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. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

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

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

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 started by Tony Day of

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

in the 1980s, and its short life were 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 ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only 1 ...

, has representation in

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

KwaZulu Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

and the Free State. 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 (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

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 Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, 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 The Hurt Report, officially ''Motorcycle Accident Cause Factors and Identification of Countermeasures'', was a motorcycle safety study conducted in the United States, initiated in 1976 and published in 1981. The report is named after its primary ...

, published in the

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

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

area, and the results showed that: # Approximately three fourths of motorcycle accidents involve collision with another vehicle, usually a passenger automobile. # In these accidents, the driver of the other vehicle violated the motorcycle 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 predominating cause of motorcycle accidents. The driver of the other vehicle involved in 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.http://www.primedia.co.za/news_room/press_releases/847969.htm

References

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External links

Think Bike Campaign

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