Common sense stuff when riding

Just thought I'd share this info with you all from NSWR. Everyone talks about ride guidleines etc and it is mostly common sense stuff. Harry, you are welcome to cut and paste/edit anything from this link to your site.

Guidelines and Other Stuff

Ed there are just so many smart arse marks I could have made here.........but I wont

Don't be shy Stew. Fire away. Always happy to learn.

That was quick, I felt bad so was coming back to edit.
All good tips though, if only people would follow them.

But first they have to be reminded of them. As I said, each and every one of them are courtesy, but often overlooked. Seriously though, I would welcome comments or criticisms on the guidelines. If they are valid, I will edit them. But if all you are saying is that ppl will not obey or adhere to them, well there is nothing I can do about that. That's life. We have done the right thing by having them there.

Someone said after the last fracas that they show people that they do not know or had not ridden with less respect from a riders perspective than to riders that they do know/ridden with. Well, to me that's just plain suicide. It's OK to be comfortable with someone you know and perhaps ride with often, but if I ride with someone for the first time, I watch very closely to see just how they ride. I don't want to become part of their mistake. Had the rider behind the Harley on Sunday been a proper distance behind (equally for the following riders) only the Harley would have been involved. The bike 2 bikes behind the Harley and hit Tim was charged with neg driving yet thinks it was our fault he is now up for damage repairs. Go figure.

I think they are all good points. Really from what I saw it is very hard to control. Me well I'm no speed machine, just sit back and cruise along. I have read a lot of what was going on. If people had actually stuck to what Trevour said at the start there would not have been any problems. If your so close that you can not avoid an accident then you should be charged with neg driving have no issues there either.
I don't know how you stop people from wanting to ride at high speeds on the roads they don't know and aren't designed for it. No one can blame NSWR for any accidents it is purely the fault of the idiots out there. Enough said about it all there is totally no one to blame other then the numb nuts sitting up peoples arse in the first or pushing people to move over when there is no need.

By the way is Galeb alright I have seen any more about him?

I understand he is ok. I left messages at the hospital, but they were not returned. I did hear that he was Ok though from a guy called Joe. Thanks for asking.

All good common sense stuff as you say Ed. Maybe some mention of what the group should do in the event of a breakdown or accident?

I guess I could add:

Designating traffic control ppl

Being sure to leave an area for emergency services

Finding exact location to avoid miscommunication with emergency services

Clearing the road of debris

Having just one person act as the person on the phone with 000 for consistency.

Etc etc etc. This should become an NRMA magazine article, which is not so silly actually.

It's actually a great idea Ed!

There used to be group riding info from the RTA but it seems to have vanished/shrunk into a few points that are more related to how you can avoid 'annoying other motorists' which is pretty worthless from a safety of riders perspective.

If you could get something published by NRMA maybe the RTA would pick up on it again as well.

Ed wrote:

But first they have to be reminded of them. As I said, each and every one of them are courtesy, but often overlooked. Seriously though, I would welcome comments or criticisms on the guidelines. If they are valid, I will edit them. But if all you are saying is that ppl will not obey or adhere to them, well there is nothing I can do about that. That's life. We have done the right thing by having them there.

Someone said after the last fracas that they show people that they do not know or had not ridden with less respect from a riders perspective than to riders that they do know/ridden with. Well, to me that's just plain suicide. It's OK to be comfortable with someone you know and perhaps ride with often, but if I ride with someone for the first time, I watch very closely to see just how they ride. I don't want to become part of their mistake. Had the rider behind the Harley on Sunday been a proper distance behind (equally for the following riders) only the Harley would have been involved. The bike 2 bikes behind the Harley and hit Tim was charged with neg driving yet thinks it was our fault he is now up for damage repairs. Go figure.

Ed, I read your comments carefully with regards to "Common Sense Riding"
I noticed when I was riding with the group a few weeks back on the Janolen Caves run, there was an L plate rider in front on me for most of the way to Oberon ( before the incident occurred ) I made a special mental note to keep a good 100 yards distance from him at all times ( this appeared to be a sensible distance ? ) should anything go wrong I would / should have amble time to brake in time to avoid a collision.
This was confirmed in my mind ( at least ) as when I spoke with the rider at Oberon it was his first Big ride out with a large group!
I also mentioned to Stew, that I'm I always get a little anxious when riding in a group ( especially in the city rides ) not to lose sight of the leader but also being mindful of the riders behind that they do not get lost, two instances have occurred already on our runs where the initial leading group go so far ahead and the following group then inadvertently made a wrong turn resulting in two groups instead of one!

Good post Ed and I commend you on the effort you have made to post the guidelines both on NSWR and here. In any traffic situation, whether on bikes or cars, the need to ride or drive "defensively" is important for survival. But many riders\drivers do not respect that concept and the number of traffic incidents supports that view (IMHO). Tail-gateing and lane surfing are rife: and it's not just the "P" platers. Many experienced drivers demonstrate the same tendencies. Playing catch-up in traffic is fraught with danger and futility when on group rides.

The ideal group to ride with (in my view) is the one where everyone rides like I do !! LOL. As if that's ever going to happen. In truth, I think that the more group rides I do the less I am inclined to do group rides. The larger the group, the more variety in riding styles and abilities. Trying to keep everyone together as "a group" is very tough indeed. I admire ride leaders for making the effort!