Brighton and Hove bikers offered safety courses

Bikers from Brighton and Hove are being urged to sign up for a free course to help keep them and fellow riders safe on the roads.

They were encouraged to take up the offer by Sussex Police as the force announced a summer-long campaign targeting bikers who put themselves and others in danger.

In the first weekend in May, Sussex Police said that there were five serious injury crashes involving motorcycles in Sussex.

And last year one in eight people killed on the county’s roads were motorcyclists, while almost one in four of those who suffered serious injuries in crashes were on bikes.

The free courses, called Bike Safe, are run by the Sussex Safer Roads Partnership and are aimed at helping motorcyclists to become better riders to try to keep them out of danger.

The safer roads partnership also organises free Biker Down emergency training workshops.

These are run by bikers for bikers to prepare motorcyclists should the worst happen on the roads and they find themselves first at the scene of a crash.

Sussex Police said that it Operation Ride had started – a road safety campaign focused on educating motorcyclists about road safety and tackling those bikers who put themselves and others in danger.

Sergeant Stewart Goodwin said: “We have a number of operations running throughout the summer period, the intention of which is to make motorcycling in Sussex as safe as we can.

“The county’s roads are well known by the motorcycling fraternity as nice routes to ride on and we welcome all those who come to use them.

“However, we will not tolerate inappropriate and dangerous riding or the use of machines that are unsafe or being ridden illegally, such as with bald tyres or without tax, insurance or number plates.

“We use patrols across the county to catch those who do not obey the law and we will continue to find and stop offenders around the clock.”

For more information about bike safety, click here www.sussex.police.uk/help-centre/ask-us/roads,-driving-and-cycling.

To sign up for a Bike Safe or Biker Down course, click here www.sussexsaferroads.gov.uk/safer-for-motorcyclists/training.html.

Sussex Police said antisocial driving by drivers or motorcyclists could be reported at www.operationcrackdown.co.uk.