Drivers and motorcyclists urged to take extra care as collisions expected to peak in July

Warwickshire Police is asking motorcyclists to take extra care on the county’s roads and to ride defensively as we approach July - the peak month nationally for collisions involving motorcyclists. 

Officers are also asking drivers to take extra care around motorcyclists and to look at least twice for them, particularly at junctions.

Although motorcyclists make up less than 3% of vehicles on the UK’s roads, they represent more than 20% of those killed in collisions.  

This is a shocking statistic and whilst we know drivers failing to look properly, especially at junctions can be a major cause of collisions involving motorcyclists, it’s not always the driver that is at fault.  In Warwickshire between 2019-2023 the top contributory factors in collisions involving the more powerful motorbikes 500cc and over, were that the vehicle driver or rider failed to look properly; failed to judge the other person’s path or speed; was careless/reckless/in a hurry; lost control; poor turn or manoeuvre; or exceeded the speed limit.

OPU Traffic Inspector Si Paull said  “Our country roads are popular with motorcyclists particularly in the south of the county where we have the Fosse Way and other great routes.   I’m a motorcyclist myself and although these roads are great fun for bikers, they are challenging and this is where we see the majority of our most serious collisions. 

“As well as making it a habit to keep on learning to become a safer and more skilful biker, we are urging motorcyclists to wear the correct protective clothing, slow down for junctions and make sure they have been seen by drivers particularly when they approach junctions.

“Whilst the majority of motorcyclists enjoy their bikes responsibly, we do not apologise to those who choose to speed that we have increased our patrols and will be using both marked and unmarked bikes and cars to target speeding bikers and drivers during the NPCC Fatal 4 operation from 1-31 July.“

Please don’t be a statistic.

We are asking bikers to take responsibility for their own safety on the roads. This includes:

• not speeding or taking risks – ride your own ride
• Improve your skills – sign up for BikeSafe or Biker Down for example
• wear the correct protective clothing and helmet to help protect you if you are involved in a collision
• wear reflective clothing and/or put reflective strips on your bike or helmet
• check your bikes tyres, lights and fluids, looking for any signs of oil, fuel or air leaks
• have regular services and safety checks on your bike, especially if it has not been used for a few weeks.

We are reminding drivers that motorcyclists are more vulnerable in a collision because they don’t have the same protection around them as a driver:-

• Please slow down and take extra care around motorcyclists
• Please look at least twice for motorcyclists particularly at junctions
• Give motorcyclists eye contact so that they know you have seen them
• Inform motorcyclists of your intention to turn or manoeuvre
• Keep your distance from motorcyclists
• Check your blind spots
• Be extra careful when passing motorcyclists

FREE online BikeSafe training and prize draw entry is available here: https://bikesafe.co.uk/warwickshire/skilful-safe-seen

More information about BikeSafe courses, funded by Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership, can be found here Warwickshire Police - BikeSafe

For more information and dates for Biker Down click Warwickshire Fire & Rescue Service Events | Eventbrite

Warwickshire Police is a key partner of Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership and together we are working towards the target to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on Warwickshire’s roads by 50% by 2030.