A senior UK Government official has claimed that : “Improving motorcyclists’ skills merely means they kill themselves in a more skilled way.”
According to an article in The Times newspaper’s website, Rob Gifford, Director of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety, came out with this statement as a put-down to calls by RoSPA for new rules forcing motorcyclists to build experience before moving onto larger machines.
I contacted industry groups and lobbying groups who are understandably outraged at such an irresponsible statement.
Craig Carey-Clinch, Director of Public Affairs of the Motor Cycle Industry Association said “A more crass and irresponsible comment from an organisation which claims so much moral high ground on road safety I couldn't possibly imagine. What is not needed is another wave of anti motorcycle hysteria of the sort which we have seen of late from local campaigners and individuals from road safety organisations.”
“What is also not needed is for the motorcycle community to close ranks and blame the Government and everyone else for the current situation. Although Government and the police have a huge role to play in motorcycle safety, ultimately, in many cases, it is largely down to the skill and judgement of the individual rider which determines whether or not an accident can happen and MCI is working with others to provide the tools that riders need to help improve their skill levels and improve safety.”
Interestingly, Mr Gifford’s comments were deleted from the print version of the article
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