Names in Lights

26 February 2010

A bold new £3.5M THINK! campaign to cut motorcyclist was launched today.

Motorcyclists will see their names up in lights as part of a bold new THINK! campaign to save lives on the roads.

The new TV adverts will show bikers with flashing neon signs attached to their bikes. The signs show the rider's name and describe personality traits such as 'shy retiring type' or 'new dad'. The voiceover at the end asks drivers to look out for motorcyclists next time they're out driving.

It marks a radical departure for THINK! after research showed drivers are more likely to notice motorcyclists on the roads if they personally know a biker.

Motorcyclists have the highest fatality rate per billion kilometre of any road user group. Despite only representing 1% of vehicle traffic, they account for 19% of all road user deaths in Great Britain. In 2008, 493 motorcyclists were killed and 5,556 were seriously injured (source: Reported Road Casualties GB 2008) although this is over 20% fewer fatal and serious casualties than in 2003, it is still too many.

Typically around three-quarters (75%) of motorcycle deaths and serious injuries occur in collisions involving another vehicle (usually a car). In 2008, just over half (51%) occurred in collisions at junctions, with the remainder of deaths and serious injuries occurring either in crashes with other vehicles away from junctions (24%) or in single vehicle incidents (25%) .

RoadSafe believes reminders such as these are of great benefit but that all motorcyclists benefit from post-test training and supports schemes such as BikeSafe