a tale of woe and a harsh lesson learnt !

well, probably the vast majority of you are going to say I've got what I deserve and your probably correct !
March 1st, the first half decent day we'd had this year. Met up with a few of the lads and we were going for a quick blast. Sunday afternoon, roads quiet, camera van strategically parked. Knob head ( yours truly)at the front, gets flashed. NIP six days later informs me I was doing 84 in a 50 ! Oops !
Fast foreward to May 24th, lovely sunny day, lesson not learnt from march 1st, out with a few of the lads I was going to the TT with in a couple of weeks. Slid off on a bend up near Hawes, bike a total write off, rider (knob head) ok. Didn't make it to the TT, ferry ticket money not refunded !
Fast foreward to the 30th june, appearance in court, completely humiliated, banned from driving for 35 days and fined £375. First stop is at work where I am employed as a class 1 HGV driver ( court were'nt interested in the fact I needed my licence to work). Ultimately charged with gross misconduct at work, suspended till end of ban without pay and on final written warning for six months. Only the fact I had a spotless work and disciplinary record over the 11 years I have worked for the company allowed me to keep my job !
Harsh? what I deserved? I've certainly learned a lesson and I'll be taking a different approach to motorcycling in future. The law has been taking a very firm stance on speeding for a while now and are trying to make it as socially unacceptable as drink driving and the punishments can be quite severe as I am testiment too!
Feel free to kick a man while he's down !
Steve............

bummer mate - did you have points already? seems really harsh to ban you, though look on the bright side - at least it wasn't longer and at least you still have a job so i guess it could've been worse, especially job market being what it is.

Hi Steve

Sorry to read about all this Steve.
Ouch.....on all counts!

Glad to hear you're ok after the off and still employed though.

Seem to remember you went for a stunning KWAK after the bandit when I saw you at ToL? Was that the bike you wrote off? Are you bike-less at the moment?
You say you got flashed ... did it get you from behind (so to speak)?

I guess everyone who needs a licence for their work should take heed (self included).
I 'think' the rough rule of thumb rule is anything 30+ mph over the limit and you're likely to get a ban......although each case is dealt with on its own circumstances I guess.

Good of you to post this up mate......as you said...harsh lesson learnt.

Ross

Oh Steve,

Sorry to hear of you tale of woe. A hard learnt lesson indeed.

Still silver lining and all that. 35 days off ...... go down to airport get cheap flight to (insert sunny destination here) and have a few sangria's on the beach

0ldcat wrote:Oh Steve,

Sorry to hear of you tale of woe. A hard learnt lesson indeed.

Still silver lining and all that. 35 days off ...... go down to airport get cheap flight to (insert sunny destination here) and have a few sangria's on the beach

Now that is aound advice!

Ohhh, Steve! Ouch, ouch and ouch!

That's a brave post mate. I do hope you are OK. And if it stops one of us suffering the same. Will it be worth it?...... probably not! (from your point of view)
Dread to think what kind of ear ache you got at home. Hi Sharon!

My usual advice is stick to the speed limits until you're out on the open road and in the national limit. Might have to review that as a friend of a friend was caught at 108mph on the long straight that leads down to the cafe at Fimber, N Yorks. Booked by a police motorcyclist.
The judge will probably dice his Bollards and eat them with a nice Chianti!
Though to set up a stealth camera on a mile long straight seems a bit desperate to me?

When I heard about this I found solace in the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] After all you've got to keep a sense of humor

Hope the pain isn't too long lived and you get back on two wheels soon.

Chris

Steve

As said, a brave post and well stated as accepting only one person to blame. The main thing is you are oK after the spill and have a job to go back to. Its nice to see that folk have a fairly pragmatic view point regards the speeding issue and not just harping on about Plod. I think many know my line of work and that i also cover the Fimber area, had dealings with a Thunderace rider the other week very intersting speed, never ever taken a test and no insurance and wonder why it goes wrong, oh and second big bike I seized in two days for exactly same reason.
Last two fatals I have been to this last month both Bike fatals so whilst its not pretty, those incidents remind me why an odd court appearance is not as bad a thing as we do at least get a second chance!!

Hope all goes well and you get sorted and back mobile and thanks for sharing a timely reminder and doing so in such a positive way.
cheers

trafman alais Martin

Steve....I'm interested to find out about the 'strategically placed' camera van.

Did you have a sporting chance?.......or was your 80+ after you'd spotted them and scrubbed off some speed?.....no comment accepted.
Did the '50' used to be a '60' and has only changed for financial reasons?

Are there still plans to make nat speed limit 50mph everywhere (anyone????) :(

Trafman......don't envy your job. While I like driving fast company cars I don't think I could handle certain (the fatals) parts of the job.
Here's hoping you or your colleagues never need to write to us or turn up on our doors on official business

Cheers
Rosco

thanx for the replies everyone. Just to clear up a few points.
I had 3 points on my licence prior to these events for using my mobile phone whilst driving the car. I was'nt given any penalty points it was a straight ban at the discretion of the magistrate. As Ross said anything over 30 mph above the speed limit and you've got a big problem. I've got my licence back ( obviously still can't drive until end of ban) and the ban is recorded on the paper part of the licence. Nothing is recorded in the points area of the licence. I will be informing my insurance company, so I'm sure my policy will be affected.
Yes Ross it was the Kawasaki Z1000 that I wrote off. Fortunately I was fully comprehensive and the insurance company were brilliant I have to say. I've bought a 1200 Bandit but have'nt really had much time to ride it and it won't be moving out of my garage for a few weeks!The camera van was on a road that until recently was national speed limit and like many of our favourite routes has been lowered to a 50. As was pointed out to me at work though, I would still have been well over the limit. The camera caught me from behind and I have the lovely pictures as a momento! I saw the van at the last moment, I possibly managed to slow down a little before the picture was taken but I couldn't put an estimate on it.
Yes, could well be taking your advice Tel and getting away from it all, a chance to see all the Ashes as well. Got to stay positive.
your right Chris I've put Sharon through the mill, not for the first time. She's tough though and sticks by me for some reason!
Thanks very much for your post Trafman.
I'm not going to start saying I'm some sort of reformed character or that I've seen the light, I don't b---s--t. I've got plenty of time to think about things and maybe some further motorcycle training or an advanced course would be a sensible thing to do when my ban is over. Just be a bit more sensible would be a start ! Its not suprising to me how much I miss getting on the bike but not being able to ferry the kids about or nip to the shops is something taken for granted. I'm even missing working. At first I thought the magistrate was out of order for banning me but in hindsight she probably got it right.
Anyway enjoy yourselves and thanks once again for the replies,
Steve...........

Bloody hell Steve what a bummer

Quite good of the company to keep you'r job for you , could easaly told you to bu@@er off

Best of luck when you'r back on the road

Davie

i think thats quite harsh, maybe a larger fine and no ban would have been fairer?.. if you had been some sort of minor celebrity you would probably have got away with it


.................Sam

Sorry to hear this Steve,
just goes with bikers are BAD image etc,,i am glad that your employer was helpful in these times,and that you have something out of it on the good side,,wouldnt expect a reformed person like yourself would to go completely bonkers when you get back but you have luckily survived the prang intact (bike is always replaceable ) he said,am glad you are ok and hopefully we will both meet up again on bikes at some point

keep your chin up mate

pete