5:15pm Monday 4th August 2008
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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