“It’s not speed that kills, but the sudden stop,” says a rather gloomy joke bikers often use. While the truth behind these words is obvious, at the end of the day, someone lies in a grave, having left behind mourning parents, a spouse and maybe kids, friends and all. And it makes little to no difference at all what caused the death… honestly.
The video after the jump is a new part of UK’s road safety campaign, and tells the story of David Holmes, a 38-year-old rider who was killed on A47 in Norfolk, the UK. A worker for the British Arctic Survey, David was also a keen motorcyclist and owned multiple machines until his untimely demise. He was back from a 15-month mission in Antarctica and had just gotten a new bike he brought home in the back of his father’s truck.
After visiting some friend in King’s Lynn, David was riding on A47 with a reported speed of 97 mph (156 km/h) when a car crossed his way and he crashed into it, losing his life. It goes without saying that David was way too fast for the rather bust road section, especially with all the junctions and traffic. Unfortunately, his speed left no room for too much braking or swerving.
His family agreed that the footage recorded that day by David’s helmet cam could be used as part of the safety campaign, together with a small speech from his grieving mother.
She admits that David loved speed, but at the same time she’s sending out a message to both bikers and car drivers to slow down and exercise more awareness while on the road, stressing out that her son “didn’t have time to take evasive actions,” which is exactly what’s wrong with riding or driving fast. The Norfolk police warns the viewers “that this video contains content which some may find distressing, but it does not show any graphic images of the rider during or after the collision, and they are given the option to refrain from viewing.
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