Man killed and seven hurt
Thursday 6th September 2007, 12:27PM BST.
A 19-year-old man was killed and seven others were injured following three separate motorcycle accidents at the same time in Shropshire.
It is believed all of the motorcyclists had been attending a regular Wednesday night bikers meeting at the Swancote Country Club, near Bridgnorth.
The teenager, believed to be from the West Midlands, died in a collision involving three motorcycles on the A454 Bridgnorth to Wolverhampton road at Roughton at 7.40pm yesterday.
Police today said he was a pillion passenger on a black Suzuki motorcycle and was thrown from the machine.
Coroner for South Shropshire Mr Anthony Sibcy has been informed of his death.
Four other riders were taken to hospital with various injuries which were not believed life-threatening.
Two other motorcyclists were taken to the Princess Royal Hospital after being involved in a separate collision on the same road at about the same time.
And in a third incident ambulance crew discovered a motorcyclist lying in the road at Harley Bank on the A458 near Much Wenlock.
A man in his 20s was taken to hospital with suspected spinal injuries.
All three accidents were discovered by ambulance service worker Alan Ford.
The emergency operations centre locality manager had been returning to Worcester from Shrewsbury.
He said: “I came across an incident at the top of Harley Bank on the A458 near Much Wenlock where a motorcyclist was in the road.
“Both myself and an officer from the Rapid Response Vehicle then continued towards the original incident on the A454, only to come across yet a third incident where two bikers were lying in the road.”
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I’m only surprised there weren’t more accidents – I wondered yesterday evening why there were so many motorcyclists about on the A49 heading south around 5.45 pm. The three that overtook me must have been going at 80mph or more.
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i love motorbikes and don’t see a problem with them-each to their own,its when you get people who think they can handle them on the road, but they can’t, the problems really start
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Two motorbikes overtook me near to here last night when I was turning right, this was after 4 had passed me on double white lines. I did’nt realise that they had a different highway code to car drivers.
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I always have to drive along the A454 on a wednesday evening and it is horrendous. I am sure bikers think that they can just ride however they want to without ay thought for other motorists. I am only surprised that there havent been more accidents along this road before
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I was involved in a motor bike crash that was not my fault; it is not the bikers fault all the time. I was hit by an old man who was driving on the wrong side of the road.. knackered me up for the rest of my life.
A lot of bikers DO go too fast granted; may be they should keep it for the ‘track day’.
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Its sad but inevitable. I too was driving near Bridgnorth last night and passed by two motorbikes who must have been travelling at well over 90mph. Unfortunately, this problem is only set to get worse when our roads are unpoliced. The bikers know where the fixed speed cameras are, and the mobile ones cannot catch motorbikes as they dont have a number plate on the front.
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just remember all the above comments have been instigated by people with brand new machines and all the expensive gear, do not confuse them with bikers
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I attended the Swancote last night and passed the carnage of these accidents on my way home. Granted on my way to the event from Wolverhampton was myself overtaken by other motorcyclists doing silly speeds. I myself was knocked off my bike last September by a car driver turning right onto the main road I was travelling on. I was only doing 12mph and lost my lower left leg because the driver could not be bothered to look before he pulled out! It is not always the motorcyclists fault, but I agree with some of the comments about no police in attendance. This event used to have Police Mobile covert and visible presence. Two wheels are a passion and if ridden within the riders capabilities are great fun. My condolences to the dead man’s family and friends.
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I go to the swancote most wednesdays, bikers are in general well behaved on the road. Most are over the age of 40 with a bit of spare cash. It takes just a few madheads to spoil it for all the others. God bless the young lad that died.
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If ever there is an accident speed is used as an excuse or cause. I am a biker and admit that i do exceed the speed limit on occasion, however riding fast is not necessarily dangerous. 200Mph on an empty motorway, although stupid presents little risk in comparison to riding a twisty back road at 50mph but beyond the capabilities of both the rider and the conditions.
More common sense needs to be used before using the common excuse of speeding. Speeding isn’t even in the top ten causes of accidents, with poor right turns being the biggest cause and the elderly also one of the biggest.
