29.04.10 Bikers in Gloucestershire are being offered the opportunity to hone their skills with specialist instructors from Castle Combe Race Circuit. The special Rider Performance Safety Days are just £99 per person and for this, riders receive circuit-based rider improvement training, a half day workshop and time for free-lapping.

There is just one remaining date: Weds 15th September 2010. There are only 60 places on each day, so book early – see: http://www.castlecombecircuit.co.uk/trackdays/events/motorcyclesafety.asp.

And if you are interested in taking part, we’re interested in talking to you about your riding career and what you’re hoping to learn from the day. Call Chris Harrison on 01452 427585.

26.04.10 Chris Harrison, the Partnership’s motorcycle coordinator attended his first Gloucestershire ‘bikers’ nite’ last week at the the Apple Tree Pub in Woodmancote. Chris writes, “You don’t need to worry about finding a Biker Nite pub – just head for the area and follow all the bikes! Then as you get close, follow the smell of the huge BBQ which was already well under way when I got there around 7pm. 

A steady stream of bikes and riders continue until there was more than 300 bikes filling the car park and field. The variety is amazing from a 1900′s Indian and an RD350LC to to a 2009 RSV4. Whether it’s chrome or plastic, performance or comfort, on road or off road that’s floats your boat, it was there. 

Wandering round there’s as much variety in the characters as there is in the machines and we chat about bikes mainly, but the occasional biker asks for advice like “what’s the best way to get my wife on the back of my Harley”. It’s not just bikers either, there are wives, children, whole families in fact.

 I introduce myself to Steph who organises these events, she’s quite a character and wants to know all about the Rider performance day she is attending in May as she’s excited but also a little nervous.

 As the sun drops behind the houses, the raffle is drawn and the continuous flow of incoming bikes stops and bikes start to leave. I left at 10.30pm, it was a great night and an event where everyone is welcome – you don’t have to be a biker and I for one, am looking forward to the next event”.

21.04.10  When Megan Webster left Hartpury College to go home one day in September last year, she had no idea that all of her plans and dreams for the future would be shattered in an instant. She was involved in a collision that changed her life forever and now she is working with Gloucestershire Road Safety Partnership to help other people by sharing her story.

Although Megan had been working at the college for over a year, she was just two weeks into her new job and studying for a Masters degree when she was involved in a major collision. She was exiting from Hartpury College onto the A417 when she collided with another car coming from Gloucester and had to be cut from her vehicle.  Megan didn’t realise how seriously she was injured until she was being carried to the air ambulance to be taken to Frenchay Hospital.

She suffered extensive leg injuries and at one point, it was a possibility that she would have to have it amputated. She had to have pins in her knee, her leg in traction to help her shattered pelvis and a further seven pins and two plates to hold her 25 fractures together.

As a result of her injuries, Megan could not continue with her Masters as it involves working with horses and she is no longer able to ride.  She will be on medication for the rest of her life and may need further surgery in the future.

Gloucestershire’s Road Safety Partnership has worked with a local driving instructor , Andrew Jones, to produce a poster that will be put up in the local area this week to raise awareness of the ‘blind spot’ on the junction and to appeal to motorists to take their time, stop and look to the right properly before manoeuvring.

 Gloucestershire Highways will also be putting out temporary signs warning of the casualty figures and giving road safety advice. Megan said, “My advice to anyone using that junction is to take your time, sit and wait and double check that everything is clear. It seems a pain to sit there, especially when there are cars behind you, but those few extra seconds are nothing in reality. My life changed forever in that split second.”

21.04.10  Motorcyclists account for a quarter of all road users killed or seriously injured on Gloucestershire’s roads, and when compared to the relatively small number of motorcyclists on our roads, this figure is disproportionately high.

One of our priorities is to reduce these figures and we’ll be putting up black and yellow road signs next week on key motorcycle casualty routes which ask motorists to THINK BIKE!

The signs have successfully contributed to reducing the number of collisions on signposted routes over the past two years.  On average, there has been a 55% reduction in serious injuries during the signage campaigns.

They are a striking reminder to all road users to look properly before pulling out or overtaking at all times and to remind bikers to look out for the signs and take extra care on bends and in traffic.

The routes where the THINK BIKE signs will be located are:

• A40 Northleach junction to Little Barrington
• A435 Cowley junction to Cirencester
• A433 from Tetbury to Didmarton
• A417 Hartpury to Bromesberrow
• A436 Adoversford

 The signs will be in place next week and will remain until October.