As I pulled up to the island to turn towards Weedon, I watched a motorcyclist ride on to the roundabout. To be honest, I couldn’t miss him (but before you get all stressed that doesn’t mean I maimed or killed him), rather, he was easy to spot given his bike was bright red, he was wearing dayglow yellow strides and…
…he was using his smartphone!
And yes, you read that right.
This chap was on the roundabout, on his bike, with his left hand on the handlebars and his right operating his mobile. Having finished whatever he was doing, he nonchalantly put the phone into his right pocket, zipped it up and then gunned his bike into the distance.
Seeing people fiddling with their gadgets whilst driving a car is still a familiar occurrence despite the prospect of a fine (not to mention the danger the distraction causes). To date though, I have never seen a motorcyclist take such a risk.
Whilst I caught this chap’s number plate FN08 Xxx (not shared in full to protect the stupid), I didn’t catch the make of his bike - though it was a serious performance machine not a twist-and-go scooter (the back tyre of the bike was about a foot wide).
My thoughts took two conflicting paths simultaneously, the first was that the number plate should have started with a ‘K‘ - because then the first four digits would have spelt KNOB, which felt appropriate.
The second was that grudging respect was due to this fella for being able to manipulate his phone without dropping it, or his bike. I know that if I tried such a thing, my phone would just end up in pieces at the roadside. Crikey, the touchscreen on my Samsung is so poor that I sometimes struggle to operate the phone whilst sat still at my desk.
So admonishment or admiration? It’s a tough call though, on balance, I am going to have to opt for the first adjective.
But, bearing in mind that my daily commute to the office takes me to the same roundabout every day, at much the same time, I am going to keep an eye out for this rider to see if he has anymore tricks up his sleeve. I might revise my score upwards.
Bye for now.
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