MOTORCYCLISTS have been urged to take care as the bank holiday marks the first return to the road for many bikers this year.
Police Scotland's Road Policing officers will also be out on the roads encouraging motorcyclists to stay safe with a mixture of education and enforcement.
Chief Superintendent Andy Edmonston, head of Road Policing at Police Scotland, said: “Many bikers will be preparing to get back out on the road this weekend to enjoy the wide range of rides and scenery Scotland has to offer.
“We understand the thrill of motorcycling and why people want to do it, but we also want them to keep themselves safe, especially when overtaking and negotiating left hand bends.
“Earlier this year we worked with Transport Scotland on this year's launch of the 'Live Fast, Die Old' campaign, which allows us to talk directly to bikers, encouraging them to enjoy the biking season while thinking about the safety aspects of their ride.
"Motorcyclists are more vulnerable than other road users and since the start of April, we have already seen two motorcyclists killed and others seriously injured. As the roads get busier in the coming months and in particular this holiday weekend, I would encourage motorcyclists to take extra care."
For a second year, the official road safety campaign has been aimed primarily at 40 to 49 year-old male riders, the group statistically most likely to be of killed or seriously injured.
Motorcyclists make up one per cent of Scotland’s road traffic, but account for 15 per cent of fatalities, and throughout the biking season it is not unusual to see someone die every weekend.
The campaign is also highlighting the dangers of overtaking since the manoeuvre is a factor in one in every three fatal motorbike collisions.
The bank holiday weekend has also coincided with an unseasonal cold snap, with yellow weather warnings for snow in place across most of the Central Belt and southern Scotland tomorrow [fri]. The Met Office has warned that "persistent and at times heavy snow" is likely to fall in the east of Scotland, including in Edinburgh and Stirling, until around 3pm.
On higher ground up to six inches of snow is forecast, although low-lying areas are also expected to be hit. In the west of Scotland, North and South Lanarkshire and East Dunbartonshire are likely to be worst affected with snowfalls of two to four inches.
Forecasters warn anyone travelling today to be prepared for "dangerous driving conditions and disruption to transport".
There are currently no weather warnings in place for the weekend, though this may be updated.
Meanwhile, motoring organisations have warned drivers to expect heavy traffic as a record 20.1 million cars take to the roads for leisure trips across the UK between tomorrow and the Bank Holiday Monday on May 2.
Saturday looks set to be the busiest day, with 8.4 million car trips, with 5.4 million drivers hitting the roads tomorrow - the second busiest day of the bank holiday weekend.
RAC spokesman Simon Williams said: “This level of recreational car journeys is the highest we have seen in recent times. We think it can only be a hangover effect from Easter falling in late March when perhaps people didn’t drive as much as they would have had it been April when the weather would have been a little warmer."
The AA advised motorists to delay their Friday journeys until after 7pm if possible to avoid the late afternoon surge.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel