Egg Run bikers will be given police safety message
Police in Wirral intend to use the borough's annual Egg Run to try to drive home a safety message to bikers.
Motorcyclists are being urged to "lose their speed and not their lives" in a new campaign aimed to reduce the number of road deaths and injuries across Merseyside caused by crashes.
Poice say that in the last three years, 19 motorcyclists have died on Merseyside roads and 172 seriously injured. The latest campaign will target motorcyclists and other drivers to raise awareness of the dangers of inappropriate motorbike riding and inattentive driving. Officers will be out in force across the county throughout the month and will be holding a special "spotlight day" on April 12, carrying out enforcement and educating those who are caught driving dangerously and breaking the law.
They will also be present at the Wirral Egg Run on April 17 when thousands of bikers are expected to attend raising funds for children's charities.
Merseyside Police Roads Policing Department will be on hand on their motorbikes offering advice and guidance to bikers.
Sergeant Paul Mountford, who will be helping to police the Egg Run, said: "As the weather gets warmer we tend to see more motorcyclists who don't regularly use their bikes out on the roads again and often they won't be wearing appropriate clothing.
"We also see young riders with an 'it won't happen to me' attitude wearing trainers, tracksuit bottoms and a hoodie, which offer very little protection in a collision so we will be speaking to them about the benefits of wearing protective clothing as well as offering advice about safe riding."
Sergeant Mountford said the majority of motorbike accidents invlolve other vehicles.
He said: "We frequently see collisions at T-junctions, traffic lights, right-hand turns, stop signs and U-turns.
"These are often due to a lack of concentration, failure to judge speed and distance correctly, illegal parking at junctions, poor turning or manoeuvring, or just even failing to look properly.
"Just one casualty on our roads is too many so our ultimate aim is to try and reduce motorcycle casualties by educating all motorists to drive responsibly and carefully."
THE GLOBE
