Skip to main content

Motorcycle Safety Action Plan for London

The Mayor of London and Transport for London (TfL) have published the capital's first Motorcycle Safety Action Plan designed to directly reduce the number of collisions involving motorcyclists and scooter riders. One of TfL’s top priorities is to reduce by 40 per cent the number of people killed or seriously injured (KSI) on London’s roads by 2020. Recently, the Mayor and TfL published six commitments which, working with a range of partners, are guiding a range of work to deliver this. In particular, ac
March 21, 2014 Read time: 3 mins
The Mayor of London and 1466 Transport for London (TfL) have published the capital's first Motorcycle Safety Action Plan designed to directly reduce the number of collisions involving motorcyclists and scooter riders.

One of TfL’s top priorities is to reduce by 40 per cent the number of people killed or seriously injured (KSI) on London’s roads by 2020.  Recently, the Mayor and TfL published six commitments which, working with a range of partners, are guiding a range of work to deliver this. In particular, action is being taken to prioritise the safety of the most vulnerable road users:  pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists.

TfL is redoubling efforts to improve motorcycle safety through its new Motorcycle Safety Action Plan, which was compiled by TfL working with representatives from the motorcycle industry and is based on detailed analysis of the risks and challenges faced by riders in London.

It outlines 29 key actions which will directly target the key factors in collisions, which will help to reduce motorcyclist casualties across London. The actions include: a TfL-funded Metropolitan Police Motorcycle Tasking Team to increase enforcement activity by 40 per cent, which will allow the team to further clamp down on dangerous behaviour such as speeding, careless riding and actions by other road users such as turning across motorcyclists at junctions; better use of offender retraining for motorcyclists as an alternative to prosecutions; promotion of the use of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) by motorcyclists, which can severely reduce the severity of injuries when involved in a collision.

Monthly high-visibility operations will also take place across London to target motorcycle, as well as cyclists and pedestrian safety. TfL will also carry out on-street trials of new technologies specifically designed to make motorcycling safer, such as innovative headlights which make motorcycles look larger to help reduce right turn collisions.

Other proposals include hard-hitting safety campaigns, a new Motorcycle Courier and Delivery Code and new design guidance for motorcyclists specifically tailored for London’s roads.

TfL has also published a new independent report which provides, for the first time, detailed analysis of fatal motorcycle collisions in London. This research looked at the police investigation reports for all fatal collisions between 2006 and 2009 and showed that most fatal collisions during this period (45 per cent) involved a “loss of control”, with half of these being recorded as exceeding the speed limit. A further 22 per cent involved vehicles turning across the path of the motorcyclist.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • With C-ITS we can get ourselves connected
    June 27, 2025
    Workzones need to be safer for drivers and workers – and the technology exists to harmonise safety with mobility needs, says Swarco’s Daniel Lenczowski
  • Automated enforcement tames speeders in Chicago’s Children’s Safety Zones
    November 20, 2013
    Chicago is installing automated enforcement after pilot schemes indicated that one in 10 motorists exceed the speed limits in Children’s Safety Zones. Each year in Chicago there are around 3,000 incidents of pedestrians being struck by a motor vehicle - and about 800 of those casualties are children. In an effort to improve child safety the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) has established Children’s Safety Zones around schools and other areas where children congregate. These zones allow the impos
  • TRW announces next-gen pedestrian protection system
    July 31, 2012
    TRW is announcing its next generation pedestrian protection system (PPS) - a robust and reliable system using a combination of acceleration and pressure sensing technologies to detect a pedestrian impact. "While the auto industry continues its focus on reducing injuries in single and multiple vehicle crashes and reductions in deaths and injuries have been realised in developed markets, pedestrian fatalities continue to increase globally," said Peter Lake, executive vice president of sales and business devel
  • Successful trials ‘prove effectiveness’ of speed limiting technology on buses
    March 18, 2016
    Transport for London (TfL) has completed trials of intelligent speed assistance (ISA) technology fitted to buses. The trials saw the technology, which prevents vehicles from accelerating over speed limits, fully tested on two bus routes that included a variety of road environments and differing speed limits. All buses fitted with ISA remained within the speed limit 97-99 per cent of the time, which TfL says proves the effectiveness of ISA. The extremely rare incidents of excess speeds were seen on downhi