In this latest opinion piece, written ahead of the inaugural National Young Rider Day, Heidi Duffy MBE questions whether young motorcyclists matter to the road safety community.
Heidi is the facilitator of the National Young Rider Forum (NYRF), who are behind the initiative, which takes place on 27 June.
National Young Rider Day is Tuesday 27 June. It will be the first ever day that focuses completely on young riders aged 16 to 24 years, who ride bikes of 125cc or less.
Young motorcyclists matter to the NYRF members, but do they matter to the wider road safety community?
Young drivers feature on most people’s road safety agenda. We have annual young driver conferences, expensive cars kitted out with flashy VR and computerised dashboards taken into schools and colleges, public events where youngsters are cut out of ‘crashed cars’ and summer schools for would-be drivers, rewarded with a free driving lesson for attending.
But the same cannot be said for young riders, despite gaining their right to ride on the road at a less mature age of 16 years, rather than 17 for car driving. These young riders are probably strapped for cash (so the PPE can wait then), and not benefitting from the ‘metal box’ protection that four wheels offer. There is a surprising lack of interest and initiatives for our young riders across the road safety industry.
Is it because we consider that they can be ‘overconfident’ out on the road, and test the patience of drivers as they flit one side and then the other, sounding like a wounded hornet?
Or have we become so reliant on having our dinner delivered to our home in a box in all weathers, day or night that we have forgotten to care how the damp looking young courier who has been at university all day and now stands in the doorway dripping with rain, arrived on his moped, dodging the traffic on their way?
Perhaps it is because, if all motorcyclists are 1% of traffic, then young riders must be less than 0.5% and therefore not figure in our injury RTC stats?
Well, if you do identify with any of the above then you are wrong, and we will now give you the facts!
There are more young riders than young drivers killed and seriously injured in the UK every year.
Overconfidence hides the fact that many riders are ‘scared stiff’ out on the road, (according to NYRF research report ‘Understanding Young Riders’, conducted in 2021) and would like to be offered more training and support after taking their CBT.
In deprived areas, the road user group most likely to be involved in a crash is a young motorcyclist (TfL), and numbers of crashes involving young food delivery riders in our cities are growing all the time.
Support for young people in education, sports, apprenticeships and other work areas is readily available and their welfare is protected and promoted in safeguarding processes and policies, across the board.
Sadly, as they climb aboard their first motorised mode of transport and head out to the busy highway where they jostle for place amongst buses, lorries, vans and cars, they are not supported by a myriad of road safety groups, but NYRF is here for them, on National Young Rider Day and every day.
Our young riders can be cheeky and challenging, hard to engage with, pick fashion over safety, sometimes scary (occasionally reckless), but they are our sons/daughters, brothers/sisters, nieces/nephews, grandchildren, mates, and we love them!
Come and join us, let’s work together to support all young riders (GIG, commuter, leisure) by producing quality resources which identify the main risks such as bike control, handling and road positioning, lack of PPE, bike maintenance, and by engaging with our young riders using social media platforms, young rider webinars (still time to register!), at events, through polls and surveys, to reach out to them, to make their first and every, journey a safe and supported one.
On National Young Rider Day, Tuesday 27 June, and every day, if you see a young rider out on the road, put your older head on their young shoulders and treat them with care and consideration.
#weareyoungriders
Heidi Duffy MBE
National Young Rider Forum Facilitator
Heidi.duffy@viaem.co.uk
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