Drivers urged to THINK BIKER
A £1.2 million THINK! campaign urging drivers to see the person behind the motorcycle helmet has been launched by Minister Mike Penning.
A £1.2 million THINK! campaign urging drivers to see the person behind the motorcycle helmet was launched today (2 March 2012) by Road Safety Minister Mike Penning.
The TV adverts will show bikers with flashing neon signs attached to their bikes. The signs show the rider’s name and information about them such as ‘shy retiring type’ or ‘new dad’. The voiceover at the end asks drivers to look out for motorcyclists next time they are out driving.
The campaign was informed by research showing that drivers are more likely to notice motorcyclists on the roads if they know a biker themselves.
The adverts put motorcyclists at the centre of the campaign in a bid to tackle the huge over-representation of motorcyclists in road casualty figures. Despite only accounting for 1% of traffic motorcyclists make up 22% of deaths on Britain’s roads.
Mike Penning said:
As a biker myself I know how great motorcycling can be but as Road Safety Minister I know that the statistics show bikers are tragically over-represented in road casualties and I want to see this number come down.
The campaign I am launching today aims to get drivers to think again about how they look at bikers when they’re out on the road. I hope this will help to reduce the number of bikers killed and injured in crashes with cars.
The new Named Riders TV campaign starts on Friday 2nd March with radio and petrol station advertising running from Saturday 10 March.
Notes to editors
TV advertising will run from 2 to 24 March. Radio and petrol station advertising will run from 10 to 31 March.
The THINK! Named Rider campaign costs £1.2 million. It is estimated that the campaign will reach 92% of drivers an average of 8 times.
In 2010, 5,183 motorcyclists were killed or seriously injured with 74% of these occurring in accidents involving another vehicle. 66% of these casualties happened at junctions.
See the department’s annual road casualty statistics of 2010 for further infomation.
Related documents
Press enquiries: 020 7944 3066
Out of hours: 020 7944 4292
Public enquiries: 0300 330 3000