Road safety partnerships and the police across Yorkshire and Humber are teaming up this year to continue a road safety campaign aimed at keeping motorcyclists safe on the region’s roads.
Over recent years the partnerships have all been working hard to reduce the number of motorcyclists involved in collisions. Provisional casualty figures for 2012, show that 511 motorcyclists were killed or seriously injured, which the partnerships feel is still too high.
The region attracts motorcyclists from around the country who come to experience some of the best riding routes available. From the scenic east coast to the expansive Yorkshire moors and dales and the Peak District National Park, it provides breath-taking scenery and challenging riding conditions for those who visit.
The popularity of this area brings with it increased risk, and the region has seen a significant number of motorcyclists involved in collisions and falls year-after-year.
Widespread publicity around the consequences of irresponsible riding and driving is helping and roadside education and enforcement operations will continue to underpin this year’s campaign with the aim of reducing rider casualties and improving road-user behaviour.
This will be complimented with BikeSafe workshop sessions being run across the region along with rider information and engagement sessions throughout the summer season which can be booked at www.bikesafe.co.uk and the national BikeSafe Show which is being hosted by South Yorkshire Police, at Doncaster Racecourse, on the weekend of 8 and 9 June 2013.
The partnerships will continue to target drivers through their Someone’s Son campaign, which aims to raise awareness with drivers and asks them to look out for riders and acknowledges that the majority of crashes involve more than one vehicle.
The majority of activities encourage the biking fraternity to help themselves and ensure they do not become yet another tragic statistic. However, there is a very small number of riders who dismiss these opportunities and think that our road network provides an alternative ‘track day’, where anything goes.
David Griffin, deputy chief constable at Humberside Police, who is also police national lead for motorcycling, said: “We urge riders in our region to help by riding in a safe and legal manner. We have some great riding routes to share and would like you to ride home safely to your family each and every time.
“We will not tolerate anti-social riding, and the region’s police are working together with road safety partnerships to eradicate this problem. This small minority will be caught and may be diverted to education courses where possible. However, extreme riding is unacceptable; we will prosecute and dangerous riders will be targeted by officers from all forces across all borders. “
The partnerships hope that by working together with the police and riders, this summer will be an enjoyable and safe riding season.
