Bikers - stay in control!

6 April 2009

Stay in control and die of old age – that’s the message that Derby and Derbyshire Road Safety Partnership is sending to motorcyclists at the start of this year’s leisure riding season.

Stay in control. Die of old age

Andy Adlington, the partnership's motorcycle officer, said: "We helped cut the number of bikers killed or badly hurt across Derbyshire by almost a third in 2008 – and we hope to reduce crashes even further this year.

"This year, we're doing more than ever to help riders stay in control while enjoying Derbyshire's countryside roads."

Andy added: "I'd like to stay in touch with fellow riders throughout the 2009 leisure biking season - that’s why I’ll be publishing a regular eNewsletter designed to help them get the most out of their riding time.

"Riders who subscribe to my newsletter before Friday 29 May 2009 will be entered into a prize draw for the chance to win a Tom Tom Rider V2 sat-nav worth almost £350 or one of more than 1,000 hi-vis jackets provided by the Highways Agency.

This year, the partnership has displayed warning signs along 14 countryside routes where riders are regularly coming to grief – six more than in 2008. Facts and figures about the crashes along each route are included in the latest edition of The Bikers’ Guide to Derbyshire, which is published by the partnership.

The 2009 bikers' guide is free and includes a wealth of information about how to survive Derbyshire roads along with an application form for rider development course Bike Plus. Thanks to a subsidy offered by Derbyshire County Council, bikers can usually take advantage of Bike Plus training for as little as £50 if they live in Derbyshire or £90 if they live outside the county.

Free copies of the bikers' guide are available from Call Derbyshire on 08 456 058 058 and from most motorcycle retailers in the county. 

During the leisure biking season, Derbyshire police will be making their presence felt on the country roads where bikers are regularly coming to grief. Operation Focus will be launched during Easter weekend, which traditionally marks the start of the leisure biking season, and run on selected weekends and weekday evenings until October. During the operation, the police will be using both marked and unmarked vehicles for speed detection and patrols.

At Easter, the police vehicles being used for Operation Focus will be joined on Derbyshire's countryside roads by a fleet of billboard vans emblazoned with 200 square foot safety messages.

The adverts on the vans will warn riders not to get caught out in Derbyshire by difficult roads, speed cameras and increased police patrols. Similar messages will feature in partnership print and radio adverts planned for the Easter period.