A stark reminder to leisure cyclists !

If you are transporting your bicycle … PLEASE secure it properly

**LINK**

https://news.sky.com/story/pure-luck-driver-not-seriously-injured-after-bicycle-smashes-through-windscreen-on-m9-in-scotland-12399109

MichaelG.

The A9 has always been a dodgy road

Should have been dual carriageway in the 1970s, we're still waiting

Nearly came a cropper a couple of times on that one, deer, wasps and logs to name a few of the hazards on that road

Edited By Ady1 on 05/09/2021 07:51:29

.

“A driver escaped with minor injuries after a bicycle smashed through the windscreen of her car on the M9 motorway.”

… Which, it appears, is a dual carriageway

MichaelG.

oops my mistake

No problem, Ady … It’s a scary thought wherever it is

It trumps a flying chuck-key, I would think !!

MichaelG.

I want to know where the rest of the bike is? The BBC Article show a picture from inside the car with the handlebars but the frame and rear wheels seem to be missing. Fortunately the occupant was shaken but not badly injured.

John

I saw one a couple of weeks ago. i just exited the Dartford Tunnel heading North when the car in front suddenly swerved to the left, and I was forced to do the same due to a mountain bike laying across the line between the lanes. About half a mile further on there was a car on the hard shoulder with a pair of bicycles on his 3-bike roof rack and a space where the third should be.

Same applies to any external load.

Once I was leaving the M4 to take the M40 nor'westwards and had to swerve around a sofa and armchair that'd fallen off a van in front of me.

Then there was the sacktruck that fell off the back of a lorry in front of me.

And the dustbin that came sailing over the central reservation of the M6 just south of Preston.

Those I all avoided, but the section of exhaust pipe that came off the artic in front of me on the M50 in 2008 tore the rear valance off my Mondeo. I wish I'd thought to get his number as he disappeared...

I drove a recovery truck for several years, and can't help looking at loaded cars and motorbikes:

lots of people seem to think that one 25mm ratchet strap over the seat of a bike on the side stand is good enough. It isn't, and that's assuming you don't break the frame lugs. Yes, I have seen that on a six week old aluminium frame BMW that the previous driver had managed.

I once asked a driver in a motorway filling station what was holding the car to his trailer, and he looked at me as if I was mad and said the handbrake!!

Cars are strapped by the wheels not the bodywork. That's all four wheels. Don't cross the straps, and definitely don't use the same tie down for the middle.... Ensure the ends of the straps can't wave around in the wind. Slacken the winch cable. If you care about the paintwork, don't use your car cover no matter how well it fits.

The driver is legally responsible for the load, so if somebody else loaded your roof rack/trailer/etc, check before you drive off.

Bike racks can be very flimsy, and the straps that use a sprung flap to keep the tension worry me.

If you're following a vehicle with a loose load, drop back or overtake so it's not your problem. Although that won't help when a propshaft comes off the truck in front and punches through your floor. That was a BMW that my boss hadn't intended to buy.

I think my scariest moment was on the M42 many years ago. Two sections of steel ducting fell off a truck in front of me, they were irregular shape as well so every time they hit the deck they bounced off in a different direction. Never know to this day how I missed them.

As it happens my car at the time was a Mini Metro so very responsive compared to a large car, on the other hand if they had hit me.....

Bill D.

why do we blame the road. its not the road its the fools using it

The speedsters tend to be the locals racing about doing stuff and mixing it up with the tourists who are dawdling along and admiring the view

And all that publicity about older drivers not being competent - 60 year old driver calmly brings car to rest !!!

Do you reckon the owner of the bike will own up to this ?

Edited By Speedy Builder5 on 05/09/2021 13:05:26

Hi, in my last day job I often got ridiculed by one person, on how many ratchet straps I used on the trailer and or the truck, I simply said that I'd rather be safe than sorry, I don't think he understood that the person driving the truck, is responsible for the load, not to be able to come off while in transit, the company is of course liable to get people trained properly, but that wasn't a problem they had.

Regards Nick.

North bound on the M6 years ago I came across (and missed) a neatly folded LARGE tarpaulin, shortly after I passed a police patrol car and had the "fun" of pulling him over to report it. He radioed for backup to recover it.

I was once following a Transit van, at good distance, on the A14 when a black object fell off the extended rear step. I got slowed to about 5mph when I hit it. It damaged the plastic panel below the bumper and knocked a pipe off the aircon condenser. The van didn't stop. Fortunatly I was in an old banger of a peugeot that was a stop gap between decent cars. Air confix was straightening a flange, new O-ring and a £50 re-gas.

The black box was a De-Walt tool box with a set of 18V Li-ion power tools.

I use them reguarly to keep them in good shape in case the van driver wants to claim them and a ticket for his insecure load. Unfortunatly there was no contact info or other identification in the box and the police say the loss was never reported.

Robert.

Anyone know the speed limit for a car towing a trailer or caravan on a motorway?

If you said 70, then you need to re-learn the rules...

Working at a tool hire centre we hired a compressor to a customer who promptly put it into his open trailer. Driving out onto the main road as he turned the corner from the drive onto the road the compressor tipped over and fell off he reversed back in and reported the compressor broke.

When he was told he will have to pay for the repairs his comment was "You lifted it onto my trailer and did not tell me to tie it down so I am not paying"

Guess he was disappointed when he was forced to pay the bill once he was told his vehicle your responsibility to secure your load he still kept arguing and was never seen again in the shop to hire another piece of equipment

Hi Mark, the maximum speed limit, unless otherwise stated, is 60 mph and 60mph on dual carriage ways, but you are not allowed in the outside lane of any motorway with three or more lanes while towing anything, (not everyone seems to know that, or they just don't care) Some people don't even seem to know that you are only allowed to go at 50 mph on a single carriageway while towing.

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 05/09/2021 16:22:35

Even more, most van and commercial vehicle drivers don't know that the speed limit for commercials (other than car derivied vans and Dual Purpose Vehicles) on dual carriageways is 60MPH not 70.

This includes Transit size vans and 2WD non-crewcab pick-ups.

Enforcement seems non-existent though.