Tails Up At Tail End!

15-16th September, East of England Showground, Peterborough

Benefiting from brilliant sunshine and warm weather, the BMF’s Tail End event proved a real 
winner over the weekend, attracting a record 34,968 to this popular BMF event. 

Now in its tenth year at the East of England Showground, attendance was up a staggering 11% on last year. Staged as the close to the BMF’s annual events programme, Tail End always has plenty of special offers from traders selling end of season lines, but this year in particular, more traders reported more business than ever before.

Tail End is to many people a mini-BMF Show so all the ingredients that make that such a massive success were there; not just hundreds of traders and live bands but an arena packed with events. Stunt displays by Bolddog Lings and the Solent Eagles provided top bike action backed up by hardy annuals of the Moped Enduro and of course Vintage Speedway.

The Battle of the Bands competition proved very popular with eight bands competing over the two days and the audience voting for their favourites. The winning band, ‘The Hogs’ will be invited to head up the line up for next year’s BMF Show.

The charity Firewalk also attracted large crowds. Organised by The Women’s International Motorcycle Association (WIMA), 30 walkers took part, including BMF Chairman Anna Zee and raised over £3000, split between the BMF Foundation and the WIMA India Street Kids Project.

WIMA’s next fundraising effort will be a Glass Walk! Anybody interested should contact sheonagh_ravensdale@yahoo.co.uk  

The BMF’s event organiser Jason Lunn of Live Promotions said: "Tail End was an incredible success, especially in our first year with the BMF. Not only was attendance up on last year but also this was the biggest Tail End yet with more traders and more campers than ever before. It's been an brilliant first year for us working with the BMF and we can't wait for the 2008 season to get underway."

For the BMF, Tony Young Events Director said: “All traders have reported a record show and we’ve had so many people from the camp site stop and thank us for a fantastic weekend that I must thank Live Promotions, our own staff and our marshals for a fantastic effort in what has been a difficult year for the BMF. Successful events are essential if we are continue to lobby effectively and this year has set the scene for greater things to come.”


BMF 2008 Events Calendar:

BMF Show, East of England Showground, Peterborough, 17th -18th May
Garden of England Motorcycle Show (GEMS), 30th - 1st June
Kelso BikeFest, Scottish Borders, 12th -13th July
BMF Tail End, East of England Showground, Peterborough, 13th -14th Sept

Contact details: Public enquiries: 0116 284 5380 or enquiry@bmf.co.uk  
Trade and sponsorship enquiries: 01775 768661 or jason@livepromotions.co.uk  

BMF WITHDRAWS SUPPORT FOR ROADPEACE

Britain’s largest motorcycling group, the British Motorcyclists Federation, have withdrawn their support from the road safety lobby group RoadPeace.

The move follows the publication of a letter sent by RoadPeace to the House of Commons Transport Select Committee proposing that motorcycles be downsized in ‘weight, power and speed’.

Writing to Amy Aeron-Thomas, Executive Director of RoadPeace, the BMF have cancelled their membership of RoadPeace pointing out that the BMF have previously objected to Roadpeace’s stance on motorcycle safety, but ‘now that you have attacked motorcycling yet again with ill-conceived and ill-informed arguments, you have driven us to withdraw our support for your organisation’ said BMF Government Relations Executive Chris Hodder.

Taking issue with the RoadPeace letter, the BMF point out that the majority of motorcycle accidents happen to riders of low-powered motorcycles and scooters with a capacity of less than 125cc. In fact a 2004 Transport Research Laboratory report entitled “The Accident Risk of Motorcyclists” concluded that there was no direct link between engine capacity and accidents.

The RoadPeace letter also claims that there is a high rate of motorcycle accidents involving pedestrians and cyclists, but fail to point out that in absolute terms, the actual numbers are small compared to those involving other vehicles. Further, they do not say who is to blame. The BMF point out that motorcyclists are at least tested, licensed, registered, taxed and insured, whereas cyclists, and perhaps needless to say, pedestrians, do not require any form of licensing to use the road.

