Category: Safety & Compensation

1. Motorcycle accident statistics and road surfaces

   Posted on 9:15am Sunday 31st Jan 2010

   Whenever motorcycle accident statistics are mentioned, two reasons are given for the rise in accidents – speed and ‘born again bikers’. Yet there’s one reason that is rarely highlighted, as motorcyclist Rob Stevenson knows only too well…

   “The accident I had on my bike was caused by a defective road surface,” explains Rob, who lost control of his bike after riding over a new patch of tar on the A95, one of the main roads in the north east of Scotland. Whenever my front tyre went onto the bitumen which sealed the new tar to the old tar, my bike instantly went over and I tumbled down the road, waiting for a car to hit me.”

   Luckily, Rob had come off his bike when there wasn’t an on-coming vehicle and escaped with a broken ankle, wrist and collarbone. “When the police arrived, I explained to them how the bitumen had been the direct cause of the accident and assumed that would be the end of any police involvement.”

   However, three months later, two police officers visited Rob at home and told him he was being charged with careless driving with excessive speed. “I told them exactly what I had told their colleague regarding the cause of my crash – and also told them that another local motorcyclist had crashed on the same corner in the same conditions and doing a similar - and legal - speed.”

   Rob’s comments about the road surface were ignored and he was then quizzed on his riding ability. “I’ve been riding motorcycles for some time and, having also undertaken the Bike Safe course, I assured the police officers I’d been in the correct position on the road. Once again, I stressed that the accident was not my fault – and that someone was going to be killed at that spot - but neither of them appeared to be listening to me.”

   Rob found his insurance company adopted a similar attitude when he asked for legal assistance to pursue a claim against the company which had applied the bitumen to the road. “Legal assistance was part of my insurance policy but my insurance company said I would never win my case and refused to provide me with legal representation.”

   A few weeks later, there was another motorcycle accident at exactly the same corner – only this time, one of the attending police officers was a motorcyclist who described the area of bitumen as being ‘like ice’. “Soon after that, the charges against me were dropped,” says Rob.

   “In the space of four months, there had been at least three accidents at the same spot which could potentially have had fatal consequences,” said Rob “And the motorcyclist who was involved in the second crash told me that the ditch at the side of the road was littered with broken bits of motorcycles – he described it as ‘a motorbike graveyard’.”

   Determined to ensure no-one else would be a victim of this stretch of road, Rob decided to pursue his case against the road contractors. Despite being told again and again that he had no chance of winning, Rob finally found a legal company to take on his case.

   After a lengthy legal battle, Rob won his case against the road contractor - who had applied the bitumen to the road without adding skid resistant stones – and was awarded compensation. However, he revealed that winning the case was more about ensuring the road was resurfaced than the money. “It took three crashes in a short space of time, an observant policeman who knew about riding a motorcycle, and a hard-fought court case before it was accepted that the problem at this spot wasn’t speed but a dodgy road surface.”

   Brenda Mitchell and a keen motorcyclist herself, revealed that they are dealing with increasing numbers of accidents which are the result of defective road surfaces. “We’ve found that it’s not unusual for speed or lack of motorcycling skills to be blamed when the problem is actually a defective road surface,” said Mrs Mitchell. “With Mr Stevenson’s case, if action had been taken to replace this patch of bitumen as soon as possible after his accident, two further motorcycle accidents could, potentially, have been avoided.

    

2. New Safety Helmet Technology to save hundreds of lives

   Posted on 12:00am Monday 18th Jan 2010

   A brain-cooling device for crash helmets could save hundreds of lives in the UK each year.

   The patented invention developed at Sussex University’s Innovation Centre, called ThermaHelm™, performs like an instant ice pack when activated by sudden impact. It reduces brain swelling and the risk of long-term brain damage and extends the critical window paramedics and Accident & Emergency teams have to perform their life-saving skills.

   The advent of this innovation takes crash helmet safety to an unprecedented level and represents the biggest step-change in crash helmet advancement for over 50 years. Although the invention is at prototype stage, it has prompted significant interest from safety helmet manufacturers in Europe and Japan. It is a manufacturer-installed integration within the lining of the helmet and has no adverse impact on the overall integrity of the helmet.

   The development team, led by inventor Jullian Preston-Powers and Riccardo Anzil, believes the brain-cooling device can be adapted for all activities where safety helmet use is necessary.

   The technology has been praised by the Government’s UK Trade and Investment division, which has officially green-lighted the company into the Global Entrepreneurs Programme as a “Technology of Exceptional Potential.”

    Latest Department for Transport figures (2008) show that over 28,000 motorcycle accidents resulted in around 5,500 serious injuries and 500 fatalities in the Great Britain alone. Of these, many involved Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) that could have been mitigated by the ThermaHelm brain cooling device. 

