Scheme to improve biker safety

You never stop learning – which is why a new police-backed plan is encouraging bikers to improve their road safety with some additional training. Here’s the lowdown.

The scheme is part of a new ‘Vulnerable Road Users Operation’ instigated by the National Police Chiefs’ Council – following the release of a batch of figures which show a disproportionate number of bikers are killed or seriously injured on the road.

To help keep bikers safer, the plan outlines a range of measures, including raising awareness, promoting extra training and providing tips for safer riding.

It details the importance of extra ‘THINK BIKE’ signs on roads popular with riders, highlights the availability of free online BikeSafe training, BikeSafe courses where riders are observed by police riders, and the three-hour Biker Down courses aims to equip riders with the knowledge to act if they were first on the scene of an accident. There’s also a mention of post-test motorcycle training from IAM, RoSPA and the DVSA Enhanced Rider Scheme.

It also suggests raising awareness of the Government-backed Ridefree online training course, engaging with young riders at student events, and offers a range of tips for improving rider safety.

Speaking about the news, Sergeant Shaun Bridle, Regional BikeSafe Coordinator for the Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership, said: “Whilst motorcycles make up approximately 3% of all traffic, in Warwickshire from 2018-2021, almost a quarter (22.88%) of people killed or seriously injured on our roads were bikers. This is really disproportionate to the number of motorcycles on the roads, and we are looking at everything we can do to help bring these numbers down.”

It’s an admirable endeavour – and we have to applaud any organisation which makes effort to support bikers and make them safer. Top work.