News story: Fathers Day bikers urged to ride safe

Hundreds of motorcycle enthusiasts gathered to meet biking legend Charley Boorman at the iconic Ryka’s Café at Box Hill in Surrey yesterday (Fathers’ Day, Sunday 18 June) where there was a special focus on biker safety.

The bikers, many of them dads indulging their passion on their special day, were given tips by Charley, who has teamed up with Highways England to launch Be a Better Biker – a motorcycle safety campaign that aims to give experienced bikers practical riding tips when using the road network on areas such as unexpected hazards, cornering, overtaking and riding when tired.

One of the Highways England team speaking to a biker about motorcycle safety

Charley, the TV presenter, travel writer and actor, is well placed to support the campaign as 18 months ago he had a serious accident while riding his bike, which led to him nearly losing a leg. Charley was on hand to talk to bikers about the campaign and sign copies of his new book ‘Long Way Back’.

Charley said:

We are all riders, some of us experienced and some of us not too much. What I like about this campaign is it aims to give practical and good tips on how to be a little safer on the roads. As we know as bikers, roads can be challenging and the people on them frustrating. As roads are getting busier we have to be more careful. So I’m happy to be involved in this launch on Father’s Day of highlighting that it’s important to stay safe on bikes. As they say rubber side down!

Richard Leonard, Head of Road Safety, (Safety, Engineering & Standards) at Highways England added:

We understand the pride and the passion that goes into biking, but we’re concerned about the persistently high casualty rate – put simply far too many bikers are still coming to harm on our roads. This campaign will help give bikers some practical tips that they can use to protect themselves and continue enjoying the unique freedom of the open road that biking offers.

The campaign will run in the South East for four weeks from today, and includes digital and print advertising in key motorcycle and trade publications, advertising in motorway service areas and petrol stations at key areas on our network, and social media using the hashtag #beabetterbiker.

We are also producing a toolkit for partners to use to communicate campaign messages. The toolkit includes the artwork for display advertising, posters, videos and imagery for social media.

Today is also the start of Ride to Work Week, the industry led week which highlights the benefits of commuting by motorcycle or scooter.