Hampshire Bikers Urged To Take Care As Spring Arrives

21 March 2014, 06:40 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

Police in Hampshire are appealing to bikers to take care, as many get back on the road after winter.

They're advising riders to check their bikes over carefully, as many will be getting bikes out of storage for the first time as the weather gets warmer.

15 riders were killed in Hampshire last year. There were also 263 serious injuries and 469 slight injuries in 2013.

A Hampshire Police spokesperson said:

"Over 80% of the motorcycle users injured in the force area live locally.

"Our force areas of concern are urban areas - Southampton, Portsmouth and the IOW - on 30mph limit roads at commuter times of the day.

"The greatest number of motorcycle user casualties occur in Southampton, Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight. "

Gary Elston, who runs a bike awareness scheme for Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service, says there is a temptation to go too fast:

"There's that new, fresh, exciting moment when you first get back on your bike to give it a really good exercise down the road. But with your skill set not being as good as when you put your bike away, because you haven't done it for a while, it's not the best thing to do.

"No matter how good you are, you can always improve. So try and get on an improvement scheme.

"Look at the state of your tyres. Just because they're legal, doesn't necessarily mean they're good enough to go on the road."