Diesel! ...more dangerous than attempted suicide?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4233390.stm
Its an old article.. but it is scary out there.. i used to be frightened of the wet.. now im not.. im scared S**T less of diesel.. its everywhere.. i dread having to get on the bike after a rainy spell.. because up it comes.. and the thing that angers me the most is that the government do not give a crap about it, it would appear that they would rather us crash and become a statistic to use against biking in general.. probably not the case but it certainly seems so.

Q: How can the Government reduce the amount of accidents caused by diesel?
A:"The Government plans to tackle the problem of spilt diesel by working with relevant authorities and organisations to develop solutions, like improving vehicle engineering standards so less diesel is spilt in the first place [21]. "

This was taken from a governmant safety site.. sounds like the same bull as they always come up with.. and ultimately doesnt answer the question with a direct answer!

How do you lot feel about it? is there anyone that isnt bothered?
the thing is you cant claim for Diesel accident.. i got eaten alive by my insurers because there was no one to blame when i wrote my SV off..
is this still in force? http://www.racfoundation.org/index.p...=389&Itemid=35 . . . not to my knowledge.. diesel is cleaner.. more cost effective . . and completely Dangerous!! to everyone not on four or more wheels.. even then can still be trouble..

im seriously considering taking my bike to the track.. and staying that way.. im sick of it.. so F****** sick of nothing been done!..

im not prepared to ditch another bike because the government cant pul there fingers out and tackle the problem head on!

Isn't there supposed to be a fund that haulers pay into to cover the cost of bikers who have accidents due to spilt diesel?

Mate its mental. I've come off with pulling the front brake to JUST biting, like taking up the slack in the front brake and next thing I was watching my bike slide away from me. Was on my old VT250... So a while back.

This is why I try to use the front brake minimally in wet and keep my eyes open for this ****. If you see a Fuel station keep your eye keen! Any sinister looking spill then stay clear. N' never ride too fast. It can bite with NO warning and in the wet is more slippery than Ice.

Stay safe out there!

always amazes me the amount on the roads, you wouldnt think with the price of it, and the amount of bleeting the hauliers/ taxi drivers etc do about it why they keep splashing it all over the place.

Another thing that you might not be aware of is that from a legal/mot point of view a car is allowed to have a diesel/oil leak which is quite severe and it will still pass an mot this i find crazy/ if a vehicle leaks either of these it should be put off the road until its fixed, im sure anyone who rides a bike will agree with me on that.

damm straight ... its just stupid.. and mentaly dangerous!!

The route I take to work is terrible for lorries spilling diesel all over the road. Tip, at roundabouts, stick as close as safely possible to the inside. As trucks lean over, the spill it out to the left. In the daytime, theres just a line of diesel round the roundabouts. (A22.

Makes riding in the wet very "interesting" to say the least. But 8 years of riding to london helps out a fair bit. Just have to ride as though its icy cold and your riding on cold tyres..

Scares me thinking about that. I was told by somebody who may or may not have been well informed, that modern lorries don't have this problem, it is just the older lot that can still be over-filled.

As I say I don't know how accurate this is, and not of much use judging by the number of old lorries/trucks etc on the road.

On the bright side this fuel 'crisis' might mean less lorries on the road! :/

Killspills

If you give a sh**, consider supporting those who are trying to do something about it.

i've come off twice now on diesel and i've only been riding just over a year the first time was on my 2nd lesson and it took both me and my instructor off our bikes and only tonite i had to call the police to a bad spillage around a roundabout i hate the stuff

[fizzwheel]

Originally Posted by lylej

is there anyone that isnt bothered?

Yep me. If I am going to fall off I am going to fall off, that is what insurance is for.

If you spend your time worrying about sh*t like this when you are riding, you'll ride tense, nervous and you wont relax and you wont enjoy riding, if you ride like this also your head will be a mess and you're not going to ride to the best of your capabilities.

Theres loads of things you can do to mitigate the risk of diesel, slow down a bit in likely culprit areas, roundabouts, exits / entrance's to filling stations etc. Often you can smell a bad spill before you see it. Rainbow pattern on the road when its wet etc etc. Yes I appreciate that sometimes you just can't avoid it.

I ride alot in rural areas, so I come across diesel sometimes as well as cow sh*t etc etc all really slippy. I've had my bike crossed up sideways with no traction at all.

Its never really bothered me. Sorry to sound like a c*ck but I've got more important things to worry about and the fact that I "might" come across a diesel spill on the road isnt one of them.

If you feel that strongly about it dont sit there moaning the government wont do anything about it ( because they wont and they never will ) and go and join killspills as Xan mentions above.