There are idiots on motorbikes, but while riding you witness a shocking number of ‘near misses’ due to car driver error (usually due to lack of observation). While a fast riding motorcyclist will be aware of every vehicle and obstacle within view!
I’m sure this post will attract the abuse I expect, but I ask you to think with perspective!
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what about all the accidents on roads and motorways caused by car drivers, and how many deaths are caused because of their incompitance.
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how fast was you going to know that they where going “well over 90mph”.
90% of bikers are sensible family people and dont want to risk there life but there are a few riders and drivers who have no sense of responsability, not saying this was the case here. my thoughts are with there families
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The road would be a lot safer without myopic car drivers who dont look for motorcyclists. We overtake alot of the time to get away from you because you just dont look and are dangerous to us. You always assume we are going too fast because our loud cans give the impression of speed, loud cans we put on to alert you to our presence. A friend of mine is lying in hospital today with head injuries and a broken pelvis because a car driver didnt look and pulled out on him, knocking him off his bike, my friend was riding under the posted limit. Most biker fatalities are caused through myopic drivers not seeing us. You have no idea if these bikers involved were the ones that overtook you, or if they were speeding, you just assume it, sat there in your own little world safe in your metal box. LOOK TWICE – YOU MAY JUST SAVE A LIFE FFS!
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oh and David (post No. 6), mobile cameras do in fact catch speeding motorcyclists, they snap the motorcyclist as he/she approaches, and note down their registration as they pass….of course you likely wont see this happening because you are on your mobile or not paying attention, people like you kill my friends.
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I’ve started attending Swancote again after being injured and not having a bike to ride for 14 months due to a cyclist not looking and turning right across my path, whilst I was travelling at 30 – 35. People just don’t look, how do we know all these accidents were down to speed?
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the police should stop the bikers going to swancote on a wednesday night the work load for the ambulane servies doubles.
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biker
If you re-read the article, you might note that in none of the three accidents does it say a car was involved. We all know that there are some appalling car drivers, but this article is clearly showing that some ‘bikers’ are driving dangerously. Your efforts to evade this fact by trying to pass all the blame onto motorists is juvenile, as apparently is your behaviour if you deliberately make your exhaust system louder in an attempt to alert motorists you are passing of your presence. Any child will be able to tell you that simple laws of physics dictate the sound will not be heard until you are already passing !
I am very sorry that your friend has been injured and wish him a speedy recovery. I do not know why some car drivers seem oblivious to bikes on the roads, but it is a fact that they do, and perhaps, because of this, you should consider a more defensive approach to your biking, slowing down and anticipating them, rather than just overtaking to ‘get away’.
You are correct that I have no idea whether the bikers who overtook me were involved in one of the accidents, I never inferred that they were, you are totally wrong in stating that I did not know they were speeding however. I use satnav which displays my vehicle speed very accurately, and I was progressing at a steady 60mph when the two bikes in question overtook me. If you have any reasonable sense of perspective, it is entirely possible to gauge the relative speeds, I estimate they pulled away from me the same as a car travelling at 30mph would pull away if I had been stationary. 60+30=90mph.
If I am travelling at 60mph and they overtake me, then it is irrefutable that they were speeding, I did not ‘assume’ anything, unlike you who assumes that I drive whilst using a mobile phone or not paying attention, libelous claims which you cannot substantiate in any way because they are wholly untrue.
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I appreciate that not all motorbike riders are lunatics, but as a driver i find them most annoying and very dangerous. You can look in your mirror one second later and they just appear out of nowhere as the speed they are travelling at is outrageous. Then they sit behind you swerving in and out and trying to pass you on dangerous swervy roads unfortunately it is inevitable that they are going to get hurt. I think the police should clamp down on motorbike riders who speed for their own safety if nothing else!!
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We are too quick to judge, too quick to pass the blame…not all bikers are speed freaks. i am a mother who enjoys biking along with many other hobbies. just because i ride a bike doesn’t make me a senseless, speed limit breaking lunatic which is what some people seem to think we all are… THANK YOU to the man who stopped 3 times, above and beyond the call. RIP to the young man.
