News : See Bus, Think Bike on Winter Nights 

Road safety initiative RideSafe BackSafe and the Highways Agency are joining forces to highlight a constant problem for all motorcyclists, through the ‘THINK BIKE’ publicity campaign.

Research shows that winter is the worst time for moped, scooter and motorcycle riders who are being involved in road traffic collisions because of ‘a failure to see’ or ‘a failure to judge speed and distance’ by other road users. Although casualty statistics are improving overall, motorcyclists still represent about 20% of all serious injuries and fatalities on the roads; even though they make up just 1% of all road traffic.

‘Threat Perception’ also seems to be a problem. When sitting at a T-junction, for example, it doesn’t take a second to decide that you will wait for a bus or heavy goods vehicle to pass, before pulling out. However, the mind’s eye sees a moped or motorcycle as less of a hazard or ‘threat’ and this can cause other road users to pull out without taking a moment to establish their relative speed and distance.

Matt Sweeting, Regional Performance Manager from the Highways Agency explains;-

“ The THINK BIKE campaign will feature in bus back advertising on key urban routes across the North West region, as well as regional radio adverts during November. We need to remind other road users of the risk that they pose to motorcyclists, simply by not noticing them or by failing to give them the time and space they need. When the weather is poor and there is less daylight, this is all the more important to avoid collisions “.

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