The biking season is once again upon us and Lancashire police are launching a new campaign to promote safety to motorcyclists across the county.
Motorcyclists are among the most vulnerable road users and therefore at great risk of injury. According to THINK, motorcyclists account for 19% of road deaths. This is despite them only accounting for 1% of traffic on the roads.
They are 38 times more likely to suffer fatal injury in a road traffic accident than car drivers. Furthermore, in the January to March period in 2016, there were 5,510 motorcycle casualties. This is actually a drop of 1% on the previous year but still way to high.
What the ‘Are you on the right track?’ is about
The ‘Are you on the right track?’ campaign is launching in memory of Preston rider, Ian Entwistle. He lost his life in 2015 following a collision with a slow moving car.
Due to his position on the road, he was unable to see the junction where a car was indicating right out of a left turn bend. He did not have the time to brake and as a result of the collision died from serious head and chest injuries in hospital.
Mr Entwistle was a rider with experience, which goes to show that all riders need to take care. The new campaign will be taken to popular motorcyclist meeting places across Lancashire. The hope is that they will make more riders aware of the dangers on the road.
Display for riders across the county
The Road Death Investigation team and Lancashire Road Safety Partnership are mounting Mr Entwistle’s blue and white Suzuki GSX-R 600 to display to riders. The officers intend to use it as the centrepiece for the safety advice they give.
They will also take it across to the Isle of Man for the TT race. The race route is infamous of its levels of danger. Furthermore, the race attracts around 30,000 riders per year, so it is a great place to promote the safety campaign.
Speaking in the Skelmersdale Champion, Inspector Andy Trotter says:
“Easter marks the start of the biking season. By engaging with bikers early on, we hope to educate riders on hazard awareness and rider errors that contribute towards collisions, which include wrong positioning around bends or at junctions and poorly planned overtaking.”
“Around 25% of all collisions that result in death or serious injury in Lancashire involve motorcycles and approximately 60% of all serious collisions involving motorbikes have some contributory factors relating to rider error.”
David Byrne welcomes campaign
As personal injury solicitors, we deal with motorcycle accidents. The injuries that victims suffer as a result are often extremely severe. They nearly always require extensive treatment and care and recovery periods are long.
Campaigns like these are always welcome, as Scott Rees and Co Partner, David Byrne, outlines:
“Motorcyclists are vulnerable road users, who are always at risk of severe injury in collisions. Even the smaller injuries can carry life changing consequences. What Lancashire Police are doing is a great way to help reduce the number of riders suffering serious or fatal injuries on our roads. Hopefully the riders will welcome the advice being given and we will begin to see some results over the next 12 months.”
How can we help motorcyclists who suffer injury?
We are in our 25th year of helping road traffic accident victims with their personal injury claims. Our focus is on the care and recovery of the injury victim. We can ensure they receive specialist care where the need it, as well as provide support for the victim’s family. For more information visit our motorcycle accident claims page.
Alternatively you can call us on 01695 722222 for free expert advice or follow the link to request a call back at a time convenient to you. You can also begin your claim online by visiting our ‘start your claim’ page.