   Jullian Preston-Powers said the concept was acknowledged by the scientific and medical communities, but never before had anybody explored how to build it into a crash helmet. He said: “It has long been recognised that neurological deterioration in trauma victims is dramatically reduced when a hypothermic state is induced. “Medical practitioners have made use of this knowledge by deliberately inducing mild hypothermia in some patients prior to emergency treatment or during surgical operations. It causes the body’s vital functions to slow down, thus reducing the chances of brain damage occurring in the patient.”

   Jullian said that by taking these medical advances and applying the science to the area of Traumatic Brain Injury opened up a world of exciting new life-saving opportunities. “This is a hugely exciting innovation that has the potential to save thousands of lives around the world every year,” he said. “There has been strong interest from helmet manufacturers in Europe and Japan, and we are now working hard to turn that interest into firm licensing agreements that will give riders better fortification against long-term brain damage and death in the event of an accident.”

   The prototype is now undergoing trials and, upon their successful completion, is expected to go into full-time production by May 2010. The ThermaHelm team has had strong support from UK Trade & Investment’s Global Entrepreneur Programme, which attracts some of the world’s best entrepreneurs and early stage technology companies to use the UK as their springboard to global success.

   Derek Goodwin, Head of the Global Entrepreneurs Programme at UK Trade & Investment, saw the potential of the invention at an early stage.

   He said: “We are very impressed with the approach taken by Jullian Preston-Powers in developing his new brain cooling crash helmet technology. We look forward to helping ThermaHelm reach global markets with their innovation and becoming a worldwide life saving advancement applicable to all forms of safety helmets.”

   ThermaHelm has been working on this product for two years from its research base, called Innovation Stream, at the Sussex Innovation Centre in Brighton, East Sussex. The centre is part of Sussex University and has given great support and guidance to the development of the technology.

   The ThermaHelm™ team has been liaising with Bridget Harris at the University of Edinburgh, who is developing a stationary brain-cooling helmet for universal placement in hospital ER and A&E departments in collaboration with Eurotherm – a Europe-wide study to further prove the definitive benefits of brain cooling. 

   How it works

   Two light-weight and non-toxic chemical packs are integrated into the helmet lining. They contain multiple trigger points to allow the chemicals to mix and initiate the endothermic (cold) reaction. One chemical pack contains water, the other ammonium nitrate. A sudden impact will cause a membrane to break, allowing the water to mix into the ammonium nitrate.

   The endothermic reaction is immediate and cools the brain through small veins in the scalp called emissary capillaries. As the reaction is progressive, heat from the head will be continually absorbed. The cooling process lasts approximately 30-45 minutes and will maintain stable brain temperatures during this time. A hot and expanded brain flattens the blood ways, starving the brain tissue of vital oxygen. If the brain’s temperature can be stabilised, the accident victim is much more likely to avoid Traumatic Brain Injury and so increase his/her chances of survival.

   A major benefit of the ThermaHelm ice pack is that the head remains cool without the need to take off the crash helmet, which could aggravate spinal or neck injuries sustained in the accident. Motorcycle helmets should only be removed following assessment by a medic. 

   The benefits of a hypothermic state in trauma victims have been recognised for hundreds of years. In the early 19^th Century, wounded soldiers in the Napoleonic Wars who were left out in the cold had a greater survival rate than their counterparts kept warm by camp fires. More recently, doctors have deliberately induced mild hypothermia in patients prior to emergency treatment during surgical operations.

   The ThermaHelm brain-cooling device can be integrated into the manufacture of most standard motorcycle helmets. It is likely to add approximately £150 to the overall price tag. Research is ongoing to see if it is feasible to retrospectively fit the technology into existing helmets.

   ThermaHelm™ branded impenetrable carbon fibre helmets will also be available, and will be competitively priced from £299 to £499.

3. Motorcyclists will face stiffer penalties

   Posted on 12:00am Monday 14th Dec 2009

   Motorcyclists at the head of a group of riders will face stiffer penalties for speeding under a crown court ruling.

   Being the lead rider in a group is an aggravating factor making you partly responsible for speeding offences of those behind you according to the decision.

   The ruling can be applied in any future cases where two or more motorcyclists riding together are accused of speeding. The head rider might be only a few mph over the limit, but could be given the same penalty as the worst offender behind.

   Road traffic solicitor Robert Dobson said: "Any crown court decision can be stated in future cases. This is potentially a very dangerous judgement for motorcyclists. Riders in a group change position frequently. If you are riding at the front any group at excess speed, then the very fact you're at the front is an aggravating factor."

