‘Named Rider’ launched on 2 March

The third phase of the THINK! ‘Named Rider’ campaign was launched on 2 March by Mike Penning, road safety minister.

The £1.2m campaign, which will until 31 March, will utilise TV, radio, outdoor advertising on petrol station forecourts, and the THINK BIKER Facebook group.

The TV adverts will show bikers with flashing neon signs attached to their bikes. The signs show the rider’s name and information about them such as ‘shy retiring type’ or ‘new dad’. The voiceover at the end asks drivers to look out for motorcyclists next time they are out driving.

The campaign was informed by research showing that drivers are more likely to notice motorcyclists on the roads if they know a biker themselves. The creative strategy, which was first launched in March 2010, aims to ‘humanise’ bikers, so they are more meaningful to drivers.

The adverts put motorcyclists at the centre of the campaign in a bid to tackle their over-representation in road casualty figures. Despite only accounting for 1% of traffic, motorcyclists make up 22% of deaths on Britain’s roads.

Mike Penning said: “As a biker myself I know how great motorcycling can be but as road safety minister I know that the statistics show bikers are tragically over-represented in road casualties and I want to see this number come down.

“The campaign I am launching today aims to get drivers to think again about how they look at bikers when they’re out on the road. I hope this will help to reduce the number of bikers killed and injured in crashes with cars.”

Commenting on the launch of the campaign, Neil Greig, IAM director of policy and research, said drivers should be ‘ashamed’ of the statistics. He said: “Sorry mate I didn’t see you isn’t good enough. 75% of motorcycle injuries in towns and cities are caused by crashes at junctions – most are down to drivers simply failing to see an approaching biker when they pull out.

“Drivers should be ashamed of these statistics and take responsibility for the role they play in the safety of innocent bikers.”

Click here to read the full DfT report.