Hampshire cuts biker death toll

Preliminary figures show the number of people killed in motorcycle accidents on Hampshire's roads has fallen dramatically - from 26 in 2003 to just eight in 2004, a reduction of over 64 per cent and the lowest figure in more than 15 years.

This success has been the result of a close partnership between Hampshire County Council and Hampshire Constabulary, which has seen coordinated engineering, education and enforcement activities implemented on key motorcycling routes in the county.

Significant engineering works on three popular motorcycling routes - the A339, A272 and A32 - were backed up with a red route poster campaign and an information newsletter, Biker Insight, which informed bikers of the facts about the risks they face on these roads and gave advice on safe motorcycling. A high profile police presence at weekends and key weekday evenings throughout the season sent the message that illegal or antisocial motorcycling behaviour would not be tolerated.

The work by the partnership builds upon the success of Hampshire County Council's Edge44 rider assessment programme, which runs under the Bikesafe umbrella and has proved to be an effective way of engaging the motorcycling community. All campaign literature carried the Edge44 logo.

"The success of this campaign has been down to the hard work and coordinated efforts of all parties involved as well as the positive response of the motorcycling community in Hampshire," said road safety services manager, Ernie Sage. "In 2005 the challenge will be to build on this success and ensure that motorcycle casualties stay down."