Blackburn with Darwen pilot scheme to save young motorcyclists’ lives (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Blackburn with Darwen pilot scheme to save young motorcyclists’ lives

3:30pm Friday 10th February 2012 in Darwen By Catherine Pye, Reporter

SAVE LIVES Blackburn with Darwen pilot scheme to save young motorcyclists’ lives

A PILOT scheme is about to launch in a bid to save young motorcyclists’ lives.

Steve Johnson, of the Blackburn with Darwen Casualty Reduction Team, will be leading five two-hour sessions for 15-and-a-half to 21-year-olds who are about to take their Compulsory Basic Training (CBT) bike test, or have just passed it.

Statistics from charity BRAKE have shown motorcyclists are 42 per cent more likely to die in a road traffic collision, and there are wide concerns that young riders are not experienced enough when they first hit the roads.

The sessions run by Steve, who has worked with the Lancashire Telegraph on the Wasted Lives campaign to end carnage on the roads, will concentrate on increasing control, theory and hazard perception.

He said: “When you’re 16 you can spend a day doing your CBT, then ride around town on L plates.

"One day isn’t enough. These new sessions will each be two hours long, divided into one hour of theory and one hour of practical.”

Steve hopes that by sessions four and five, some riders with CBT licences will be able to go out on the roads with an instructor.

The sessions, at the West Pennine Training Centre in Gladstone Street, Blackburn, start on February 22 and run for five weeks.

The course will be paid for with a grant from Blackburn with Darwen Council’s road safety team, and is free to those who complete it.

Steve said: “We ask all who attend to give a cheque for £75. If they complete all five sessions we don’t cash it.”

Steve has also carried out pre-driving courses for 14 to 17-year-old car drivers for over three years, which are still available.

For more information on either course, email: casualtyreductionteam@capita.co.uk