Motorcycle Safety Seminar
As the number of licensed motorcycle bikes in Scotland and the Highlands increases year by year, so does the number of accidents involving motorcyclists. Reducing casualties is the key concern of a motorcycling safety seminar to be held on Monday 24 April at Highland Council Headquarters in Inverness.
Northern Constabulary and The Highland Council have jointly organised the day-long seminar to highlight the extent of the problem and to look at practical ways on how, by working in partnership, they can reduce the statistics.
Delegates will hear presentations on a variety of road safety issues, including education, engineering, partnership working and other issues relating to safety and examining changes to the Motorcycle Test in 2008.
There will also be information about schemes already in place across the Highlands and Islands, such as Bike Safe and Bike Aid.
In Scotland, a total of 986 motorcyclists were injured in road accidents in 2004. This represents 5% of all casualties. Of these, 348 were seriously injured and 41 died. Three fifths of those killed or seriously injured occurred on non-built up/rural roads. In Highland, in 2004, there were 32 fatalities, 6 of these were motorcycle fatalities.
Northern Constabulary Road Safety Officer, Laura Fisher, said: "One of the Force’s strategic priorities is to reduce serious and fatal casualties on the roads of the Highlands and Islands and this conference is all about promoting safer motorcycling to all riders, clubs and associated bike users.
"Some of the messages which will be conveyed to delegates will hopefully go some way to preventing future motorcycle tragedies on our roads."
The Governments Road Safety Strategy ‘Tomorrow’s Roads: safer for everyone’ sets out casualty reduction targets for 2010. The targets include achieving a ‘40% reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured’ on our roads and a ‘10% reduction in the slight casualty rate’ compared with the 1994 – 1998 average benchmark.
The Highland Council’s Road Safety Officer, Lisa MacKellaich said: "In general, progress towards these targets in Scotland and Highland has been excellent. However over recent years the number of motorcycle casualties both locally and nationally has been increasing.
"This Motorcycle Safety Seminar is one part of a programme dedicated to bringing these figures down. We as a Council have put funding towards both the Bike Safe and Bike Aid Programmes. Bike Safe is an initiative run by Northern Constabulary who work with the whole of the biking world to help to lower the number of motorcycle rider casualties by passing on their knowledge, skills and experience. Bike Aid is run alongside Bike Safe in Highland Council Area and is a First Aid course designed for Motorcyclists delivered by the Scottish Ambulance Service."