According to MAG, Plymouth needs special help for bikers. There have been 8 fatal bike accidents in the city in the last 8 months, way above the national statistical average- it is being suggested that Plymouth is the most dangerous city in the UK for bikers.
8 deaths is 8 too many, but I visit Plymouth quite often and have to say I don’t find it any more difficult or dangerous a place to ride than anywhere else in England. Some things are only too familiar- the lousy road surfaces, the even more lousy patch repairs, the homicidal drivers of Golf and Nova, the ludicrously inadequate road signing…..
According to the police, bikers could do a lot to help themselves reduce this kind of statistic, a sentiment with which I am often compelled to concur. It seems that in some of these cases, there has been a whiff of alchohol or other non-prescription substances, and when bike accidents involve booze or drugs on the part of riders, it is very difficult to find excuses, particularly since it only serves to heighten prejudice in the minds of the general, non-biking public.
On the other hand, I have to say that for riding around I would take Plymouth any day over Manchester, Leeds, Bristol, Birmingham, or of course good old London………