'Like a racetrack': Concern over speeding bikers on major Bridgnorth road
Motorcyclists are treating a major Bridgnorth road “like a racetrack” in the early hours of the morning, causing noise, accidents and injuries, a councillor has said.
William Parr asked West Mercia's police and crime commissioner and chief constable whether the “anti-social” riders in Bridgnorth were getting away with speeding, and asked what initiatives they had to target the problem.
Chief Constable Anthony Bangham said West Mercia Police communicates with motorcyclists through their magazines and by attending their gatherings. Police and crime commissioner John Campion said the relaxation of coronavirus “lockdown” restrictions was a chance to “re-educate” all motorists.
They were speaking at a meeting of the force area’s Police and Crime Panel.
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Councillor Parr, who represents Bridgnorth East and Astley Abbotts, is one of four Shropshire councillors on the 16-member body.
He asked: “Is there a particular initiative on motorbikes? I ask because, in and around Bridgnorth, especially since Covid-19 kicked in, there have been numerous accidents racing motorcycles at 2am, 3am, 4am. It is a racetrack.
“I just want to know, are they getting away with it? And can they be detected with any particular technology that we have?
“If it was a car it would probably be knocked off within minutes, but motorbikes go so fast.”
He acknowledged that similar scenes took place across the force area, but said the A458 Bridgnorth bypass and surrounding area was viewed by some rides as a place to “really go for it in the early hours of the morning”.
Mr Campion said there were many initiatives aimed at tackling the problem.
Enforcement
He said: “It is mixed between the social damage of antisocial use of our roads, and also those being killed and seriously injured.
“The route across Shropshire to the Welsh mountains is well-known to bikers and there are long-standing police operations around how they focus and target those who come through with enforcement and education.
“It tends to be people of our age, who don an ill-fitting leather outfit and can now afford a bike but are not able to control it, and cause that chaos.
“As lockdown is eased, as people start to experience our ‘new normal’, I think there is an opportunity to get in there and get people re-educated.”
Chief Constable Bangham said: “We are running both national and local campaigns with all road users. As we come out of this lockdown period, particularly, we are very conscious that the roads are being used differently by pedestrians, runners, new cyclists, motorcyclists and a whole variety of different people, and they are not used to busy roads.
“We’re trying to get ahead of that and start saying that we will target hard where there is dangerous behaviour.
“We directly communicate with motorcyclists through magazines and meeting places – it’s different this year, because they actually can’t gather officially – but we are and always have said you are both a group that probably is tempted more to go at high speed and disproportionately affected by the number of casualties on the road.”
Later in the meeting, Mr Campion’s draft road safety strategy was presented to the panel.
It described motorcyclists as a “particularly vulnerable group of road users”.
The document added: “Whilst motorcyclists make up only about one per cent of the driving population they are heavily represented in KSI [killed or seriously injured] figures, particularly in Shropshire.”