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Campaign aims to cut bike deaths

5:15pm Monday 4th August 2008

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A new hard-hitting campaign aimed at trying to reduce motorcycle casualties is being launched across Thames Valley.

The Safer Rider Campaign intends to reduce the number of motorcyclists killed or seriously injured in the Thames Valley every year.

The new billboards and posters around the region are just one part of the drive to reduce the number of bikers who die on the regions roads each year.

In the last three years, 715 motorcyclists have been killed or seriously injured in Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire. The Thames Valley Safer Roads Partnership is determined to raise awareness of the issues surrounding motorcycle casualties and hope to see an improvement in the coming months.

Insp Bob Jarrett, who is leading the Safer Rider Campaign for Thames Valley, said: "We have attended crashes in which nearly 100 bikers have lost their lives in the last four years and we simply cannot stand by and watch this tragic waste of life.

"Motorcyclists need to understand the risks they run when they get on the bike, and everyone should be aware of the consequences when a bike is involved in an accident because for many bikers their first crash is their last crash."

Supt Mick Doyle, head of Roads Policing for Thames Valley, said: "Motorcyclists complete just one per cent of the vehicle miles in the UK and yet they account for 205 of those killed on our roads.

"Reducing motorcycle casualties is a major challenge and one which we are determined to do everything we can to address.

"We have been successful in reducing the overall number of people killed or seriously injured in road traffic collisions, but the number of motorcycle-related casualties remains unacceptably high. The Safer Rider campaign will be at the heart of our efforts to reduce this."

The new posters depict a child, upset at the loss of their father. Dan Campsall, communications manager for the partnership explained the reasons for these particular messages: "Our research shows that 90 per cent of motorcycle fatalities are men and that many of them leave behind long-term partners and young children.

"It's not just the crash itself we are concerned about it's the many lives that are devastated by losing a loved one."

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John, oxford says...
7:47pm Mon 4 Aug 08

I'm glad something's finally being done about these mindless idiots who not only endanger their own lives but others around them. I drive a truck for a living and I am constantly seeing bikers take un necessary risks when overtaking me. Then I meet them down the road at the next set of traffic lights. How much time do they save. Not much. It's about time the police got tough with them. They only have themselves to blame if they hit a concrete wall head on.

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Chris, Oxford says...
9:12am Tue 5 Aug 08

Any motorcyclist worth his salt already knows the risks involved when they get on the machine - the problem tends to be new bikers on too powerful machines, or 'returning' bikers who haven't ridden for years - training is the solution here, not thousands wasted on adverts which will distract riders / car drivers alike.

Then again, you get plenty of idiots driving cars, who then carry that attitude over onto two wheels - and then end up getting scraped off the road.

And 'John', if we are going to tar a group of people with the same brush, can I point out that something needs to be done with idiot lorry drivers who pull out without looking, talk on their mobile while driving, hold up traffic, murder hitchikers etc etc etc

sheesh


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JS, says...
9:44am Tue 5 Aug 08

Oh yay, yet another campaign against bikers by people who've never been on a bike.
If you're serious about reducing casaulties and injuries, you need to educate car drivers and the 'John's (in the other comment), and then you need to provide either mandatory or cheap track days and/or advanced rider training.
By increasing bikers ability to control the bikes (cornering to avoid obstacles and braking to stop) and the awareness of other mototorists the accidents will drop. A few signs here and there will do no good, especially if they seem to be angled against motorcyclists and portraying biker deaths as "something voluntary" and that cars have no part in it.
Most of the times when I'm on my bike I avoid debris on the road, idiots in 2 tonne cars and HGVs that spill diesel all over the place.
Most bikers are highly motivated and interested in what they're doing; not talking on the phone, feeding the kids in the back seat, reading FT, etc.
Oh, and 'John', try riding a motorbike once and you'll see that it's not about the time saved; it's about the time spent on the bike.

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mike, Wantage says...
12:34pm Tue 5 Aug 08

John wrote:
I'm glad something's finally being done about these mindless idiots who not only endanger their own lives but others around them. I drive a truck for a living and I am constantly seeing bikers take un necessary risks when overtaking me. Then I meet them down the road at the next set of traffic lights. How much time do they save. Not much. It's about time the police got tough with them. They only have themselves to blame if they hit a concrete wall head on.
That's a bit rich coming from a "trucker", when motorcyclists crash they tend to kill themselves no one else. When truckers crash they kill other people and not themselves.
How much time do truckers save by overtaking the truck in front of them on the A34 that is going 0.0001mph slower than them? you want to look at the stats before commenting

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add, ncle says...
7:18am Wed 6 Aug 08

it would be interesting to see a breakdown of the statistics to see how many motorcyclists actually die due to their own stupidity, and how many are the victims of car drivers, truck drivers who dont look , and are often unaware of what is going on around them due to their heads been somewhere else.

