Biker highlights importance of road safety courses
BBCA motorcyclist has highlighted the importance of safety courses as authorities push to reduce the number of bikers dying on the roads.
Almost a quarter of people killed or seriously injured in crashes in Warwickshire are motorcyclists, according to figures from the county's police and Road Safety Partnership.
As part of a drive to cut the number of deaths in half by 2030, Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service has been running the Biker Down course, which has been delivered to nearly 2,000 bikers since 2015.
Alan Blunt, a 63-year-old motorcyclist from Shipston-on-Stour, said such courses had helped him to be better prepared on the roads.
He has been riding motorbikes since the age of 17 and been involved in several incidents, including a crash on a roundabout, being run over, and losing a wheel.
He told BBC Midlands Today the biggest concerns currently were potholes and the weather.
"The [road] surface is critical and physics play a part," he said, "but potholes, mud on the road… the bad weather, water, gravel – it all adds to the level of complexity," he explained.
'Hugely successful'
He said safety courses he had attended over the years helped him to look differently at road surfaces and trained him to better understand the capabilities of his bike and his own limitations.
" [They] also train you to anticipate and give space to other road users so you can give yourself plenty of margin when you come up to roundabouts and junctions," he added.
The aim of the Biker Down course is to teach motorcyclists some of the everyday skills used by emergency services at the scenes of road traffic collisions.
These include life-saving skills such as using defibrillators and CPR, as well as how to manage a scene in case they are first to arrive.
Tom Whitelegg, from Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service, said the course had been "hugely successful" and was delivered to more than 270 motorcyclists in 2025.
"We're hoping for much more of the same this year as well," he added.
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