Shocking biker death toll on Irish roads

SEVEN out of 10 motorcyclists have never had a formal lesson, gardai said yesterday as they warned of the shocking biker death toll.

The warning came on the same day a young male motorcyclist died instantly when he left the road and crashed into a ditch in Co Louth.

The 23-year-old man's death brings to 29 the number of people who have died in motorcycle accidents this year.

Elsewhere, gardai arrested four men at the weekend after clocking them doing more than double the speed limit, at 260kph in a 100kph zone.

Motorbikes have accounted for over 13pc of all road deaths in Ireland this year, although bikers make up less than 2pc of all road users. Gardai say this could be due to the fact that many have never had a formal lesson.

National Road Authority figures show that motorcyclists are 13 times more likely to die on Irish roads than car users.

And Irish bikers are up to three times more likely to die on Irish roads than bikers in any other European country.

The Road Safety Authority and the Garda Siochana hope more bikers will avail of a programme called BikeSafe, set up to help bikers advance their skills in an effort to reduce motorcycle deaths.

On Saturday, gardai in Donegal were said to be stunned when they clocked four bikers going in the direction of Donegal Town doing 260kph on the Bundoran-Ballyshannnon bypass, where the speed limit is 100kph.

Such was the speed they were travelling at that speed corps gardai were unable to pursue them and radioed ahead to colleagues to stop them. Gardai finally stopped the four 25km up the road and arrested them.

One veteran speed corps officer said: "I thought I had seen everything on the roads but this just about tops the lot."

Charged

Four men, two from Co Tyrone, one from Co Sligo and one from Co Leitrim, in their 20s and 30s, have been charged with dangerous driving and are due to appear before Ballyshannon District Court on Friday.

Sgt Liam Geraghty of the Garda BikeSafe programme said: "Motorcyclists don't recognise you are a vulnerable road user and far more vulnerable than a pedestrian. The fact that 70pc of motorcyclists have never had a formal lesson is very, very worrying."

original article
independent