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I come across bad car drivers everyday but I don’t tarnish them all as bad drivers as there are good and bad out there. Bikers should be treated the same. I personally drive a car and am learning to ride and try to drive / ride the best I can and as responsibly as I can, as I have been affected by a road death myself. We are not all the same and these accidents may have been through no fault of the riders. My thoughts are with the family and friends of the 19 year old.
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I have recently started attending this wednesday meeting with my better half and MOST of the people there are sensible riders. Why are we even atoning blame for these incidents without FACTS, lets have a bit of compassion for this poor lads family and a little bit of consideration for those injured. Speeding or not no one deserves to die or be maimed in a pusuit of pleasure! So all those car drivers out there who have NOT committed a driving offence etc please stand up (this includes carving up bikes, not checking your mirrors regularly and total disregard for anything not encased in a tin box!!!!!!!!!!!)
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Both myself and two other motorbike riders were first on the scene of this accident.We took control of the road situation due to the dangerous rubber knecking and total disregard for the riders strewn across the carriageway by so called sensible car drivers. Our actions averted further injury or death until the professionals arrived to take over. Yes there will always be a small minorty who flount the law but not all bikers should be blamed for their actions. Rest in peace son- God bless your family.
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What a tragic thing to happen, on two counts. Firstly, the poor relatives and parents and the boy himself who is no longer with us.
Secondly, the fact that once again, just a few idiots give the rest of the biking community a bad reputation. I have been riding bikes for 12 years, I’m female, I’m sensible, I love biking and I’m respectful to other road users. I don’t like to startle people when I pass them. I have seen an awful lot of terrible driving and I have to say most of it is from older people in cars, that doesn’t mean that I think all old people should be banned. Please don’t read this and condemn all motorcyclists.
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There seems to be a general assumption here that speed is/was the major cause for the accidents. I drive around 30,000 miles a year for work and ride between 8 and 10,000 miles. The standard of driving is appauling, you have the guy who does 50mph, and he does 50mph EVERYWHERE, never had a accident but caused havoc across the coutry, then we have have the phone using mother taking the kids to school, need I say anymore! the press have a rather biased point of view when it come to motorbikes,can anyone say for sure at this stage, that an absent car driver didnt have a role to play in any of these accidents ? We are ALL to blame the standard of training for both car drivers and bikers is abysmal, I say this as a ROSPA advanced motorcycle tutor.
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Car drivers having a go at bikers, bikers having a go at car drivers, this is stupid! I drive a car and a bike, but what about PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY? Whether you are in a car or on a bike you should always consider other road users! There is no excuse! Should it be necessary for the Police to attend on Weds nights? NO! It’s not only bikers who cross double white lines, but remember they are there for a reason and if you cross them it might not be you that comes off worse!
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as a traffic police officer, I am acutley aware that on occasion some bike riders ride like they are on a race track as do considerabley more young people in stupidly over powered cars. I would like to say that the majority of motorbike accidents that i have attended occur at lower than legal speed limits due to the stupid and somewhat myopic behaviour of car drivers pulling out on or slamming into innocent riders, the biggest complaint at scenes form the car drivers involved is “sorry I didnt see him” well in my opinion the regular scanning of rearview and wing mirrors would help reduce the carnage considerably as would a general improvement of road manners, some car drivers become outraged that a bike can filter past them and have been known to deliberately try and force the rider off, i would like to be able to charge these people with attempted murder, i do not condone idiots riding at stupid speeds beyond their capabilities but i get frustrated at the moronic overall attitude of the car driving public who seem to loathe and blame bikers for everything, Incidentally I do not ride a bike there are too many idiots on 4 wheels who make me nervous enough as it is.
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I have re-read all of these posts from the top. Firstly the article is totally factual and passes no judgement, so I do not see how this can in any way biased.
Secondly, the majority of the posts are by bikers, who almost without exception have generally attacked car drivers in their posts, whilst the few posts from car drivers either state facts about the evening or give an opinion that ‘some’ bikers drive dangerously.
