The Think Bike Campaign was started by biking enthusiasts in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, and is run by bikers, in the interests of road safety and public awareness. Many

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

accidents happen because of a lack of awareness of the issues among the general motoring public. The aim of the campaign is to correct that through the use of stickers, leaflets, and information distributed in other ways.

History

During 2005, a number of bikers were using an online forum to discuss the alarming number of unnecessary motorcycle accidents; avoidable accidents caused by inattentiveness, ignorance, incompetence, and failure to exercise due care. The Think Bike sticker campaign was started by Tony Day of

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

in the 1980s, and its short life was discussed, and it was decided then and there to revive the campaign and expand on its goals and methods.

Background

The campaign, while strongest in the

Gauteng province Gauteng ( , ; Sotho-Tswana for 'place of gold'; or ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only 1.5% of the coun ...

, has representation in

Western Cape The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...

, (South African province). It has dozens of trained marshals available for various events such as cycle races and is deeply involved in numerous other projects, such as the annual ''Toy Run''. A number of studies have been done in the past, most notably in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, that show that an alarming number of motorcycle accidents are directly caused by other vehicles. Being as vulnerable as they are, bikers very often emerge from these avoidable accidents seriously injured, maimed or dead. The campaign is also aimed at the biking community, to educate about safety issues and encourage the use of protective clothing. The Hurt Report, published in the

in 1981, showed some alarming trends. More than 900 motorcycle accidents were investigated in the

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

area, and the results showed that: # Approximately three-fourths of motorcycle accidents involve a collision with another vehicle, usually a passenger automobile. # In these accidents, the driver of the other vehicle violated the motorcycle's right of way and caused the accident in two-thirds of cases. # The failure of motorists to detect and recognise motorcycles in traffic is the predominant cause of motorcycle accidents. The driver of the other vehicle involved in the collision with the motorcycle did not see the motorcycle before the collision or did not see the motorcycle until too late to avoid the collision.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Think Bike Campaign

Toy Run
Transport organisations based in South Africa Motorcyclists organizations Motorcycle safety organizations 1980s establishments in South Africa