Promoting Safer Motorcycling
(Article first published September 2017 in Bike Nation Magazine)
If the UAE becomes a much safer place for motorcycles due to a consistent and sustained focus on safety and awareness we would expect to see an increase in people taking up motorcycling for leisure and commuting. The knock-on effect of this will benefit the entire motorcycling community from the riders to the motorcycle retailers, training schools, equipment providers, garages, biker cafes, tour companies, motorsport, insurance firms, emergency services, and the authorities.
With more bikes on the road there is also the added potential benefit of helping to reduce emissions and congestion on UAE roads, so ultimately everybody wins!
"EVERYBODY STANDS TO BENEFIT FROM IMPROVED AWARENESS OF MOTORCYCLE SAFETY!"
Promoting safer riding is a major factor towards promoting motorcycling as a great hobby and a practical cost-effective form of transport (aside from during the summer in UAE of course).
RIDE SAFE UAE understand that there is no quick fix for improving motorcycle safety, it will take time to build enough awareness that people really start to take notice. It is worth pointing out though that there are also some quick wins to be had. Taking safety equipment as one example; if a person is wearing a pair of gloves today that didn’t wear gloves yesterday RIDE SAFE UAE is already making a difference.
When promoting motorcycle safety in the UAE it’s important to understand that motorcycling and the motorcycle culture is also quite unique here when compared to most other countries.
One reason for this is that we have motorbikes being ridden by a vast range of people from very different cultural backgrounds. We have those who simply see bikes as “two wheelers” and a primary form of transport to get around town, to the delivery riders spending hours on the roads every day, and then to the leisure riders, comprising of an eclectic mix of brand new riders to born-again bikers and very experienced motorcyclists. This applies on the road, off road, and on the race track.
The country where a person has learnt to ride has a very clear and direct impact on their perception of motorcycling and their riding style and experience. We want to make sure that riders from all social classes have easy access to safe riding knowledge and can learn new skills that have the potential to prevent accidents and injuries and ultimately save their lives and the lives of others.
RIDE SAFE UAE are encouraging more riders to get off road or onto the race track to improve their motorcycle handling skills under the guidance of experienced off road coaches and qualified track riding instructors.
At RIDE SAFE UAE we believe everyone should be committed to motorcycle safety awareness, especially companies that employ delivery riders. Employers have an obligation to ensure their riders are wearing the correct safety equipment and have a high level of awareness of what safe riding is. We are proactively helping to tackle this issue and as a first step we have been working closely with Freedom Pizza who are the first company to have made serious efforts to improve the safety of all of their 125 delivery riders by providing DOT approved equipment and by inviting RIDE SAFE UAE to deliver several safety awareness workshops covering their entire team of riders.
It’s not only about the motorcyclists, educating other road users to be more aware of motorcycles is just as important as educating and upskilling the riders themselves. So is helping to ensure there is more clarity around regulations regarding motorcycling in the UAE.
It’s an enormous task that all of us as motorcyclists have ahead of us, but let’s all commit to doing our best to make a difference, everything must start somewhere!
Welcome to RIDE SAFE UAE we really appreciate your support.
More insight’s and specific riding skills and advice to follow in future issues.
