Paul,
I agree with that in principle. But (and this is only my belief, please feel free to contradict!!) that generally, if you have an accident, it was probably avoidable, even if someone else was at fault.
ie. I went over an unlit traffic island in the middle of the night. After a while and a lot of hassle, the council paid out. They were at fauilt, it should have been lit, what I pay my road and countil taxes for.
BUT!!
Had I been paying more attention (I've ridden that junction lots of times), I wouldn't have hit it/ come off. Thus it could have been avoided.
Another incident:
Guy *nearly* pulls out in front of me (you know, pulls out 2 feet, worryingly looking the OTHER way!!). I lock the front (crap on road at entry to building site) and dump the bike. Had I been going a little more sedately (I was genuinely doing about 30) I'd not have thrown it away. Avoidable.
I feel that every time I've come off, there are things I could have done to save it, whether or not I was at fault. And I accept this. I feel that very few accident involving motorcyclists can truely apply the "theres nothing I could have done" statement.
"yes there is, you could have slowed down 50 yards earlier, or looked better, or expected the drunk gy to pull out, or kept out while filtering etc"....
Do I sound unsympathertic?? When I came off on an empty roundabout on my 5th "lap" the observing tramp looked up from his can at me on the road and said
"Are you alright son?? What did you do that for?"
Never a truer word said!!
Cheers
a