NFCC supports Road Safety Week

The National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) and fire and rescue services will be supporting the campaign and encouraging drivers to be 'Bike Smart' and be more aware of bikes by: slowing down, giving more time to spot danger and react; looking properly for bikes before pulling out at junctions; leaving at least 150cm between cars and a bike when overtaking; and by doing the ‘Dutch reach’, using the opposite hand to open a car door to help avoid ‘car dooring’ incidents.

• On average, a cyclist or motorcyclist is killed or seriously injured every hour, on British roads.
• Two thirds of bike deaths occur on our rural roads, with the fatal crash risk facing bikes on rural roads at its highest since 2010.
• Most drivers (52%) believe that bike riders are most vulnerable on urban roads, but rural roads pose three times the risk of a fatal crash to bike riders.
• The analysis marks the start of Road Safety Week (19–25 November), sponsored by Devitt Insurance Services and Ford, which this year urges people, particularly drivers, to be ‘Bike Smart’ to raise awareness about the safety of those on two wheels.
• Communities and organisations across the UK take part in Brake’s Road Safety Week – case studies and photo and filming opportunities are available.

In addition to supporting the campaign via social media using the #BikeSmart, fire and rescue services will be promoting their Bike Down courses. Developed by Jim Sanderson at Kent Fire and Rescue Service the scheme has spread nationwide and there are more than 40 teams around the UK. These teams run the course both for motorcycle clubs and groups of individuals. For the year 2016 – 2017, 6,109 bikers attended the free Biker Down training throughout the UK.

The following courses are schehduled for the next week:

• Tuesday 20 November: South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service
• Wednesday 21 November: Kent; East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service
• Thursday 22 November: Buckinghamshire & Milton Keynes Fire and Rescue Service, Tyne & Wear Fire and Rescue Service
• Friday 23 November: Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service
• Saturday 24 November: Buckinghamshire & Milton Keynes Fire and Rescue Service; London Fire Brigade, Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service; Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service
• Sunday 25 November: Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service
• Monday 26 November: Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service