Im all for the campaign to make the roads safer but dont make out the minority to be at fault because most are not, for example how often do you still see some one using a hand held phone that is illegal, and how many actually get prosecuted.

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Garry Phillips, blackburn says...
8:07am Wed 6 Aug 08

Look at the stats
Most bikers die because of the stupidity of other road users, between 60 / 70% of motorcycle deaths are caused by the " sorry mate I sisnt see you" brigade. a motorcycle licence should be mandatory before being allowed to drive a car!

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Mark S, Leicester says...
9:33am Wed 6 Aug 08

John wrote:
I'm glad something's finally being done about these mindless idiots who not only endanger their own lives but others around them. I drive a truck for a living and I am constantly seeing bikers take un necessary risks when overtaking me. Then I meet them down the road at the next set of traffic lights. How much time do they save. Not much. It's about time the police got tough with them. They only have themselves to blame if they hit a concrete wall head on.
I have to echo what the other chaps have said, christ almighty a 'trucker' with a saint complex, lets hope that i'm not overtaking a trucker that has been at the wheel far past his tacho time falling asleep with balding tyres and a loose diesel cap swerving all over the road and spilling diesel on his path.....hmmm pot and kettle spring to mind....oh well I guess all truckers should be tarred with that brush also should they 'John'? (rolls eyes and falls asleep.......)

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Hugh Jaeger, Oxford says...
8:16am Fri 8 Aug 08

Look at the stats
Most bikers die because of the stupidity of other road users, between 60/70% of motorcycle deaths are caused by the " sorry mate I sisnt see you" brigade. A motorcycle licence should be mandatory before being allowed to drive a car!


Sorry Mr Phillips: 53% of bike casualties are the fault of the biker. 45% are caused by drivers of cars or other vehicles and 2% by other causes including animals and dodgy roads. The data for deaths & serious injuries show an even higher proportion caused by the biker.

Having said that, Thames Valley's campaign is unbalanced because it puts 100% of the blame on bikers and does nothing to challenge car drivers to look properly and think bike . It is a scare campaign, it will fail, and it will just let car drivers feel smug and complacent about bike casualties.

Bike safety campaigns that succeed do so by encouraging bikers to improve their skills. Since 2005 bike casualties have fallen in Bucks, where the county council runs a very good biker course. Casualties have risen in Oxon, where the council offers nothing.

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Karen Lawrinson, says...
1:24pm Tue 12 Aug 08

Insp. Jarrett's comments concern me greatly. He seems to imply that if you ride a motorcycle, you WILL die. I've been riding for 19 years, the past 4 years as an advanced rider and Senior Observer for the IAM. The main thing I've learned is that most accidents are not accidents at all - they are incidents usually caused by inattention or poor driving, not only on the part of the rider, but more often on the part of other road users. I've been pulled-out on many times by car drivers too busy talking on their mobile phones, despite this now being illegal but, fortunately for me, my advanced training has taught me to anticipate such stupidity and take avoiding action. Motorcyclists are more vulnerable than the drivers of larger vehicles, but that doesn't make them dangerous. People should realise that motorcycles are not dangerous - people are. Education is the key, not scare tactics.

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Cass, Didcot says...
3:30pm Sun 24 Aug 08

I've just had a week's holiday out and about on the bikes with a visitor from the Scottish Borders where I used to live. Someone should compare the stats with bike deaths/accidents up there and down here. The weather's worse and the roads are far more 'technical' in Scotland but the main thing is that there are less car and lorry drivers. The car drivers in the Borders actually bother to move over a bit to let a bike pass and the drivers, are in general, more bike savvy. Most bikers, out of experience, set off thinking 'who's going to try to kill me today' and that keeps you safer, as well as constantly driver-profiling as you ride. Bikers are people too and the attitude of car drivers is daft - I've had a few car drivers overtake me in the 30's just to get ahead of a bike. Why? I'm doing 30 and because my bike's liable to be more powerful than the car, without speeding you can probably catch the car driver up, and guess what? The car speeds up again! And 'John', I suggest you try being stuck behind a lorry where no-one can see you, breathing in the fumes and being sucked in by the airstream - it makes you go faster even if you don't want to and the force of the blast as you try to overtake a lorry can really unsettle the bike. The trick with lorries is to get past them as soon as possible and make sure you're not in the blind spot - I can assure you - lorries have a habit of not seeing a bike and pulling out and then you have that horrid choice of either trying to speed up or slow down to avoid being crushed. I would imagine that 'John's' done this without realising, sadly. Also, avoid the idiot on the A43 driving so close to my back wheel that I couldn't slow down or move over. Good driving skills!

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