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Superbike champion receives Lynda Chalker Award

John Reynolds, the current British Superbike Champion, has been presented with the LARSOA Lynda Chalker Award for his work in raising the issue of sports motorcycle rider safety in the East Midlands.

John received the Award last Friday at the Mallory Park circuit where he was competing in heats for the weekend's event.

The Lynda Chalker Award is presented annually to a person or organisation that has contributed significantly to road safety in the UK. Lynda Chalker (now Baroness Chalker), who was transport minister in the mid-1980s, presented LARSOA with a carriage clock to be used for the Award when she moved to overseas development.

Since its launch in 2002, John has supported the Shiny Side Up Partnership in its campaign to address the attitudes and behaviour of sports and performance bike riders. The campaign recognises that these are skilled riders who will ride to the limits whenever possible. It seeks to influence their behaviour by making them think about the choices they take each time they ride. The campaign does not try to preach about riding safely - in fact, it rarely mentions the word 'safe'. However, it does make innovative use graphic images of crashes and thought-provoking comments to bring alive the dangers of taking risks and riding to the limits.

"The Award recognises John's unstinting support for the Shiny Side Up Partnership's efforts to reduce the number of sports bike riders killed or seriously injured," said Simon Ettinghausen, LARSOA chair, who presented the Award. "He is always generous with his expertise, is committed to the campaign, and gives his time freely to support it. Without doubt, his well-deserved reputation for riding excellence gives credibility to the campaign to help reduce casualties among this high-risk group of road users."

For further information contact Simon Ettinghausen, roadsafetyeducation@bexley.gov.uk.