On average, about a quarter of motorcycle fatalities every year happen on rural roads – often on a corner where the road changes direction.
That’s why RoSPA has produced a five minute video to highlight the skills necessary – and the principals needed – to safely negotiate bends.
The video features a police advanced motorcyclist, who shares some of his experiences to help riders plan for what they can realistically expect to happen.
It looks at limit points, what they are and why they are important to help riders tackle left, right and a series of corners on a rural road.
RoSPA has made the video, produced with support from the DfT, available for highways and road safety partnerships to use on their website and to support local motorcycle initiatives.
RoSPA has also produced four short social media videos, looking specifically at limit points, right and left hand corners and series of corners.
“The new proposals to the Highway Code of increasing the separation from 1.5 to 2m will only exacerbate the risk to oncoming traffic.”
It is not the action of giving a cyclist safe room when overtaking that “exacerbates the risk to oncoming traffic”, but the idea that one “should overtake when there is oncoming traffic either seen or unseen”.
Rod King, Lymm, Cheshire
--28
No mention of speed I notice. Funny how the speeds depicted in the slow motion sequences seemed right somehow and undoubtedly safer in terms of stopping and control.
Hugh Jones, Cheshire
--21
I’m increasingly finding motorists on country roads that offside to pass cyclists in stupid places like the brow of a hill or on bends and are on a collision path with me. This is due in part to frustration of following cyclists..who will be going much slower especially on hills. Whilst it’s laudable to give them space you should do this with good planning…’Plan to follow, look to pass’ not blindly offside and risk a head on collision with a biker which is capable of moving swiftly on such terrain. I’ve met them head on overtaking on double bends too. The new proposals to the Highway Code of increasing the separation from 1.5 to 2m will only exacerbate the risk to oncoming traffic.
John, Leeds
+33
The video is quite good but narrated in a style that is patronising, like some broadband service providers.
A good companion would be a video to show car drivers how to drive on country roads and stick to their side when a motorcycle is approaching (funny how they can do this for other cars).
It would be great too if they didn’t offside when cornering blind bends as this serves no purpose other than risk a head on collision. As a motorcyclist I’ve often been forced into the gutter area by drivers who elect to dominate the whole road because they drive a big car and seem to think motorcycles are paper thin or none existent. They are fine on normal/ multi-lane roads as these have better views and more space but when it comes to narrow country roads they show extreme incompetence.
Sam, York
+38