Police urge motorcycle safety with Spring’s arrival
Posted March 30, 2014 11:33 am.
Last Updated March 4, 2016 1:53 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – As the temperatures warm up and we, hopefully, get less rain, you’re likely going to see more motorcyclists on the road.
Police are asking drivers to be extra careful in hopes of cutting down on the number of crashes.
VPD Sgt. Randy Fincham says every Spring they see an increase in crashes involving bikers.
He is asking you to give them some extra space, because even the slightest nudge could lead to a deadly accident. “They don’t have that protection around them. We do see on occassion the odd motorcyclist that isn’t necessarily seen by a driver of a car. They don’t have that face-to-face, or the eye-to-eye contact while they’re travelling down the roadway.”
Fincham has attended a lot of these crash scenes which he describes as graphic and says it’s not always clear who was in the right. “Many of these times it can be both parties, whether it is the cyclist and a driver, they can both be in the right and still have a collision or still have have someone walk away with an injury. There are times where no one is going to walk away in these situations.”
ICBC stats show that over a five-year average there are 2,200 crashes involving motorcyclists and they are also eight times more likely to be killed on the road.
