Good Feeling - Gone
Firefighters in south Warwickshire are warning motorcyclists not to let the good feeling go – as they launch of their road safety campaign.
Stratford Area Risk Team Officer, Andy Thompson said:
“Each year 149 motor cyclists and their passengers are involved in road accidents in Warwickshire, the aim of this campaign is to help reduce that number and make our roads safer. “
Statistics from the Department of Transport show that:
· 585 motorcyclists were killed in road accidents in 2004
· 6,063 were seriously injured
· Motorcyclists represent 1% of traffic but represent 19% of deaths and serious injuries
· Motorcycle riders are over 40 times more likely to be killed than car drivers
The campaign works using two images, the first being a good feeling of a motorcyclists riding on the country roads, the second when the there has been an accident and that good feeling is gone! Firefighters have been talking to bikers at a number of events over the last few weeks, providing key safety tips including replacing scratched visors, reporting potholes and highlighting speed camera locations.
Andy continued: “The campaign was received really well at the ‘Bull Dog Bash’ where thousands of leaflets were distributed. We have also been visiting bike parks and local events to get our messages across. This is only the first element to the Good Feeling Gone campaign. The second will be a Fire Safety message released before the end of the Year. And the last element is young driver safety to run in early 2007”.
This project has been partly funded by Warwickshire County Councils Well Being Fund and is supported by the road safety team.