Young riders enhance their knowledge

Two young riders have been given new bikes after being selected as winners of the Street Spirit campaign competition.

The Street Spirit campaign calls on young riders to enhance their knowledge on safe riding by watching five short videos and completing a quiz.

This automatically enters them into the competition, giving them the chance to win one of two brand new bikes, with full protective kit and a year’s insurance. The campaign is exclusively for Essex residents.

Powered two wheelers (PTWs) – the stats

• Data reveals that riders of PTWs are the highest road user risk group in Essex.
• In 2016 they made up just 0.8% of the traffic but were represented in over 26% of all collisions involving death or serious injury.
• In the same year, nearly 37% of all P2W collisions resulting in death or serious injury involved young riders (aged 17 to 25 years).

Last month, Stephen, aged 17 and from Pitsea, and Jamie who is 18 and from Colchester, were presented with their bikes in Southend. They were also given a year’s free insurance and full protective clothing as part of their prize.

Competition winner Stephen said: “I think the campaign was a great way of teaching young riders the key principles of staying safe on the road, and riding legally.

“The campaign elaborated on skills taught on the CBT to stay safe while riding, and also taught me how to properly maintain my bike and how to check it’s in a safe condition to ride. It also taught me how to properly gear myself to ride, which is just as important as riding on a well maintained bike.”

Andy Stroulger, RTC reduction manager and motorcycle lead for SERP, says: “Young riders between the age of 16 and 25 years old are particularly vulnerable on the roads of Essex, and are involved in a significant proportion of collisions. 

“Our Street Spirit campaign has been a great success in enabling us to engage with current and potential young riders and provide some useful learning about the risks and consequences of being out on the roads. 

“We received almost 500 competition entries for the two prize bikes and I would like to congratulate our two winners, Jamie and Stephen, on their success. I hope they will enjoy riding their new bikes and be ambassadors for safe riding.”

A refreshed version of the campaign will run again next year with the addition of a virtual reality training film.

08 October 2019