Perhaps this thread does not reflect correctly the general attitude of the motoring public, as described by our contributing and highly biased so called traffic police officer, or perhaps the thread shows that bikers generally have a chip on their shoulders, and believe themselves to be being universally attacked when in fact they are not.
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I have to agree with the above comment. Before I started to learn to ride myself this year, I used to be a pillion passenger on my boyfriends bike (before he died on the road last year). And I remember occasions when car drivers deliberately pulled their car right so we could not filter past them in traffic. I remember an occasion when this almost forced us into danger. I cannot understand why someone would purposely try to put us in danger, possibly fatally, but I have seen it. Not all car drivers are like this, I’m a new car driver myself and try my best to be a safe road user. Its refreshing when car drivers are considerate and pull left to allow you room to pass and other considerate acts but those who go out of their way to put us in danger should be punished.
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@David,
the only comment of mine aimed at you was about speed cameras not catching motorcycles.
Regarding exhausts, alerts pedestrians as well other road users, I can hear you approach me, so in theory, you should hear me as I approach you.
Regarding me blaming all car drivers in my post, basically it was a demonstration as to what most the car drivers comments reflected regarding motorcyclists, tarnishing everyone with the same brush, you (non bikers) do it to us so dont complain when the coin is flipped.
Regarding overtaking to be away from danger, in 20 years I have had no accidents, I have anticipated what a car driver is going to do, usually something daft, once it is safe to get passed, I will, alot of car drivers are just too dangerous for a motorcyclist to be around, self preservation and all that, otherwise known as defensive riding.
Regarding the speed the bikers passed you at, I couldnt care, so long as they are riding within their limits, what angered me is the attitude that automatically the injured/dead bikers were to blame in the eyes of non bikers. How do you know? Are you a witness? As already demonstrated by my own previous post, assumption is not a good thing in all cases, dont tar every biker with the same brush, you have already shown that you dont like the same attitude shown towards you.
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Female biker
Just a thought on your comment about some car drivers not liking you ‘filtering past’ them in traffic.
When you need cash from a cash point and there is a queue of people waiting, do you filter past them too?
Whilst I have never tried to ‘block’ a biker, I have to admit to being somewhat irritated at the way they will drive down the outside of a line of cars waiting at a roundabout, then ‘hop in’ at the front of the queue to get across the island in a traffic break so depriving the car of that place.
As I have never seen this happen at cashpoints, I cannot understand why they feel this blatant pushing in is acceptable on the road.
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It is an advantage of being a biker, at a cash point i would not push in but it completly different to queing for a service than trying to get to a destination, but if someone did push in at the cash point you would not put them in mortal danger would you? A few choice words would suffice. Also i have seen cars “filtering” and nearly had a head on as they felt they could get to the juction to make a turn.
I both drive a car and a bike and know what the risks are for a biker and how much more aware i have become of after passing my bike test, i check my mirrors more and have better awareness. Please also bear in mind that i was an advanced motorist prior to taking up biking and still noticed a considerable difference in the “quality” of my drving.
I think this thread is very negative and as both a biker and a car driver this annoys me, there are really poor car drivers and there are really poor bike riders, however everyone assumes a bike accident is automatically associated with speed, but you could argue that all accidents on the roads are speed related?
I guess the point im trying to make is that regardless of how you feel about bikes or car drivers everyone is just as mortal each other and there should be mutual respect, not so much anger.
My thoughts are with the kids family, may he rest in peace.
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Richard
So it is different at a cashpoint because you might get lambasted for pushing in, but you feel the same ignorant and selfish behaviour is acceptable on a motorbike because the motorists do not have the opportunity to offer the ‘few choice words’ you deserve for queue jumping. It is amazing that you feel somehow it is ‘completely different queueing for a service’ to queueing for a destination.
Most reasonable people would consider a queue as such – a queue. Certainly if you can go past a queue without affecting it, the same as you would walk past a cashpoint queue if you didnt want to use it, then not a problem. But if you go past the queue only to shove in at the front and take someone else’s place, then I am amazed you see this as reasonable behaviour, and yet you see cars deliberately blocking you as unreasonable.
