Motorcycling - Mud on the road
Mud on Clenchwarton Road approaching the Pullover roundabout.
Riding at any time of the year is not without danger but winter can be especially hazardous. Some hazards are there all the time while others like to try and catch you off guard. Low sun, micro climates, the on-coming headlight in need of re-adjustment and mud glorious mud. I had two of these combine recently to create one of those moments all motorcyclists fear. Your heart stops and you desperately try to fight the signals from the brain telling you to brace. When things go wrong on two wheels the one thing you need to do is relax and anyone who’s experienced it will know how hard that is.
Riding with a friend out of Gayton towards East Winch we rounded a bend into the glare of a low winter sun. Just after the bend the road was covered from verge to verge with thick mud. The combination of glare and dark mud against a dark road surface meant little warning and we were now passengers on a very bad ride, touch the brakes and you would lock a wheel, try to turn and you would slide off. The mud had come from lorries loaded with sugar beet leaving a field, the level of which would have posed a danger to any road user two or four wheels. I don’t expect the operation to happen without getting mud on the road, it’s just not possible but I do at least expect a simple warning sign. The lack of which shows a complete disregard for every person using that road. The situation had nothing to do with speed, we rounded the bend able to stop within the distance we could see to be clear it was more the danger lurking in the shadow created by a low sun. A danger that we could have and should of been made aware by law. Depositing mud on the road is an offence under the Highways Act. legal responsibility lies with the farmer to ensure that every precaution is taken to avoid mud being carried off the field and warning signs are used. I would rather have a simple clear warning sign than the legal high ground in a damages/injury claim or worse.
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Weather for King's Lynn
Friday 24 May 2013
Today
Light showers
Temperature: 5 C to 10 C
Wind Speed: 23 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 6 C to 13 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: North
