Flash, bang what a picture.

Well, apparently, that's it for speed cameras in Oxfordshire.

Wouldn’t it be lovely if road safety was as simple as some people believe? Lots of nice ‘facts’. A clear, easy solution to save lives. Even better if we could enforce that solution automatically by machine.

Living dangerously?

Why does motorcycling have such a bad reputation for safety? One in four people associate it with the word “danger”. Geordie comedian and keen biker Ross Noble sums up a typical attitude;

“People go: Oh motorbikes, you're going to kill yourself on that. And that's a bit like going up to a chef and saying: Hmm, gas ovens. A lot of people kill themselves with gas ovens. You'd go. Yeah but loads of people don't. Loads of people make a nice dinner and shut the f**k up."

Statistically people are more vulnerable sitting on a motorcycle than sitting in a car; figures from the Department for Transport show that motorcyclists are 57 times more likely to be injured in serious crashes than car drivers. On average 500 riders are killed every year on Britain's roads, accounting for 20% of all road user deaths, and a further 5,500 are seriously injured.

However, to put those figures in perspective, there are 1.6 million motorcyclists on Britain's roads, so it's fair to say that 1,594,000 motorcyclists were neither killed nor seriously injured last year. Better still, the overall casualty rate for motorcycles has fallen over the past decade and is currently around 18% lower than it was ten years ago.

While motorcyclists are more vulnerable to injury than car drivers/passengers, that doesn't mean it is 'dangerous' to ride a motorcycle per se.

"Kill your speed"

After 'danger' the word most commonly associated with motorcycling by the public is 'speed'. Politicians, in particular, often respond to serious road accidents by imposing tougher speed limits – hence many A-roads now have a maximum limit of 50mph, reduced from 60mph. While this is a swift and cheap fix, it won't necessarily make any difference. Exceeding the speed limit was a contributory factor in just 5% of bike accidents in the UK in 2008. In fact the two most common factors contributing to motorcycle accidents in 2008 were failure to look properly and loss of control, which accounted for 30% of all incidents. Or to put it another way, riders are three times more likely to crash as a result of poor observation than by riding ‘too fast’.

Andy Ibbott of the California Superbike School is highly experienced in teaching motorcyclists to stay in control; “Over the years it has become clear that all riders, on all kinds of machines, can ride the straights really well. Most of the corners they carve tend to present a problem of some description of other”. Accident investigators confirm that the majority of riders who lose control on a corner (left hand bends are the worst) are travelling within the speed limit. Slower does not necessarily mean safer.

Responsible adults?

Interestingly, 46% of motorcycles are owned by people aged between 35 and 49, significantly older than the most accident-prone group of drivers, who are aged 17-24. In 2008 reckless riding was a factor in less than 10% of accidents and motorcyclists are half as likely to fail a breathalyser test as other road users.

So if motorcyclists are responsible adults who aren't riding recklessly beyond the speed limit, why are they so over-represented in the accident statistics?

Junctions. The most dangerous places for motorcyclists. During 2008 51% of serious injuries to riders occurred in collisions at junctions. It's easy to blame inattentive motorists, the SMIDSY (Sorry Mate I Didn't See You) but it's more complex than that. Sometimes vision can be obscured by traffic, road furniture or vegitation; the road position of the bike can make it hard to spot; filtering in congested traffic creates all sorts of issues.

Halving the number of collisions at junctions could reduce motorcycle casualties by 25% which would mean approximately 125 less deaths every year. That's a big difference.

But how can this be achieved? One option is a concerted campaign that is backed by the government, road safety professionals and pressure groups, motoring organisations (AA + RAC), motorcycle media and rider groups, alerting the public to the dangers of collisions at junctions and simple tactics for avouding these. Could the solution really be that simple? There's only one way to find out ....

From an article originally published in Used Bike Guide

Information design agency creates straight-talking road safety ads

Information design agency Freeman Christie (FC) has worked with Oxfordshire County Council’s road safety team to develop a series of ads specifically targeted at motorcyclists. The ads will be seen in town centres and at bike shows around the county in the coming year.
Agency principal Mark McArthur-Christie said “As most of us are riders (R1100GS, Ural Dalesman and CBR600) this was a dream project. And because the Council is promoting a proactive training message, we were delighted to get involved. We wanted to avoid all the usual road safety cliches and, instead, come up with ads that will get riders interested. There’s no point in preaching at people or throwing gory images at them, you need to get the message over with a bit of wit and raise a wry smile. When people ‘get’ the joke, they get the message too.”
Sarah Gniadek-Pitt, Road Safety Officer with OCC, said “We’d not worked with FC before, but we wanted to have people writing and designing the ads who understood riders. We spent a lot of time briefing the team on what causes motorcycle crashes in Oxfordshire and they’ve developed the ads from there. We’re really pleased with what they’ve come up with.”
The ads are based around a series of messages promoting training and safe cornering

Where's all our parking gone?