You may feel this thread is negative, but I think it is fascinating when such arrogant views as yours are brought out in the open for others to judge. I have never suggested that any accidents are caused by speed, in my opinion they are all caused by bad driving and human error. I would suggest that anger might play a part though, when some on the road clearly feel they have a right to push in front of others in queues because they have the ‘advantage’ of being on a vehicle which is narrower.
Some people are clearly more prone to anger than others. You might believe that pushing in at a cashpoint would not put you in mortal danger (I would not be so sure) and yet you dont do it. You are fully aware that aggravating car drivers in such a way could put you in mortal danger, and yet you do because you know the drivers cant cuss you! How bizarre.
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David
You are clearly very narrow minded as you seen to have taken my comments as a personal attack, at no point did i say that people trying to block me unreasonable, it is their perogative if they wish to do that, if someone pulls into my way and prevents me from filtering safely then i will wait until it is safe to pass.
I take it from your comments that you have never overtaken anyone at any point, filtering is only a form of overtaking. Im sure if you are behind a tractor you dont just sit there and wait in line until it it turns off? I would guess you would overtake the tractor?
Also most times when you filter you do not take the place of a car as you wait along side a car for example at traffic lights, and at roundabouts can get out safely in a gap a car could not so i do not see an issue there?? Also alot of bikers are more willing to let people in cars pull out from minor roads as they know they can filter back past laot of car drivers are to ignorant to let other like them out!!! Now thats bizarre.
You call me arrogant yet i fail to see how, i was making a point as a both a driver and a biker. Someone who only has experience at one (making an assumption here but guessing you dont bike) cannot comment on what a biker is doing is right or wrong, the police do not see what we are soing as wrong when we filter, it is people who are jealous that someone can get to there destination quicker than they can.
You say drivers cannot cuss me but clearly the few that move into my way and not out of it when im filtering are cussing me by making the dangerous and openly aggressive move.
I find your comments very single minded as all you can do is take the perspective of a car driver and refuse to think that anything other than your comments are valid.
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Richard
Not sure how you perceive that I took your comments as a personal attack, I did not. You made no comments that could be taken in that context in your first post.
Whilst I am mainly a car driver, I have also ridden extensively both a cycle and a motorbike in the past, so have experience of all of these.
You seem to see a carefully constructed and logical arguement as an example of narrow/single mindedness, it is usual to debate an issue from a single perspective, that does not mean one is incapable of recognising alternative viewpoints, however they need to be equally logical if they are to be seriously considered.
My argument was that pushing past a queue of traffic waiting to enter an island is wrong if in doing so it deprives the traffic of their ‘turn’ to get across the island. I put this quite clearly and likened it to a cashpoint queue (a reasonable and easily understandable comparison).
You now respond with an argument that pushing past queueing traffic it is no different to overtaking a tractor. If the tractor is travelling as fast as it wants to, and there is free road ahead of it, I cannot believe that any intelligent person would be unable to see that as a totally different situation.
I am sorry that you appear unable to differentiate between the two. It does however show why you are experiencing the anger you describe from motorists. They are clearly perceiving your actions in ‘filtering’ past them as rude and arrogant, if you really do want mutual respect, then I think you need to modify your behaviour. That is not narrow mindedness, it is a basic recognition of politeness.
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thats right bikers are to blame for everything(global warming included), i dont know the events that led to this tragedy, but i use a small bike to travel to work and if i had a penny for everytime ive swerved to miss an IDIOTIC BLIND fool in a CAR i would be a millionaire. CAR DRIVERS, DO YOU ALL NEED GLASSES? are are you plain THICK?
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Thankyou James – one more for the ‘mindless attack on car drivers generally by bikers with a chip on their shoulder’ column. Perhaps your fellow biker Richard would care to comment on the ‘narrow mindedness’ shown in your post.
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Or perhaps not.
Clearly narrow mindedness only applies to car drivers who have a different opinion to Richard’s.
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