Saturday, November 6, 2010

Born Again Bikers Blamed For Dramatic Rise In Motorbike Accidents

By Katie Clayton

In the last decade there has been a notable rise in motorcycle accidents, and police are suggesting that men in their 30s and 40s are largely at fault. Born-again bikers are taking to the roads in their droves as motorcycles make a comeback in the style stakes.

Perhaps the cause of the resurfacing love affair for motorcycles is the recent trend in 1970s television and film remakes, in which bikers featured prominently. Mad Max and Starsky and Hutch showed scenes of bike races and dangerous driving, and more recently BBC cop drama Life on Mars featured bad guys escaping at high speed on motorbikes.

Steve McQueen and Evel Knievel were the idols of the 70s. With a bit of cash in their pockets older men can now fulfil their dreams and purchase a powerful and speedy motorbike, however, these are more difficult to control than motorbikes back in the day.

Born-again bikers are being urged to slow down and be more cautious in their driving in a 10 year road safety strategy by traffic police. With around 31 million, there are more cars than ever before on Britain's roads, meaning increased driving hazards for motorcyclists.

20% of Britain's road death casualties are motorcyclists, despite their accounting for just 1% of road users. The peak of this iceberg is 30 to 50 year old men, who leave behind young children and families who are dependent on them.

The biggest danger to motorcyclists is not speed but collisions with other vehicles, which can sometimes occur at low speeds but cause devastating injuries due to the lack of protection provided by a bike. 60% of accidents occur at junctions when cars pull out on bikes or whilst overtaking manoeuvres. The campaign aims to cut the death toll and improve the safety of Britain's roads significantly by 2020.

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