As most safety practitioners are aware, the vast majority of motorcycle accidents are caused by other road users, by road defects or by poor road design, but the BMF accepts that a significant number are also caused by inexperience, however, the Government’s Motorcycling Strategy aims to address all these issues by improving road design and training while RoadPeace has remained hostile to the Strategy from the outset.

The BMF has also objected to the RoadPeace claim that reducing power could reduce pollution. Modern motorcycles produce less CO2 than the new car average say the BMF but more importantly, due to their ability to make better use of road space, are far more fuel-efficient than other vehicles trapped in heavy traffic congestion.

Commenting, BMF Spokesman Jeff Stone said: “As a responsible motorcycling body, the BMF is represented on numerous transport and road safety committees and joined RoadPeace some years ago in order to contribute to the road safety debate and help such bodies gain a better understanding of motorcycling issues. This is one of those rare cases where it sadly hasn’t worked.”

BMF CALL FOR RUBBISH ROADS CLEAN-UP                                                                                      

Britain’s roads are so littered with road debris such as broken glass, metal, gravel and other rubbish, that they are a real and constant danger to motorcyclists and cyclists say the BMF.


Based on 2005 figures, properly swept roads could have prevented 1,565 accidents and saved 36 lives say Britain’s largest rider group, the 100,000 strong British Motorcyclists Federation. Further, say the BMF, more accidents (6.3%) are caused by road debris than the 4% of motorcycle accidents that the Department for Transport attribute to excessive speed.

The BMF has produced a ‘Rubbish Roads Ahead’ booklet and is now writing to every local highway authority urging them to clean-up the areas of carriageway near pavements, on the crown of the road and on the outside of corners and bends; in other words, the areas unused by other vehicles but prone to use by two wheeled vehicles.

Motorcycles and pedal cycles have a very small contact patch between the road and the tyre say the BMF so even a small amount of loose material can cause a loss of traction. Road sweeping is a simple and effective method of road safety improvement that could save dozens of lives and prevent expensive and time-consuming litigation for highway authorities say the BMF

Debris can also cause punctures and on a motorcycle or cycle they can seriously affect the handling characteristics and often cause accidents. The European-wide Motorcycle Accidents In Depth Study (MAIDS) found that punctures were a cause in 3.7% of all the motorcycle accidents studied (Table 4.26). Skidding can also frequently result in an accident. MAIDS found that in 2.5% of the accidents, gravel or sand were present (Table 6.5). The Department for Transport reports that in 2005, 4,065 motorcycles and 444 cycles were involved in an accident after skidding on an otherwise dry road (Road Casualties Great Britain 2005 Page 114). This represented 20% of all dry road motorcycle accidents and 3.2% of all dry road cycle accidents recorded.

An Australian study by Monash University(4), commissioned by the Federal Office of Road Safety, found that in 19% of the motorcycle accidents they studied, loose material or mud was present.

BMF Government Relations Executive Chris Hodder said: “Local authorities are quite prepared to spend a small fortune on traffic calming and other anti-speeding measures, but here’s a bit of good house keeping that we think will bring real benefits at minimum cost. After all, who wants Rubbish Roads?”

Cleaning up op Britain’s roads makes good business sense too. With the rapid increase of US-style litigation against local authorities, the BMF site the 1999 case of “Goldthwaite vs. County of Lake” in California where the Judge found that Lake County was negligent in sweeping the gravel from the road and consequently awarded 54 year old Tom Goldthwaite $1.65 million in damages after his motorcycle slipped on loose gravel and he hit a guardrail, leaving him unable to walk properly.

The booklet can be found on http://www.bmf.co.uk/upload/documents/1189709339_rubbish_roads_booklet_web.pdf

Notes:
1. MAIDS: Table 4.26 http://maids.acembike.org/ . 
2. MAIDS: Table 6.5 http://maids.acembike.org/  
3. DfT: Road Casualties Great Britain 2005 Page 114 http://www.dft.gov.uk/162259/162469/221412/221549/227755/roadcasualtiesgreatbritain2005a.  
4. N. Haworth, et al: Case-Control Study of Motorcycle Crashes page 23 http://www.monash.edu.au/muarc/reports/atsb174.pdf