Safety group launches scare campaign

Born-Again bikers are being targeted with scare tactics to try to make them ride safer.

The Kent & Medway Safety Camera Partnership’s Bikers! Safety campaign displays posters like these (see right) near the locations of fatal and serious-injury crashes over the last three years. There will also be an increased police presence.

The shock tactics are being used to encourage better riding. One shows a biker in a wheelchair, with the line ” How will he keep up now? ” Another shows a mother and child, saying ” Don’t leave your family behind forever ” , while a third puts a crash helmet on a disabled sign suggesting, ” New wheels for the rest of your life. ”

Leaflets and flyers will be distributed at bike meets and there are plans for a day at Brands Hatch to promote safer riding for Born-Agains. The campaign is funded by fines from imposed on speeding motorists.

There were 29 biker fatalities in Kent last year, compared with 38 car drivers and 19 pedestrian deaths. The partnership claims Born-Again riders make up the majority of fatalities.

” The combination of a powerful bike and an out-of-touch rider who thinks he still possess the skills and reactions he had 20 years ago is a lethal one, ” said chairman Ian Proctor.

The British Motorcyclists Federation is unimpressed.

” We are concerned that advertising promoting fear is detrimental, and makes non-bikers think motorcycling is more dangerous than it actually is, ” said spokesman Richard Olliffe.

How would these posters affect your riding? Do you think these tactics are justified? Post your messages on the News discussion board by following the link on the right.