A NEW road safety campaign aimed at motorcyclists is to be launched later this month following the release of figures which show the Republic is among the worst countries in Europe for the percentage of bikers killed each year.
The figures, from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), show Ireland second only to Slovenia in a group of 20 European counties. Road deaths among bikers here account for more than 14 per cent of all road fatalities, while motorbikes account for less than two per cent of all registered vehicles.
The campaign comes as provisional Garda figures reveal 32 people were killed in road crashes generally in May, compared to 19 in May 2008 – making it the worst May since 2005, which was a nine-year high.
The Road Safety Authority (RSA), which is to run the campaign, said the trend in motorbike deaths had been declining, but in recent years had started to rise again.
The campaign will state that learner drivers should wear a high visibility jacket, with a prominent “L”. It will feature warnings to “fair-weather” bikers, whose occasional forays in summer are accepted as a factor in summers being the worst time for motorbike deaths.
It will also target mature bike drivers who may have changed recently to a more powerful machine, with the attendant risks which these bikes present.
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