Only one percent of the UK’s road users are motorcyclists but that tiny percentage accounts for a staggering twenty percent plus of all fatalities on our roads. Put another way, motorcyclists represent a mere one out of a hundred road users yet they account for over one fifth of road traffic deaths. There have been various campaigns to increase awareness of motorcyclists (for example, the “Think Bike!” advertisements) but at the moment there are no compulsory motorcyclist related questions in the Department of Transport driving theory test. Meanwhile the casualties continue to mount.
There are, of course, questions in the test relating to motorcyclists but the questions are selected at random so therefore many people pass their tests and are let loose on the roads without having answered any motorcycle related questions. There is therefore no guarantee that they have any awareness at all of motorcyclist related safety. As a biker myself I have to say that a sizeable proportion of road users seem to drive without any thought or awareness of motorcyclists, whether it be driving too close to a motorcycle or pulling out of side streets totally oblivious of the motorcycle heading towards them on the major road.

I’m sure that all motorcylists will agree with this and will confirm that it is only their defensive riding that prevents the occurrence of even more accidents. I personally have lost count of the number of times that a car has pulled out directly in front of me so much so that I don’t even bother to remonstrate with the car driver any more. The dangers to young and/or inexperienced motorcyclists cannot be over estimated.

Now, leading UK motorcycle insurance specialist, Bennetts, are campaigning to ensure that motorcycle related questions are made compulsory in all driving theory tests. When you consider a statistic quoted by them that the motorcyclists casualty rate is 61 times greater than that of other road users you can understand why. If you agree then log on to http://www.bennetts.co.uk and sign their online petition to be presented to the Department of Transport in order that the format of the driving theory test is altered without delay.