Police motorbike campaign makes a wheel difference
FOLLOWING a campaign to highlight motorcycle safety, bringing in dedicated police motorcyclists and social media, Police Scotland are reporting a reduction in the number of collisions involving motorcycles.
At the end of April, Highland and Islands Divisional Road Policing Inspector Neil Lumsden held a 'Facebook chat' evening on the subject of motorcycle safety.
The chat was viewed by over 12,000 Facebook users and proved to be "very useful" in terms of engaging directly with many road users, providing advice and listening to concerns the public have, all of which will be considering when looking at how Police can keep people safe on the roads in the Highlands and Islands.
Following the chat dedicated Police motorcyclists were deployed throughout May with the specific aim of stopping and engaging with as many motorcyclists as possible in an effort to reduce motorcycle collisions.
Inspector Lumsden said "We know from analysis of previous year's motorcycle collisions that we deal with an average of 39 a year and most happen during the month of May. Our analysis also allowed us to see where and when collisions were happening, which ensured that we were in the right place at the right time to keep people safe and have an impact on casualty reduction.
"During May dedicated Police motorcyclists stopped and spoke to over 500 riders and provided them with advice, safety tips and leaflets. The feedback we have received from this approach has been fantastic and lots of positive comments have been made. Whilst I am delighted to see that there has been a 60% reduction in motorcycle collisions compared to May last year, I am not complacent. One crash is one too many and we will continue to raise awareness of the vulnerability of this group of road users, both to motorcyclists and to other road users."
More information on: www.scotland.police.uk, www.dontriskit.info and www.aroundthecorner.org.uk
