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

  • Get most dangerous drivers off Europe’s roads, say police chiefs
    October 5, 2015
    As part of its support for the European target of halving road deaths by 2020, Tispol will use its annual Conference in Manchester on 6 and 7 October to call for better protection of vulnerable road users, with greater efforts to rid Europe’s roads of the most dangerous drivers. Senior police officers, academics, policy makers and other road safety professionals will consider a range of specific issues during the two-day conference, including: Safer driving in later life; Fatigue in emergency service dr
  • CCTV brings transit safety into view
    September 15, 2014
    David Crawford looks at camera-based vulnerable road users protection systems.Safe and efficient operation of road-based transit depends on minimising the risks of incidents involving other vehicles or vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, cyclists and passengers boarding or alighting from buses or trams. The extent and quality of the visibility available to drivers is crucial in preventing and avoiding incidents. Conventionally, they have had to rely on fairly basic equipment - essentially the human
  • Acusensus cameras find more than 800 drivers using phones in five-week trial
    November 21, 2024
    There were also 2,300 incidents of not wearing a seat belt
  • A9 average speed cameras improving road safety
    September 1, 2016
    The latest report by the A9 Safety Group on accident statistics on the A9 in Scotland indicate that there continues to be a sustained improvement in driver behaviour and a corresponding fall in collisions and casualties. The report contains collision and casualty data for the first 18 months of operation of the average speed cameras to 30 April 2016, which is the mid-point of the evaluation period. The other performance data covers the period to 30 June 2016 unless otherwise stated.