{"id":45327,"date":"2014-07-21T10:50:00","date_gmt":"2014-07-21T10:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=8519508287c4156fa7b8d772c1427939"},"modified":"2014-07-21T10:50:00","modified_gmt":"2014-07-21T10:50:00","slug":"news-story-motorcycle-safety-campaign-aim-to-make-drivers-think","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=45327","title":{"rendered":"News story: Motorcycle safety campaign aims to make drivers THINK!"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"govspeak\">\n<p>A <a rel=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/think.direct.gov.uk\/motorcycles.html\">THINK! radio campaign has been launched<\/a> to encourage drivers to take longer to look for motorcyclists after figures revealed that 30 bikers are killed or injured every day at junctions, Road Safety Minister Robert Goodwill has announced.<\/p>\n<p>Launching today (21 July 2014), the \u2018Didn\u2019t See\u2019 campaign will run for 4 weeks on national radio with the aim of reducing the number of motorcyclist and driver collisions on our roads.<\/p>\n<p>Research for THINK! has shown that drivers believe the majority of motorcycle accidents happen because of bikers breaking the speed limit \u2013 but statistics actually show around half of motorcyclist accidents, where the rider is killed or seriously hurt, occur at junctions, with drivers failing to look properly being the most common cause.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image embedded\">\n<div class=\"img\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\u00a30 a day infographic.\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.digital.cabinet-office.gov.uk\/government\/uploads\/system\/uploads\/image_data\/file\/28845\/30-a-day.jpg\"><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Robert Goodwill said:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Every day more than 30 motorcycle riders die or are injured in accidents at road junctions. Often, though not always, this is because a driver has pulled out in front of a rider.<\/p>\n<p class=\"last-child\">More than 2 people lose their lives every week in this way and this is something we are determined to change \u2013 if all drivers and riders took a bit more care at junctions we could bring this figure down significantly.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Motorcyclists make up just 1% of traffic on the roads but 19% of all fatalities. They are 55 times more likely than car drivers to be killed or seriously hurt in an accident.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image embedded\">\n<div class=\"img\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Motorcycle infographic.\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.digital.cabinet-office.gov.uk\/government\/uploads\/system\/uploads\/image_data\/file\/28846\/infographics.jpg\"><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Motorcyclist Priscila Currie is supporting the campaign after an accident in central London changed her life.<\/p>\n<p>She said: <\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>My accident happened because a car pulled out in front of me. I wasn\u2019t riding fast, only at 30 mph, but the accident had a profound impact on my life \u2013 physically and mentally.<\/p>\n<p>I was hospitalised for 12 days with severe fractures and underwent 18 months of physiotherapy. It took more than 3 years for me to find the confidence to get back on a bike and I now live with pain every day, which has affected my mobility.<\/p>\n<p class=\"last-child\">People make mistakes but drivers should remember that mistakes can cost lives. Behind the motorcycle helmet is a person. We have families, friends, careers and a life, just like other road users, so I would urge drivers to please take longer, especially at junctions, to look out for motorcyclists.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>THINK! will also be launching a new campaign this summer encouraging motorcyclists to undertake further training and to ride defensively to help improve their safety on the roads.<\/p>\n<div class=\"contact\" id=\"contact_1018\">\n<div class=\"content\">\n<h3>Roads media enquiries<\/h3>\n<div class=\"vcard contact-inner\">\n<div class=\"email-url-number\">\n<p class=\"tel\">\n              <span class=\"type\">Press enquiries<\/span><br \/>\n              020 7944 3066\n            <\/p>\n<p class=\"tel\">\n              <span class=\"type\">Out of hours<\/span><br \/>\n              020 7944 4292\n            <\/p>\n<p class=\"tel\">\n              <span class=\"type\">Public enquiries<\/span><br \/>\n              0300 330 3000\n            <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The \u2018Didn\u2019t See\u2019 radio campaign has been launched by THINK! to encourage drivers to take longer to look for motorcyclists.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45327"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45327"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45348,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45327\/revisions\/45348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}