Motorcyclists in Oxford have been left circling the City looking for a space after the County Council suspended vital bike bays on Broad Street without letting them know about the alternatives.
Parking bay suspended with just five days’ notice; the bay was suspended on 6th September to provide a bus set-down point for gas main maintenance in Magdalen Street East. It remains suspended until 23rd September. The County Council gave only five day’s notice and has not told riders about alternative motorcycle parking.
Motorcyclists left in the dark; Mark McArthur-Christie, a motorcyclist with the Oxford Area Group of Advanced Motorists said, “The motorcycle bay in Broad Street is the largest in Oxford. We accept the need for its suspension, but it has suddenly deprived us of more than a quarter of central Oxford’s dedicated bike parking and left riders not knowing where to park. It took us a special request to find out that riders can park in every carpark in Oxford except Westgate and Gloucester Green free and without a permit. The Council doesn’t currently publicise this. We think they should.”
“Because they simply don’t know about this, motorcyclists are at risk of parking fines as they struggle to find somewhere legal to park. At least one rider has received a parking ticket for using the suspended bay in Broad Street. In the circumstances this is a bit harsh and his fine should be waived.”
Motorcycle parking already inadequate; Dan Sager, whose PR agency represents many of the UK ’s motorcycle and scooter companies, added, “ Oxford is acutely short of motorcycle parking and parking information. Most of Oxford’s dedicated bays are hard to find unless you know the city very well, and some are far too small. The County Council provides no direction signs to motorcycle parking, and its website gives no information at all about where motorcyclists can park.”
“Motorcycles are part of Oxfordshire’s Local Transport Plan. It’s a real shame that some motorcyclists avoid Oxford because they simply don’t know where they can park legally. We don’t ask for much, but we’d really welcome County Council just telling us what’s going on and publicising the parking that IS there.”

Scooter Security Survey

Government statistics show that mopeds and scooters are at much higher risk of theft than large capacity motorcycles. Acumen, the UK's only independent manufacturer of electronic security for 2-wheelers, is asking scooter riders to help develop new anti-theft devices by taking a couple of minutes to answer some quick questions. You won't need to give any contact details so you won't receive any junk mail as a result of participating, but you might just help to reduce scooter theft!

Click Here to take survey

Get thee behind me

Amidst all of the fuss in the media over the motorcyclist who was jailed for riding at 122mph with his 14-year old son riding pillion there has been much talk with scant regard for the facts. On BBC Radio 2’s flagship Jeremy Vine programme on Monday 2nd March listeners were invited to discuss whether children should be allowed to ride on the back of motorcycles. The fact that the 14-year old in question had emerged unscathed seemed to have eluded many contributors.

So just how dangerous is it for children to ride pillion? FACT. Children under 16 accounted for less than one percent of motorcycle KSI [killed or seriously injured] casualties in 2007. The overall road traffic picture is similar; 1.5% of all children killed or seriously injured on our roads in the same year were riding motorcycles (DfT). To put that in context, child pedestrians were 67% of the total child KSI victims on UK roads.

According the mortality statistics, which make depressing reading, especially where children are concerned, pedestrians constituted 46% of road fatalities, followed by car occupants (30%) and cyclists (11%). Fewer children died riding motorcycles in 2005 than on watercraft and riding on agricultural machinery (DH4 No.30).

Government encourages us to walk and cycle and school children are rewarded for using healthy transport. However, parents should be far more concerned about the dangers their children face crossing the road or riding their bicycles than about the occasional trip on the back of a motorcycle.

Right van man launches but motorcycle industry fails to get on its bike

The Motorcycle Industry Association (MCI) states on its website that one of it three aims is "developing a position of strength derived from consumer and government demands for reduced emissions, congestion and costs". However, search their website and you'll find precious little information about the environment. This is a serious omission because (a) the industry claims environmental benefits for bikes and (b) anti-motorcycle groups (like the London Cycling Campaign and some local councils) attack motorcycling as damaging to the environment. Which is precisely why TWB published "How green s my machine" in December 2008.

The automotive industry has graped the significance of green credentials. On 26 February the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) launched a new guide - Right Van Man - which aims to give individual van buyers and drivers top tips on van choice and use to help cut running costs and CO2 emissions from light commercial vehicles. This is claimed to be the first stage in increasing public awareness on the issues that affect van CO2 emissions. Produced jointly with the Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) and the Department for Transport, Environment this campaign is effectively endorsed by the Government. That's a result.

The motorcycle industry (as represented by the MCI) needs to act quickly to demonstrate its green credentials otherwise the only green motorcycles will be the lime green Kawasaki racing machines!