BY DI SNEDDON
“Sorry mate, I didn’t see you.”
It’s a response often said when a motorcycle rider is hit by a car.
October is Motorcycle Awareness Month and members of the Upper Hunter Ulysses Group have joined forces for the Joe Rider Motorcycle Road Safety Project that has involved road safety officers from Muswellbrook, Upper Hunter and Singleton councils.
During the past week members have ridden around urban streets with a ‘I’m Joe Rider’ fluoro vest over their traditional leather jackets which might cramp their riding style just a little but it is a campaign they fully endorse.
Bear (Brian Davison) remembers well the week he spent in hospital recovering from injuries he sustained after he was knocked off his bike by a car towing a caravan in Kakadu National Park. In addition to his injuries, the accident wrote off his bike and scrubbed a tattoo off his forearm but he knows it could have been so much worse.
Motorcycle riders are more exposed and when they are involved in a crash, they risk serious injury or death.
Motorcycles are smaller, less visible and easily overlooked by other road users particularly at round abouts and intersections. ‘Joe Rider’ is about encouraging motorists to ‘Look Out’ for motorists.
