Diverting a 125cc rider, on a CBT, onto the M25! What would you do in this situation?

[@Daysdayout]

An important point to make! I was using a navigation App called 'Waze' and I had "Avoid Motorway" ticked. If you look at the app before I pull off you will see that even Waze didn't have the diversion showing. I am guessing they had just closed it, and they had figured diverting everything onto the M25 will be fine. It wasn't!

[@Ethan75777]

i have been riding for about 3 years on cbt and still i wouldn't know what to do in that situation so all i can say is good on you for filming and getting legal advise, beter safe then sorry

[@Daysdayout]

I doubt it will ever happen to you, but it is worth thinking about what you would do. I think that if I had pre-warning the road ahead was closed and diverting onto the M25 I would have stopped in a layby or safe place and figured out what to do. Giving me a few seconds at a traffic light to decide was not fun :)

[@pobman2011]

30 years ago I was on a roundabout going straight on and was cut off by a car which forced me left on to a motorway on my 50cc moped!!!. There was no exit for 10 miles. That was the longest 10 miles of my life. I rode on the hard shoulder wondering how I got into this position.

[@Daysdayout]

Yeah, that would be much more scary ☺️

[@SwenglishSteve650]

Hi just found your channel & subbed enjoyed the post & have fond memories of my AR 125 adventures from back in 1984, I ride a 650 now on my channel, That was such a thrown together idea to just blanket force everyone onto a motorway, there was literally nowhere else to go & impossible to turn around, you had no choice but to join it otherwise you'd of put yourself & others in a bad situation, my only thought was they believed they were covered by the speed limit..strange situation indeed, Cheers & ride safe

[@Daysdayout]

I've just subbed back :-) I know your winters are whiter than ours, but I can't stop riding mine. The thought of putting it away for the winter would sadden me too much :)

[@SwenglishSteve650]

@Daysdayout Thanks for the sub it's really appreciated, & yeah it suks, but without a garage she's just gonna rot on the street, I've done years of winter riding & sliding way back, so know what I'm missing haha, im good with it , Cheers

[@jacobbarr7619]

I did it by accident before so technically my fault but safety comes before everything else so stay calm keep with flow of traffic come off at next junction. The alternative is you stop on the slip road and cause a pile up. If they try and be funny with you I’ll get them to put in writing if I make an error such and such says to immediately stop on the slip road

[@Daysdayout]

Keep calm, but swear a lot was my way of handling it :-)

[@lilynorthover8378]

It's a little hard to see where the roads go, and I'm really not having a go at you, but I know that a blue sign meand motorway and a road number in brackets means ' leads to'. So, I would know that it was onto the motorway and that would lead to the A road. I think, if it was possible, I would have done a u turn using the grass if necessary. Through the cones, straight on until I could cross the grass and go back the other way. Then find a new way. Of course, this is easy for me to say, sitting at home. I also love going through cones, perks of a bike.😂

[@Daysdayout]

I wish I had had more time to figure out what to do. I had no idea I was about to be diverted until I hit those traffic lights. I had just a few seconds to decide what I was going to do, with traffic quickly queueing behind me. Thankfully I hit record because I knew I may need it in the future.

[@lilynorthover8378]

You did the best you could and nobody got hurt ​@@Daysdayout😊

[@rickconstant6106]

I remember driving along the A25 there in 1976, when I was learning to drive a car, on the way to Gatwick. The M25 wasn't complete then, just sections not fully joined up. When I got to that point, where the M25 started, I turned down there, thinking nothing of it, as I'd had a full bike licence for 2 years and was used to riding on motorways. Suddenly it dawned on me I wasn't allowed on the motorway, and I had to pull over on the hard shoulder to change drivers, before we hit the main carriageway. Seems like bad planning by the traffic management team there not to have set up a "non-motorway traffic" diversion in advance.

[@Daysdayout]

I agree, it was a failure to plan for non-motorway traffic.

[@IndigoJo]

I'd have said pull the bike over to the side of the road and re-route. I agree it's bizarre to divert traffic off an A-road onto a motorway without warning; clearly this wasn't well thought-out. I would have turned back, then turned right at the next junction, onto the B2211 (Chevening Road) which runs up to Orpington (via the A224) and also gives you an opportunity to divert back onto the A21 or A25 (via the old A21 through Dunton Green and Sevenoaks). The warning should have been given at Sundridge. I guess planners assume learner drivers refers to learner car drivers, who are always supervised when driving, and forget about motorcycle learners who do ride solo. The relevant authority may be Kent County Council (which maintains the A25) or National Highways (which may be responsible for that bridge over the A21). 4:52 The 50mph speed limit on that stretch of the M25 has been in place for months; they are installing new refuge lay-bys for broken down vehicles. It wasn't put in to make that diversion legal.

[@Daysdayout]

@@IndigoJo unfortunately there was nowhere to reroute, I could only go left onto the M25 😒

[@lawterian]

Yeah unfortunately the council/highway authorities do not care for CBTs as it's rider responsibility to call for recovery services in that case, even with diversions, you cannot use M25 on CBT. However you can file a complaint for poorly managed closure and lack of signage if there were no "A21 Closed Ahead" when there were prior exits available.

[@lawterian]

Having said all that though, it's very unlikely any enforcement would be taken on CBT motorcycles or even farming equipment that were forced to use the exit.

[@Daysdayout]

I think I needed more time than a traffic light change to figure out what to do. I reasoned that stopping on the hard shoulder was more dangerous than getting off on the next available exit. And no, there was no warning it was about to happen. I also think it had just closed because Waze was still saying go that way, and I had 'avoid motorway' ticked.

[@richardbarton2709]

So long as you did not get a fine for it all is well and good you had no choice.

[@Daysdayout]

Nothing through the post! Thank goodness I had a cam to show the position I was forced into.

[@TheChewieboy]

I've took my Honda s-wing 125 & my Lexmoto Arizona 125 on the M4 when I was a learner "accidentally 😉" / stay calm & leave the motorway as soon as possible by finding the nearest exit - I've got my full motorbike licence & now can legally go on the motorways 👍

[@Daysdayout]

That's what I ended up doing. I still don't believe I could have done that any differently.

[@RokyRode]

Did you just rev bomb my office? 😂😂😂

[@Daysdayout]

@@RokyRode maybe 😎

[@RokyRode]

😂😂😂​@@Daysdayout

[@FattyOn2Wheels]

Simlar happened to me Crash at Chesterlee street roundabout blocked the road and i had no choice and it was more dangerous pushing the bike down the slip road so i kept on till the next exist

[@Daysdayout]

I agree with you. I weighed up how much more dangerous the other options were and went for the least most dangerous option, which was getting on and then off as quickly as possible.

[@motorcyclerepairtorbay]

Tbf you had no choice.. we will have to feature your bike on our channel

[@Daysdayout]

We should collab on something :)

[@christianweller4288]

Any road closure that results in restrictions or diversions is supposed to be considered from the point of view of every type of road user from pedestrian to articulated lorry. Plans, maps and signage proposals are submitted to the relevant authority and the police… so that would explain the 50mph speed restriction as probably the only means to achieve the closure. For the extent of the diversion the motorway was downgraded (to a 50mph dual carriage way). There should have been necessary signage to make this clear. Sounds like somebody forgot that motorcycles exist. Good job you were not on a bicycle.

[@Daysdayout]

Someone else has commented that the 50mph limit has been there for months, but I guess they could say 'well, it was already there so we used it'. To have no warning was really bad!

[@christianweller4288]

@@Daysdayout On the positive side….. you got to rip down a motorway before taking your test. 👍

[@PUTTHEWORLDTORIGHT]

When you are learning to drive whether its a car or motorbike, they say you should plan your route, so if you route planned, you wouldve known it was closed. The only thing I believe they could say to you.

[@IndigoJo]

If he started his journey in Devon, the closure probably hadn't been put in when he started. However, Google Maps has a traffic 'layer' which will also tell you about closures, and it's good to pull over and check every so often, especially if you're riding into the evening which is when closures are made.

[@Daysdayout]

@@PUTTHEWORLDTORIGHT I had planned it and I using Waze for the navigation as I was a long way from home. but even Waze wasn’t showing a road closure. To be fair, it looked like they had only just closed it.

[@Daysdayout]

@@IndigoJo I was using Waze but I think the closure had only just happened as Waze didn’t know about either.

[@bigbadbikerbaz]

what would of happened if you were on a bicycle !!! lol

[@Daysdayout]

Good question!