get some bad safety press. (I don’t think we were brilliant or lucky!).

I wouldn’t have missed it for the world! Young, free, single, central London and a big bike to get around on. It was bloody great!

Still got a big Laverda triple. I’ll always have a bike. Always.”

emilyrrah

Acrobatic escape

The fact is, it doesn’t matter when you’re the one on the ground bleeding Craig Gibbons

“My brother, Graham, was riding his 1000cc Kawasaki at about 30mph through Slough . A Volvo pulled straight out, at 90 degrees to him. He had no chance to brake so hit the driver’s door at 30mph. The bike wedged into the car and he somersaulted over the Volvo and landed, running, on the opposite side. Not a mark on him. Driver had not seen him and was also unhurt. Kawasaki kaput.”

greysnout

Stationary buses are one of the biggest dangers

“I’ve been riding since I was about eight years old when my father first took me down to the dirt track to try out an 80cc motorcross bike so I feel like riding a motorcycle comes pretty naturally. But riding in London is a different experience. About 10 years ago I had just arrived in the city and I’d bought a brand new BMW1200GS, a beautiful machine, a powerful machine. One afternoon I was riding down Kilburn high road, a road I knew well. It was busy and I was filtering down the middle as one does. I overtook a stationary bus going about 15mph but that was too fast to stop before hitting the car which pulled out of the side street in front of the bus. I hit the ABS brakes hard and took most of the force out of the impact but when the front wheel hit the car it ripped the handlebars sideways with such force that it pulled my left shoulder straight out of its socket. It was stupid and avoidable but I count myself lucky to have learned a valuable lesson. So many bike accidents describe a similar scenario and sure, not all are avoidable but I’ve avoided countless accidents in London this way while watching less experienced riders rush past buses without a care. If they ever come to harm it may or may not be their fault, but the fact is, it doesn’t matter when you’re the one on the ground bleeding.”

Craig Gibbons

Contributions were submitted via GuardianWitness, where you can read more readers’ stories









