SIX deaths in five years have driven Devon County Council to launch a campaign to cut motorcycle fatalities on the A386 through West Devon. Devon Council Council has put up new yellow and black warning signs between Hatherleigh and Plymouth highlighting the stark statistics and reminding motorists to ?Think Bike.? Since 2001, fatal collisions on the A386 involving motorcylists have occurred at Inwardleigh, Lake, Mary Tavy, Horrabridge and two at Roborough Down. The most recent was at Roborough last October where 22-year-old Mark Harwood from Meavy died after his Yamaha R6 collided with a van. Road safety officer for Devon County Council Michael Newcombe said West Devon had a particularly high motorcycle collision rate. Six of the eight deaths on the A386 in the last five years have been bikers, which showed this group to be clearly over-represented in the most serious incidents, he said. This was reflected across the whole of Devon with motorcyclists making up only 1.5% of traffic but more than 30% of fatalities. He said: ?The signs are aimed at motorcylists and car drivers. In many cases collisions involving motorcyclists are not their fault but the fault of other road users. ?We are not wagging our fingers at bikers. Motorbikes are a perfectly legitimate form of transport and people use them for recreational purposes. ?We are trying to be as pro-bike as possible but want to warn people that this group is grossly over-represented in the most serious incidents.? Mr Newcombe said warning signs like those on the A386 had been used on the A377 from Barnstaple to Exeter, and motorcyclists were fairly positive towards them. ?There has been some drop off in the collision rate so we believe they are having some effect,? he said. Devon County Council has teamed up with the police and Dartmoor National Park Authority to deliver this safer driving campaign. The signs will be taken down in the autumn when the amount of motorbikes on the road reduces. ?The good news is that motorcycle collision rates this year are down on last year and on 2004,? added Mr Newcombe. West Devon borough councillor for Mary Tavy Pam Scannell said anything that helped to cut road deaths was good news but she would like other measures such as speed cameras and double white lines to prevent overtaking. She said: ?Cars and bikes overtaking is a frequent occurrence through the village and people tend to ignore the 30mph speed limit. ?It?s a good idea to have these signs but I think they need to be more hard-hitting like the messages on cigarette packets. ?We need to keep the pressure up and I hope the signs are back again next summer.? Devon county councillor for Okehampton Christine Marsh said riders and drivers tended to put their foot down on long stretches of road despite 30mph and 40mph speed signs. ?It is the local people not the visitors who are more renowned for speeding because they know the roads. ?Unfortunately, there will still be people who ignore these signs but I hope most people will take notice because the level of accidents and near-misses on this road is far too high.?
