Meeting minutes - Road Safety Framework Motorcycle Focus Group - 23 February 2022
Attendees
- George Henry (Chair) - National Operations Manager for Road Safety Policy & Education, Transport Scotland
- Rebecca Ashton (RA) - IAM RoadSmart
- Scott Tulip (ST) - IAM RoadSmart
- Craig Carey-Clinch (CC) - National Motorcycle Council
- Anna Zee (AZ) - British Motorcycle Foundation
- Peter Laidlaw (PL) - British Motorcycle Foundation
- Lorraine Napier (LN) - Police Scotland
- Russell Rhicard-Tierney (RR) - Scottish Government
- Millie Dixon (MD) - Scottish Government
- Michael McDonnell (MM) - Director, Road Safety Scotland, Transport Scotland
- Stuart Wilson (SW) - National Operations Manager, Safety and Development, Transport Scotland
- Hannah Wood (HW) - Road Safety Policy and Framework Officer, Transport Scotland
Apologies
- Derek Crichton - SOLACE
- Robert Nicol - CoSLA
- David McKenzie - Project Manager, Transport Scotland
- Louise Blakelock - Police Scotland
- Neil Greig - IAM RoadSmart
- Colin Brown - Motorcycle Action Group
- Tom Duncan - British Motorcycle Foundation
- Gordon Brown - SCOTS
- Shelagh Considine - Scottish Government
Welcome and Introductions
The Chair welcomed the group noting that Jenny Gilruth has been appointed Minister for Transport and may attend future meetings. The Chair then proceeded with round the table introductions.
The Chair confirmed that all attendees had previously had sight of the minutes and that there were no actions outstanding.
Action Point: Circulate presentation from previous meeting and first Delivery Plan to members.
Owner: Secretariat
Terms of Reference and Governance
The Chair shared and discussed the Terms of Reference and Remit with attendees confirming that everyone was content.
The group agreed that meetings will take place in March and Spring ahead of the season but can also take place throughout the year as required.
Transport Scotland (TS) will chair the meeting for the first year and it will then rotate throughout the group on an annual basis.
Casualty Statistics
The Chair noted that the annual statistics have not changed since the last meeting and invited Police Scotland to update on Motorcycle collisions since the last meeting, taking in to account that it is winter.
Police Scotland highlighted that there have been 25 fatalities since 1st April 2021, accounting for 10% of total fatalities.
Going forward TS will work with Police Scotland to have the most up to date figures from the period of time between meetings.
Future Direction
Road Safety Framework has secured up to £15million funding to deliver road safety initiatives to support the Safe System. The governance of the fund and how it will be distributed is currently being discussed.
The Chair invited members to bring ideas or suggestions that could be discussed going forward.
Engineering
SW noted that the patterns have not changed from a trunk road perspective noting that 2% of road users contributing to 20% of fatalities.
The Motorcycle Safety Workshop was held 3 years ago, after which a number of pieces of work were commissioned including PRIME road markings, the third year of the trial will start in the Spring.
Work on developing the Route Risk Mapping for the Trunk Road network is continuing.
16% of motorcycle KSIs were resident outside Scotland.
Action Point: Continue to update group on key developments.
Owner: Transport Scotland
Education and Publicity
Road Safety Scotland (RSS) created a new platform several years ago called ‘Live Fast, Die Old’ which created a lot of traction within the biking community. Three years ago, a series of videos were created called ‘Breathtaking Roads’ which focuses on attractive areas in Scotland for bikers, whilst including messages about actions that may lead to fatal or serious injuries.
The most recent film is currently being created and looks specifically at overtaking.
The most recent evaluation of the ‘Live Fast, Die Old’ site highlighted that users are interested in the content of the site however not a lot of people are aware of it so work is progressing to address this.
RSS will be attending the Scottish Motorcycle Show, staffed by Police Scotland bikers as well as a secondary stand staff by partnership agency Leith LINKS who will be promoting the ‘Live Fast, Die Old’ platform.
The RSS biking campaign will start around Easter and will be social media led.
RSS are also working with Police Scotland to renew the Rider Refinement North resource as a national resource.
In discussion, the Chair commented that there is a lot of good work in terms of marketing, education and publicity but invited members to share their thoughts on any useful materials else that could be shared.
CC suggested being included in design stages would be useful going forward. AZ echoed this and added that it allows rider groups to ensure that the work would encourage riders.
It was agreed that any ideas going forward, will be shared with the group to allow discussion. This can be distributed by email in between meetings.
Members were shown the story board for the upcoming ‘Live Fast, Die Old’ film, feedback on this was very positive.
Action Point: Members to be updated on the progress of the ‘Live Fast, Die Old’ film as progress is made.
Owner: Michael McDonnell
Enforcement
SW provided members with a general update highlighting changes to the Scottish Safety Camera Programme handbook.
LN added that Police Scotland Motorcycle Safety campaign will commence in April and there will be a focus on local events, with a view to enforce and educate on selected routes.
Partner Initiatives
The British Motorcycle Foundation and IAM Roadsmart will both be attending at The Scottish Motorcycle Show 2022 and offered to promote material from the different groups represented at the focus group.
Action Point: Detail different initiatives relating to Motorcyclists including a time frame.
Next Steps
The Chair commented that a lot had been discussed and that the meeting has been very useful. Nothing was highlighted to be missing. The next steps would be to set out a strategy over the next few months based on the key dates and milestones.
Date of next meeting
It was agreed, in order to provide an update on initiative progress, the next meeting will be Thursday 31 March, before the season begins.