Campaign for motorcycle safety
The campaign was kickstarted at Naas Garda Station, with Kildare's road safety officer Declan Keogh, Garda John Joe O'Connell of the Garda Traffic Corps, and leading Ambulance Paramedic Tony Kelly from the HSE National Ambulance Service.
Motorcyclists represent less than one in 50 of all licensed vehicles in Ireland, but they account for one in eight road deaths. In a collision, motorcycle and moped users have less protection than drivers or passengers in vehicles. In the past five years, 121 motorcyclists were killed on Irish roads.
A motorcyclist is required by law to wear a high visibility vest while riding a motorcycle, but Declan Keogh says it is 'bizarre and disappointing' that they are not required to wear proper and appropriate protective gear while driving a motorcycle. "After all, if you come off a motorbike, a vest will not provide for any protection whatsoever," he notes, "whereas the protective gear will. I hope this will change soon enough."
Garda John Joe O'Connell of the Garda Traffic Corps in Naas says that motorcyclists are not exempt in anyway from the same rules or restrictions as four wheeled vehicles. He urged them to make sure their bike is roadworthy and that they take all aspects of safety into consideration for themselves as a motorcyclist and also for their pillion passengers.
(Pic Michael O'Rourke.)
