DocBike, a charity that provides rapid response bikes ridden by doctors or critical care paramedics, is launching a campaign to help buck the trend in springtime biker fatalities.

Working with Dorset Police and Dorset Road Safety Partnership in the UK, DocBike aims to make Dorset’s roads safer for bikers. In Dorset, per mile travelled, more motorcyclists will be killed or critically injured than any other road user. Nationally, approximately 10 motorcyclists are killed or seriously injured every day.

“The problem is, the human brain is not very good at ‘seeing’ small objects travelling towards it at speed. A high proportion of motorcycle collisions on Dorset roads occur when another vehicle pulls into the path of a motorcycle which is unable to stop in time,” said Dr Ian Mew, Intensive Care Consultant and Rider of DocBike.

“Furthermore, because motorcyclists and cyclists do not have a roll cage, seat belts or air bags, they are often seriously injured or killed when involved in a collision. We want to keep people alive on Dorset’s roads and to do that, we need all road users to be aware of why motorcyclists get knocked off their bikes.”

The campaign which is called ‘Think Bike, Have You Been Seen’, runs from 1st April until 31st October 2021 and will see two different road signs placed in key locations where many motorcyclists have been injured in Dorset to-date.

The first, “THINK BIKE” reminds all road users to take that extra moment to look for a bike, especially at junctions, where the brain finds it difficult to see motorcyclists travelling towards them at speed.

The second, “HAVE YOU BEEN SEEN?” reminds bikers they might not have been seen by other road users and that even though they have the right of way, being able to stop if a vehicle pulls out in their path might save their life.

Visit the DocBike website