From today's news of the world

By Sophy Ridge, Consumer Correspondent, 04/07/2010

MOTORCYCLISTS are clocking up 6,000 road accidents every DAY, a shock new study has revealed.

An astonishing 1 IN 8 bikers - 182,000 - has been involved in a crash in the past month alone.

And around 39,000 have suffered broken bones in a serious accident in that time.

But they are still putting themselves at risk by flouting safety laws, the survey shows.

Britain's 1.4million bikers make up less than ONE PER CENT of traffic but suffer 14 PER CENT of road deaths and serious injuries, government figures show.

Almost 21,000 were seriously injured in crashes last year - 57 every day - and 472 were killed.

Despite this, 12 per cent of motorcyclists drive while over the drink limit, according to the survey for Post Office Motorcycle Insurance. And three per cent say they have crashed after a boozy session.

One in ten admits to driving with NO LIGHTS at night and the same proportion jumps red lights.

Nine per cent of bikers admit to speeding at more than 10mph over the limit.

And a fifth of those riding large-engine bikes are only licensed to ride small bikes and mopeds - so would have no insurance if involved in an accident.

Gerry Barrett, head of Post Office Motorcycle Insurance, said: "The results are very concerning. Some of the bad habits uncovered are very dangerous, not just to the riders but to other road users and pedestrians.

"We are urging all bikers to take more care on the roads and ditch the bad habits - failing to do so could have disastrous consequences."

Steve Kenward, head of the Motorcycle Industry Association, said: "There are simply far too many people dying in accidents on the roads.

"The motorcycle community will continue to work hard to improve safety."

Hmmmmmmmmm !!!?

and just what percentage of those accidents were caused by idiot drivers that have a severe bike blindspot.... love how they havent pointed out those facts and figures

*makes a rude gesture in news of the worlds general direction*
                                                                                                                                                                             

And a fifth of those riding large-engine bikes are only licensed to ride small bikes and mopeds.Assuming they're talking about the 33bhp limit, I don't believe that figure. Considering how relatively short a time that law has been in place, I doubt that even one fifth of the people riding big bikes did their test since it started, never mind didn't do DAS and are still in their two year restricted period.Britain's 1.4million bikers make up less than ONE PER CENT of traffic.That figure doesn't add up. Are they saying there are more than 144 million other vehicles on the road? I think the figure is actually something like 30 million, so that would mean bikes make up roughly 4.5% of vehicles. Ok, not all bikes are on the road at the same time, but neither are all cars.That whole things just looks like somebody manipulating statistics to make bikes look bad. Give us real numbers and a comparison with other vehicles, and then it might have some meaning.                                                                                                                                                                             

i agree with GBeldon... the statistics look MANipulated !!! they dont add up                                                                                                                                                                             

What do you expect - its in the News of the World !! Not exactly a reliable broadsheet is it lol                                                                                                                                                                              

Statistically, the average person has less than two legs....                                                                                                                                                                               

like the dsa.they make up there own figures,they are crap,lies and not the truth,bikers are used as a figure or as somekind of nasty type of person that should be scraped of thre shoe,not the case bikers are more responable than every driver on the road,cos they have to be,god help us,edd.

Lol I agree, it does not say how many were caused by car drivers with short sightedness ... Did not help when my dad read it tho, he already thinks his little girl should not be on a bike, not helped by his mate saying it looked a big bike for men to ride ... It was fully loaded after a rally at the time !!!

sv shell,silly old men,honest,i haveriding bikes for a long time,and i am impressed with the ladies who are riding bikes ,some faster than me?not very hard these days,dont listen to old sods mjust jealous,cos they cannot do it themselves?do i makesense?edd.?

This is a survey by Post office Motorcycle Insurance right?.  So are they weighing up the risk involved to them in insuring bikers?.  People who ride while bladdered at night, with no lights and jump red lights while speeding!.  I dont think I will be phoning for a quote!, and I get 10% discount because I work fo Royal Mail!

  The NOTW should be liquidised, it's a load of crud and now this scare-mongery just proves that they only want to sell papers not inform us of the facts.   Every time someone prints stats about bike riders and accidents it's always bike riders who are focused on as being in the wrong.   I thought we left the bad-mouthing behind in the 70's. Next thing we'll be seeing headlines linking all bikers with organised crime and the signs will be going up in all the venues we usually frequent  'No hawkers, gypsies or bikers'    LOL @ TeeCee and Clarkee's comments                                                                                                                                                                                   

If you look at the article and then look at the Office of National Statistics, you seen realise its a lot of sensationalist bollocks.....   The key findings are: In 2008, just under 3 per cent of households had at least one motorcycle. Of the 105 thousand motorcycle tests carried out in 2008/09, 85 per cent were taken by men. There were about 1.3 million licensed motorcycles in Great Britain in 2008. In 2008 it is estimated that 3.6 per of the active motorcycle stock were unlicensed. This fell from 9.8 per cent in 2007. Over 1 million motorcycles underwent an MOT test in 2008/09. Of these, 81 per cent passed – a figure that has remained relatively stable for the past decade. The distance driven by motorcycles in 2008 was 5.1 billion vehicle kilometres. This was a drop of 8 per cent from 2007. The overall casualty rate for motorcycles has improved since 1998. In 2008 the number of deaths or serious injuries was 1,131 per billion kilometres driven. A decade earlier it was 23 per cent higher. In 2008, of the motorcycle drivers tested following an accident, 1.4 per cent failed a breathalyser test. This was unchanged from 2007 and was lower than the 2.7 per cent of all road users as a whole. There are no real figure for 2009/2010 so anything else is snap statisics taken from a limited number of ie a percentage.....and as we know figures are easy to manipulate....                                                                                                                                                                             

  ...figures are easy to manipulate....   I wish mine was                                                                                                                                                                              

Is the News of the World a real paper??  I always thought it was a joke paper, something akin to Private Eye?                                                                                                                                                                             

  It's not even much use as bog roll.                                                                                                                                                                              

3 out of 2 statistics are wrong anyway...                                                                                                                                                                             

yeah these Statisticians are always getting their mucking words in a fudle.......                                                                                                                                                                             

32.47% of statistics are made up.                                                                                                                                                                             

Kwak they are indeed, but it takes commitment.....its simple arithmetic, inpute of cals + exercise + hydration + correct nutrients Vs output of Cals = figure manipulation.... anyone can do it, the world is a gym you don't need a posh gym just commintment and exercise...... amazing things can happen in 4 weeks.