Motorbike accidents at traffic lights involving “amber gamblers” and red light “chancers”

There are those who take it really steady at traffic lights, and then there are the “amber gamblers” who may tear through as the lights flick between red and green… And then there’s the “chancers” who take “amber gambling” to a whole new level by jumping red lights.

One quick glance may be enough for a driver to know that there are no other cars coming through on the lights, and so they jump them. Irrespective of the fact this is illegal, the other issue is that bikers – as always – can be harder to spot, and can be quicker on the roads.

It can depend on the traffic lights, but there are those where the time between the changes seem to be far quicker than others. There are roads that may look clear enough for a driver to just sneak through even as the light turns to red, and then there are some that seem far safer.

A quick glance by a driver can be enough to spot a fairly sizeable danger, like a car or a lorry; but is it enough to spot a biker? Possibly not!

There is also the fact that bikes can often accelerate quicker than cars. Again, this means the dangers of hitting someone as a driver if you don’t adhere to the rules of the road when it comes to traffic lights can be greater.

Whichever way you look it, you should never gamble, and you should always respect the rules of the road. As a biker, if you’re hit by a driver at a set of traffic lights because the driver failed to stop or has jumped a red (or even a questionable yellow) then you should have a claim for personal injury compensation.

At the end of the day, if the driver breaks the law, they ought to be liable.

This may seem obvious, but it’s worth pointing out this little scenario for the salient reason that the dangers at a set of traffic lights can be greater for a biker. The faster acceleration and the smaller size of the biker can mean that an “amber gambler” or a red light “chancer” is more likely to hit a biker than another car.

The message for anyone on the road when it comes to traffic lights is obvious. Follow the highways code and never gamble with safety!

Image Credit: https://pixabay.com/en/traffic-lights-city-street-1272251/