The former Liberal Democrat MP Lembit Opik will be a panellist for the ‘Question Time’ session of the 2016 National Road Safety Conference.
Mr Opik, who now represents the Motorcycle Action Group, has been unveiled as one of the first three panellists alongside Road Safety GB’s Iain Temperton.
The Question Time session at National Conference follows a similar format to the BBC programme of the same name, and is always one of the highlights of the event.
Last year’s session, which involved the then newly elected London Road Safety Council president James Cracknell OBE, is still available to watch online.
Lembit Öpik served as a member of parliament representing the constituency of Montgomeryshire in Wales from 1997 until he lost his seat at the 2010 general election.
He is now director of communications & public affairs for the Motorcycle Action Group (MAG), the UK’s leading riders’ rights organisation.
A dedicated libertarian, Lembit fiercely defends citizens’ freedom, including the right to ride motorbikes and scooters.
He sees safety as a collective responsibility between road planners and riders, and is concerned about the reach of the state when this extends into choices which should be left in the hands of the rider and not in the hands of overbearing state regulations.
Lembit has worked within MAG to generate a culture of partnership with legislators, offering logical and data based input to the decision-making process. His mantra is ‘positive engagement rather than confrontation whenever possible’.
Iain Temperton is the director of communications for Road Safety GB, a position he took up in November 2015
Iain joined Norfolk County Council in 1990 and is currently the council’s road safety team manager.
He is a registered car and motorcycle instructor and a RoSPA diploma holder in motorcycle instruction.He also helped set up and manage the Road Safety GB Twitter account which now has more than 12,000 followers.
2016 National Road Safety Conference
The 2016 National Conference is being hosted by Road Safety GB South West Region in Bristol on 15-16 November and is co-sponsored by Colas, Vysionics and Insure The Box. More than 150 people have already registered to attend the event and 16 companies will participate in the exhibition which runs alongside the conference.
The agenda will include sessions focusing on road user psychology, public health and road safety, and social marketing, social media and engagement.
Click here to register to attend the conference; click here for more information about exhibiting alongside the conference; or for more information contact Sally Bartrum (delegate registration and exhibition) or Nick Rawlings (speakers and agenda) on 01379 650112.
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