As more motorcycle riders enjoy the warmer weather out on their bikes, police officers are urging them to ride safely.
Despite only making up five per cent of road traffic, motorcyclists are involved in nearly 1 in 4 fatal and serious injury collisions on our roads.
Sussex Police have re-released footage taken by bikers showing dangerous driving and speeding to try to show bikers that riding safer could save their lives.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council is launching its annual two-wheeled campaign – aimed to reduce the number of collisions involving motorcyclists through education and enforcement – from Tuesday 6 April to Sunday 18 April.
Chief Inspector Michael Hodder, of the Surrey and Sussex Roads Policing Unit, said: “It would appear a number of riders have no regard not only for their own safety, but for those they endanger too.
“They also seem to have left their common sense at home whilst forgetting how their loved ones would feel if they hurt themselves or someone else by the stupidity of their selfish riding.”
One experienced rider from Sussex, who did not wish to be identified, has pleaded with his fellow riders to work with the police; not against them.
“If you continue to do what you’re doing, speeding through towns and villages and taking unnecessary risks, it will result in more and more police intervention.
“You could also kill yourself or someone else. It only takes a minor lapse in concentration or something unavoidable, like a cat running out in the road, for a serious incident to happen.”
The Sussex Safer Roads partnership’s message follows concerns raised by communities across Surrey and Sussex of speeding, excessive noise and antisocial riding and driving, with some residents so fed up they are considering selling their homes.
For advice on riding safely, visit the Sussex Safer Roads Partnership website here.
To report an incident of dangerous or antisocial driving or riding, visit the Operation Crackdown website here.