LONDON: Highways England (HE), the company responsible for running over 6,400km of England’s motorways and major trunk roads, has become the third partner in a collaboration between the National Police Chiefs' Council and the Motorcycle Industry Association.
The government owned company is now an equal partner in facilitating practical changes to roads, as detailed in a jointly written whitepaper - 'Realising the Motorcycling Opportunity: A Motorcycle Safety and Transport Policy Framework’.
The Framework calls for motorcycles and scooters to be included in mainstream transport policy and for rider safety to be consistently factored into national road design, which has not been the case in the past.
Seven key areas have been identified, which would make roads safer for riders, along with actions as to how this can be achieved practically.
These include safer infrastructure, expanding road user education, increasing awareness and training and working in partnership with cycle groups.
The Framework also advocates unlocking the benefits of motorcycles and demonstrating exactly how they offer a practical solution to congestion, as well as improving personal mobility for people without access to other forms of transport.
HE also has a goal of bringing the number of people killed or injured on the strategic road network as close as possible to zero by 2040 by working closely with police and MCIA across all seven areas identified in the Framework, to lead towards a ‘safer infrastructure’.
“Safety is our top priority and we believe no one should be harmed when travelling or working on our road network. We are committed to both reducing the number of motorcycle incidents and casualties on our roads and to improving the experience motorcyclists have on those roads; this influential partnership with the industry and police supports that commitment,” said Highways England chief highways engineer Mike Wilson.
The Framework advocates using guidelines produced by the Institute of Highway Engineers, which identifies simple practical steps to reduce risks for riders.
These include:
· Using rider friendly barriers and road surfaces
· Repositioning pillars
· Removing unnecessary signage
· Using non-slip manhole covers
· Prompt clear up of diesel.
The company will also work to promote safety messages and create awareness about motorcycles and scooters, since education of all road users is an important element of the Framework - having already set up a working party to encourage learners to take further training for a licence and to encourage riders to wear personal protective clothing.
The Framework incorporates the ‘safe system approach’, which is now widely accepted as a guiding principle among road safety professionals.
This is underpinned by the understanding that humans are fallible and will make mistakes, which can be mitigated through ‘forgiving’ design, i.e. a road system built to absorb mistakes and limit the transfer of forces which can result in serious injury or death.
The first edition of the ‘Framework’ was launched by the NPCC and MCIA in 2014, following acknowledgement from police and motorcycle road safety experts that the only way to reduce vulnerability of riders was to properly incorporate their use and needs into mainstream transport planning.
The Framework details a growing body of evidence from other European Union countries to show that casualties reduce where motorcycle and scooter use is more common, as other road users become more aware of them.
This is the same argument used by the cycling lobby and both modes of transport saw reductions of those killed and seriously injured in the last set of figures issued by the Department for Transport.
The number of motorcycles and scooters licensed for the roads in England has nearly doubled in the past twenty years, and government statistics show that there was a further 1.2% increase for quarter 4 (October to December 2015).
With congestion set to rise, it is likely many more people will opt for two wheel transport and Highways England, the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the Motorcycle Industry Association believe this choice needs to be properly supported.
