Bloody Diesel

[philpheasant]

So, on tuesday I dug my road bike out of winter hibernation, and fitted my new pedals. Left work 10 mins before the girlfriend in an attempt to get to hers before she did in her car (I live where I work and it's about 8 miles door to door). She overtook me as we entered the vilage, then slowed for the 90deg bend, I slowed tipped the bike into the bend and on the exit the tyres let go depositing me onto my rh side on the road.

Once i'd picked myself up and got to my girlfriends I surveryed the damage. Longs, jacket and bar tape ruined, elbow and hip scuffed and bruised, new shoes and pedals scuffed, and a sore wrist :cry: On walking back to the corner there was a 'greasey/oily patch about 6"wide and 18" long around the area I came off.

24 hours later after visiting A&E, my wrist is now in a temporary cast til a specialist appointment on monday!

Don't you just wish that anyone who spilt diesel or similar on the road could be dragged down the road for a hundred yards or so!

 

[feetabix]

at least you are still here to talk of it.....diesel is frighteningly slippery on a cold winter morning....good luck with the recovery!...

 

[highlandsflyer]

It is a nightmare, even in the car I slow down to a crawl on one or two corners when it has been very cold or raining.

Fettling a couple of motorbikes the now, and I have been amazed at how much oil there is on the roads now, it seems to get worse every year. Lots more diesels on the road I guess.

One or two of the roundabouts I use regularly are a ridiculous proposition in the wet or cold. The main culprits seem to be buses.

That is something that should be addressed, and prosecutions should be forthcoming.

 

[Easy_Rider]

How does diesel end up on the road like that?

 

[poweredbypies]

How does diesel end up on the road like that?

Leaky vans/lorrys, over filled tanks. Its bloody dangerous stuff. I have a couple of roundabouts near us that are like ice rinks because of the stuff scary if you dont know its there but can be fun if you do Well fun in a car its never fun on 2 wheels pedal or motor.

 

[highlandsflyer]

Unburned fuel coming out the ass end as well.

The oil forms a wax like surface on the road in the cold. This is causing mayhem and serious accidents every day now.

I was behind a cyclist going into what I know to be a very greasy roundabout earlier today, I was nervous for him as I watched his skinny tyres on that ice rink, and that was in the dry and relative warm.

My last two offs on the motorbikes have been diesel on a roundabout and the same on top of a road marking. Lethal, though luckily not in my case.

 

[feetabix]

the only way i ever enjoyed greasy roundabouts!.... :roll:

 

[Neil]

Isn't the problem, though, that people probably will have no idea if their car / vehicle has leaked any?

Sometimes, cars filled full (not necessarily over-filled) have vents or overflows that release fuel either on corners, or if the car leans a bit. The owner may well (and probably is blissfully unaware).

And for unburnt (or not fully burnt) diesel out of exhausts, well if it's normal road going vehicles, then MOTs and inspections should mean that emissions are reasonable.

Are all diesel engined farm vehicles subject to emissions testing?

I suspect it's a problem that's quite tricky to resolve.

 

[hamster]

Certain car models also have problems with fuel filling, resulting in the fuel foaming in the filler neck and spraying all over you. My 1993 Cavalier Diesel was a horror for it. Fuel then drips down the side and falls onto the road.

 

[Iwasgoodonce]

There must be very few people left in this country who has the financial clout to fill the average tank these days, let alone overfill it!