Lancashire Constabulary in partnership with the North West Ambulance Service has developed a BikeSafe initiative to tackle motorcycle accidents, following the huge success of the force’s award winning motorcycle campaign.
BikeSafe is a national project that provides workshops to improve bikers levels of skill to make riding not only safer but also more enjoyable.
In September 2013 Inspector Dave Mangan, who oversees road policing in the county’s East Division, tragically lost his father in a motorbike collision.
Last year he created a short a film to raise awareness of the dangers of riding whilst tired. The film ‘Mike’s Last Ride’ was subsequently released on YouTube and following a social media campaign has now gained almost 80,000 views and has been shown to bikers across the country, as well as being aired on BikeWorld on Motors TV.
Mike Mangan, 72, from Bolton was a keen and experienced biker. He sadly died on 11 September 2013 in Wheddon Cross, Somerset, when he was involved in a collision with an oncoming vehicle whilst overtaking.
Mike, a retired electrical engineer, was on the last ten miles of a 320 mile journey and his family believes that tiredness was a contributory factor in his death.
Inspector Mangan, 45, also from Bolton, was with his father at the time of the fatal collision. Mike was riding his BMW 1200RT, travelling from Lands End to Minehead.
‘Mike’s Last Ride’ tells the story of the day of the fatal collision and offers advice on how riders can stay safe on the roads.
Throughout the spring and summer months ‘Mike’s Last Ride’ will be taken around bike meets in Lancashire as part of BikeSafe. Bikers who take part in the workshops will also be given a detailed briefing on hazard awareness and how to make their motorcycling safer, followed up by an on-road assessed ride.
This year the road safety project has also secured further funding from the Lancashire Partnership for Road Safety to purchase a Ford Kuga, fitted out with a computer and large screen to travel to bikers meets across the country to show ‘Mike’s Last Ride’ other safety videos . Engagement material including meditubes and information leaflets are also being produced to support the campaign.
Following his 2014 trip from Preston to Lands End in memory of Mike, on 16 May 2015 Inspector Mangan will take leave to lead a motorcycle tour into Europe with colleagues from Lancashire and Avon and Somerset Police, along with friends of his fathers. They aim to ride to the Black Forrest and Switzerland. He has also contacted international police colleagues and has been in touch with European Traffic Officers who will ride with them for part of the trip
Inspector Mangan is also competing in Ironman UK in July in memory of his father and raising money for the Air Ambulance. He said:
“I created this short film to raise awareness in the biking community regarding the dangers of riding when you are tired and the risks bikers face when they make decisions at the end of the day.
“I’m hoping the launch of BikeSafe and our partnership with NWAS will further raise the profile of our campaign and that the film continues to send a reminder that it doesn’t matter how experienced you are – riding whilst tired can have serious or even fatal consequences.”
Inspector Mangan will be taking the film and accompanying presentation to the Isle of Man TT week in a bid to raise the profile of motorcycle safety to a wider UK audience, as well as engaging the thousands of bikers who travel through Lancashire to visit the Isle of Man.
Since its inception Mike’s Last Ride has won a national award from EVCOM (Event and Visual Communication Association) in the Social Media Campaign category and a silver award at Cannes Corporate Media and TV Awards for Informational films. It also came runner up in the 2014 ACPO Outstanding Contribution to Road Safety category.
Inspector Andy Trotter from the Force Road Policing Unit said: “The risks of motorcycling are considerably greater than for other road users. Motorcycles account for 1% of road users nationally, yet in Lancashire accounted for 25% of our killed or seriously injured road traffic collision statistics between April 2013 and March 2014. Around 30% of those being single vehicle accidents.
“Over recent months we have been working hard to make accessing a BikeSafe workshop easy for Lancashire bikers. This initiative is about bridging the gap between pre and post-test motorcycle training. Attendees get a morning classroom input from a national curriculum covering junctions, cornering, overtaking and hazard identification to name but a few. The afternoon is split between an assessed ride of approximately an hour and an input from North West Ambulance Service on CPR, major trauma, and helmet removal.”
North West Ambulance Service paramedics Chris Veevers and Cheryl Pickstock are assisting police in the workshop delivery.
Cheryl Pickstock from North West Ambulance Service said: “Deaths and serious injuries can be more common during the months when bikers take advantage of the warmer weather, and therefore the Bike Safe project is a fantastic way to increase riders’ awareness on safe and appropriate riding. We’ve been proud to work with Lancashire police on such a worthwhile project.”
Workshops are available to book via the website www.bikesafe.co.uk at the following dates and locations in Lancashire:
19th April- Garstang fire station
17th May – Accrington fire station
21st June – Tarleton fire station
19th July – Garstang fire station
16th August – Accrington fire station
20th September – Tarleton fire station
If you would like to make a donation to the Air Ambulance you can send a text to 70070, quote code IMUK51 followed by the amount you wish to donate. Alternatively you can log onto Just Giving http://www.justgiving.com/owner-email/pleasesponsor/David-Mangan and sponsor Inspector Mangan directly for Ironman UK.
A full inquest into Mike’s death heard on Thursday 22 May 2014 recorded a verdict of accidental death.
To view the film, search YouTube for ‘Mike’s last ride’. http://youtu.be/Wtijm9Sch-E
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