After riding home from work on my motorbike I sat down to read the article entitled “How can we cut the biker death toll” (The Argus, April 12).

I was particularly interested in the section of the report saying “There seems to be a particular problem surrounding other road users’ perception of motorcycles, particularly at junctions”.

Riding home the same day along a main road (on my 250cc “vivid green” faired motorbike with its 55-watt headlight on, dressed in a red jacket, with a dayglow yellow reflective sleeveless jacket on top of it and wearing a bright yellow crash helmet), a driver decided she could turn out of a T-junction in front of me to go along in my direction. The car lacked the acceleration to carry out the manoeuvre.

I was following a group of cars at same speed (about 40mph) leaving sufficient gap to avoid any problems.

The weather was dry, visibility excellent, the driver had the sun behind her, there was a gap in the traffic flow behind me and the bend aided her visibility because the junction was on the “outside” of the bend.

I beeped my horn and she had the presence of mind not to cross on to my side of the road, but traffic going in the other direction had to stop. Not a very pleasant experience for both of us but no harm done.

I personally think some car drivers pull out in front of bikes because, subconsciously, the driver knows they are not likely to be injured if there is an accident between a bike and a car, so they will take a risk.

The penalties imposed by the courts in the event of my death or serious injury would probably be limited to a short ban from driving, but maybe not. Until custodial sentences of significant length are handed out by the courts for bad driving, people’s habits, feelings or behaviour will probably not change.

J Holmes
Coombe Rise, Saltdean