4.9.1 Partnerships

There is a tremendous amount of interest in motorcycle safety around the country so it is important to combine resources to achieve effective and efficient campaigns. Any organisation contemplating a campaign should check with Road Safety GB to see what has or has not worked and identify who else regionally or nationally may be able to collaborate or advise.

Potential partners include:

• Department for Transport (DfT)
• Highways Agency (HA)
• Local safety camera or casualty reduction partnerships
• Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) via its BikeSafe scheme
• Motorcycle Industry Association (MCIA)
• British Motorcyclists’ Federation (BMF)
• Motorcycle Action Group (MAG)
• Motorcycle Industry Trainers Association (MCITA)
• The Institute of Road Safety Officers (IRSO)
• Regional groups of the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM)
• Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA)
• Insurance companies
• Transport for London (TfL)

4.9.2 Wider Outlook

Neither leisure riding nor long distance commuting is constrained by local authority boundaries and many collisions involve riders who do not live locally. Individual local campaigns often gain additional benefit from overarching activities.

4.9.3 Driver/Rider Awareness Improvement Initiatives

The RIDE course started life as the National Driver Improvement scheme and was specifically developed to address the bespoke needs of motorcyclists.  The course is an intervention for riders whose behaviour has brought them to the attention of the Police.  A rider may complete a RIDE course at his/her own cost as an alternative to prosecution but may only attend one course in 3 years.  Motorcyclists who exceed speed limits and are detected by automatic safety camera devices are only dealt with under the National Speed Awareness Courses. The RIDE scheme aims to address the behaviour of those riders whose riding could be described as anti-social, careless or thrill seeking. By inviting offenders to question their assumptions about their personal ability and competency and alerting them to the dangers of reckless, careless or anti social riding, the RIDE course strives to prevent re-offending and casualties.

Coaching motorcyclists to an advanced riding standard comprehensively improves their skills and attitudes, according to a study published by road safety charity, IAM.  In their survey, the most common reason given for taking the test was to improve one’s general standard of driving (86%) and the vast majority (78%) said it was their own idea to do so.

It is also worth remembering the Enhanced Rider Scheme which facilitates improvement training.  Riders looking for training should refer to the voluntary Register of Post-test Motorcycle Trainers (RPMT). Those on the RPMT may provide Enhanced Rider Scheme training.

“Great Roads Great Rides” was one of the first driver information programmes developed by the Highways Agency under its ‘Customers First Strategy’.

• Launched in July 2006, it featured motorcycle race team riders and was backed by the THINK! road safety campaign’s academy, the Driving Standards Agency and police motorcycle instructors. The accompanying DVD’s 14 chapters covered group riding, reading the road, the science behind the bike and what to do if you’re first to arrive at a crash scene.  By working with industry, the emergency services and road safety stakeholders across government, production costs were significantly reduced.  Over 250,000 copies of the DVD were distributed to riders at events, shows and through ’the bike press’.  In addition, BikeSafe and the Institute of Advanced Motorcyclists used sections of the DVD in their motorcycle training programmes.
• Following on from this success, “Great Roads Great Rides 2” has been produced.  With clever filming techniques, it puts the viewer on the bike, inside the helmet and close to the road.  The rider takes the viewer on a 14-minute ride-out on the motorway, urban and countryside roads and delivers on-going observations as he rides in order to help viewers identify clues from the road environment ahead.
• The DVD also offers an interactive challenge in which the ride-out section freezes at specific points to test the viewer’s ability to read the road.
• Great Roads Great Rides 1 & Great Roads Great Rides 2 are available to view online at the Guidelines for Motorcycling YouTube channel.

Diesel spills create a hazard for all road users but especially cyclists and motorcyclists. In addition, the contamination of the highway by diesel can significantly damage the carriageway and require surface replacement before their design life would normally be reached. A highly successful ‘grass roots’ campaign, started in 2003, called ‘KillSpills‘ raised awareness of the problem with Central and Local Government, riders and the freight transport industry. Through a series of high profile rider events and initiatives, the issue achieved significant attention and support from local authorities.  For example, Devon County Council’s “Spiller Killer” campaign paved the way for their wider “See it; Report it” initiative and Derbyshire County Council display ‘warning stickers’ on all its HGVs.