David's story

[Julie_S]

Don't know why, but the positioning of that car and the awkward way it went across the junction suggests an elderly driver. We need to remember that however we think people should react, or whatever the law says they should be doing, not every one does or even can react as per the highway code, or in the case of a lot of older folk, can. Even if you are on the ball at 80, if you started driving with traffic moving at 50mph high speeds will be impossible to comprehend

My father spent his entire life as a professional driver on rigid and then articulated lorries after leaving the army in 1951, some years back and aged around 74 he misjudged the speed of a rep mobile when on his way to Nortree Motors for petrol (yes, I can almost guarantee he was speeding, my Dad had not lost his faculties) and pulled into it's path. He was heart broken that he had damaged his beloved Rover 400, and worse, his pride as he had never had an accident of his doing in all that time. We all know what we should be doing but not everyone can do that

Aside from the old folk we need to be aware of the non-UK drivers (unfamiliar confusing roads,road markings or maybe a bit of bravado as powerful cars are cheap in the UK for a young bloke) Depressingly they have done a grand job in upping the fatal RTAs in Wiltshire in the last 2 years

When I am out on my bike in my head I am a Spitfire pilot - everyone else is there to try and take me out, or for me to take out and everything is at stake

[Snowy]

Don't know why, but the positioning of that car and the awkward way it went across the junction suggests an elderly driver. We need to remember that however we think people should react, or whatever the law says they should be doing, not every one does or even can react as per the highway code, or in the case of a lot of older folk, can. Even if you are on the ball at 80, if you started driving with traffic moving at 50mph high speeds will be impossible to comprehend

My father spent his entire life as a professional driver on rigid and then articulated lorries after leaving the army in 1951, some years back and aged around 74 he misjudged the speed of a rep mobile when on his way to Nortree Motors for petrol (yes, I can almost guarantee he was speeding, my Dad had not lost his faculties) and pulled into it's path. He was heart broken that he had damaged his beloved Rover 400, and worse, his pride as he had never had an accident of his doing in all that time. We all know what we should be doing but not everyone can do that

Aside from the old folk we need to be aware of the non-UK drivers (unfamiliar confusing roads,road markings or maybe a bit of bravado as powerful cars are cheap in the UK for a young bloke) Depressingly they have done a grand job in upping the fatal RTAs in Wiltshire in the last 2 years

When I am out on my bike in my head I am a Spitfire pilot - everyone else is there to try and take me out, or for me to take out and everything is at stake

Benjamin Austin, the driver of the Renault Clio was 29 years old. From what I can see, there's nothing in the video footage that suggests anything whatsoever about the drivers age, but don't let that stop the WB Accident Investigation Unit from mooting their opinion's on the cause of this accident

[Ducatista]

As long as people are talking about it - that's the main thing and what his parents want.

My view is that the car driver is to blame for the accident, but the biker has severely reduced his chances of avoiding the accident or reducing the severity of the crash due to excessive speed.
As others have mentioned there can be unavoidable things that happen - like a deer jumping out at the last minute. That's an inherent risk that up you have to accept if you ride a bike.
In this case there is time to react (and he does verbally react), so at slower speed the severity could have been reduced if not avoided altogether. That does not mean that what the car driver did was ok, simply that he reduced his options severely by doing 97mph.

None of us are perfect and I'm sure lots of us get away with many things.
I make mistakes all the time, but I try to allow enough contingency to allow for both my mistakes and those of others.

Btw - I think I'd consider 60 too fast for passing that junction for my own eyesight/reactions/skill level considering the layout.

I welcome all the discussion.
Whether we agree with all the points or not, the parents made the difficult decision of publishing it so we'd all talk/think about it.

Boris bike next week (@/#% - did I just admit to being a cyclist !!)

[Rabb]

I always keep in mind two words "What if"
RIP David
What wonderful brave parents.
All power to you.

[Republic]

A Remarkable Mother telling the story of her dear son tragic loss, very moving
RIP David,