Skip to main content

Improving safety for motorcyclists in the UK

A new safety campaign in the UK is commencing that is focussing on car drivers. These drivers are being urged to visualise the motorcycle rider and take more care at junctions. This campaign has been timed to coincide with the anticipated increase in the numbers of motorcyclists returning to the roads during the second quarter of 2013. This campaign encourages drivers to take longer to look for motorcyclists and think about the biker, not just the bike. Road Safety Minister Stephen Hammond said, “Motorcycli
March 14, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
A new safety campaign in the UK is commencing that is focussing on car drivers. These drivers are being urged to visualise the motorcycle rider and take more care at junctions. This campaign has been timed to coincide with the anticipated increase in the numbers of motorcyclists returning to the roads during the second quarter of 2013. This campaign encourages drivers to take longer to look for motorcyclists and think about the biker, not just the bike. Road Safety Minister Stephen Hammond said, “Motorcyclists account for just 1% of traffic but 19% of deaths on Britain’s roads and 30 bikers are killed or injured in accidents at junctions every day.”

Accident statistics show that motorists pulling out in front of motorcyclists are a major cause of deaths and injuries. Wider research shows that drivers are more likely to notice motorcyclists on the roads if they know a biker themselves. In 2011, 5,609 motorcyclists were killed or seriously injured with 74% of these occurring in accidents involving another vehicle, and 69% of these casualties happened at junctions. The number of accidents increases significantly during March and April as improved weather encourages more motorcyclists onto the road.

Related Content

  • UK traffic offence convictions increase
    May 10, 2018
    Official UK Government figures reveal that convictions for traffic offences in England and Wales have been steadily increasing since 2013. Of concern is that there has been a 52% increase in convictions for dangerous driving in that period. There were guilty verdicts for 1.2 million traffic offences in 2006, according to an analysis of the data by IAM RoadSmart. The number of guilty verdicts for traffic offences then declined for seven years until 2014 when the total number of offences started rising again
  • The Highways Agency aims to address workzone crashes
    April 10, 2013
    The UK’s Highways Agency is telling drivers to take extra care and to stick speed limits at roadworks, to prevent deaths and injuries among both road users and road workers. Eight road workers have been killed in the last three years while improving and maintaining the strategic road network in England. In addition there are many near misses, with members of the public driving through coned off areas or colliding with works vehicles. The UK Government is investing additional funding in road improvements acr
  • Digital cameras and VMS improve London and Scottish road safety
    March 18, 2016
    London and Scotland are using VMS and digital cameras to successfully lower road deaths. Road safety measures such as variable message signs (VMS) and digital cameras have boosted road safety in the UK capital London and also in the Scottish Highlands. And the systems need not be a drain on electricity supplies. Full matrix driver information signs from SWARCO Traffic, one of the UK’s leading traffic management technology providers, are being installed for the first time across the Transport for London (TfL
  • Jamaica’s road safety improvement
    December 4, 2017
    Jamaica is seeing an improvement in road safety, with a reduction in casualty levels. So far in 2017, overall road deaths have been 49 less than in the same period during 2016. The road death toll at the end of 2017 is hoped to be significantly lower than in 2016, itself an improvement over the previous year. During 2016 there were 379 road deaths in Jamaica, compared with 382 in 2015.