   Ken Clark, 49, reached 85mph on his Yamaha R1 while leading a group of three riders on the 60mph A272 near Rogate, Sussex, last June. The speed is within the usual threshold for a fixed penalty of three points and a £60 fine. But Chichester Crown Court ruled he should receive the same penalty as a following rider accused of going 103mph.

   Barrister notes on the ruling given to Clark after the hearing state: `Although his was the lesser speed, [the bench] found it an aggravating feature that he was the lead motorcyclist, was setting the pace and he knew that the other two motorcyclists would want to catch him up and would be speeding to do so.'

4. RIDERS LESS LIKELY TO RISK DRINKING AND RIDING

   Posted on 12:00am Monday 23rd Nov 2009

   While one in six deaths on our roads are caused by drivers over the legal alcohol limit, motorcyclists are half as likely as other motorists to take the risk of drinking before riding, according to the MCI, marking the start of Road Safety Week 2009 (1).

   The latest analysis of drink-drive statistics show that in 2008, of the motorcycle riders tested following an accident, 1.4 per cent failed a breathalyser test compared to an average of 2.7 per cent for all road user casualties as a whole (2).

   The MCI is supporting Road Safety Week 2009's call to all road users to commit to not drink even a drop of alcohol before driving, nor consume any other illegal drug, to help reduce the number of accidents and casualties on British roads.

   For road users as a whole, the group most likely to drink and drive were those under 17, with 11.8 per cent of young people in this age band failing the test. Only 1.2 per cent of these positive tests were given by young motorcyclists.

   Motorcyclists aged between 20 and 24 were most likely to fail a breath test, with 2.4 per cent of tests taken by riders in this age band positive for alcohol. However, this figure is still less than half that of the average for all road users between 20 and 24, of whom 5 per cent gave a breath test positive for alcohol.

   In 2007, at least 15,935 people in the UK were killed or hurt by drink and drug-drivers. That's: 1,328 people every month, 306 people every week, 44 people every day, 2 people every hour.

   In 2007, 478 people were killed by drivers over the drink-drive limit in the UK. Women are much less likely than men to cause drink drive crashes. However, nearly a third of the casualties in drink drive crashes are women; often passengers in cars driven by young men.Nearly one in six convicted drink-drivers are caught the morning after.

   The MCI advises:

   * Never drink any amount of alcohol if you're riding. You don't have to be over the limit for your skills to be impaired.

   * Never drink late at night if you're riding early the next morning. If you get caught out later than you thought, take the bus or go pillion next morning.

   * Don't let mates drink and ride.

   * Don't hassle anyone into accepting a drink they don't want.

   Sheila Rainger, MCI Director of Communications, said, "The demands of riding a motorcycle are greater than those of driving a car and it is good to see the majority of motorcyclists recognizing this fact by refusing to mix drinking and riding.

   "However, there is no room for complacency. As vulnerable road users, motorcyclists need to stay sharp. The MCI is backing the Road Safety Week 2009 call to all riders to commit to 'not a drop, not a drag' before starting the engine, and as Christmas party season approaches, urging riders to be aware that alcohol can stay in your system well into the morning after."
   1) www.roadsafetyweek.org
   2) DfT; Compendium of Motorcycling Statistics 2009
   3) Other statistics supplied by Brake

5. Parents encouraged to take control of young moped and motorcycle riders

   Posted on 12:00am Thursday 1st Oct 2009

   Many young students will return to their studies this year on mopeds and motorcycles and parents in Warwickshire are being urged to send them on a free, dedicated training course to help them stay safe on the roads. 

   Research has shown that 16 to 19 year old motorcyclists are the most vulnerable road users and many still feel nervous and cautious when they first travel on two wheels; even though this heralds an exciting, new-found freedom.

   Warwickshire Road Safety Officer, Stephen Rumble explains;

   “A moped or motorcycle is a great way to get around because you no longer have to rely on parents for lifts or be constrained by public transport times. However, our behavioural studies suggest that many inexperienced riders quickly change from feeling nervous, cautious and vulnerable to being confident, cocky and believing themselves to be invincible. The casualty statistics for this age group would frighten any parent, but we are not trying to discourage the use of mopeds and motorcycles. The Take Control training course is designed to help young riders develop new skills, temper any over-enthusiasm and improve their road safety awareness“.

   A number of prominent local motorcycle dealerships are supporting and promoting the Take Control courses and the free half-day rider training would be an ideal follow up to CBT. The advanced instructors are available seven days a week and will usually take one or two motorcyclists per session, starting at a convenient location to suit everyone.                                                                                                    

   For more information, go to www.takecontroltraining.co.uk

   For bookings, call 90-ONE Rider Education on (0845) 370 91 91.