Matt Stanley, a paramedic and clinical team educator, has been riding motorbikes for 20 years and commutes to work at South Central Ambulance Service’s Wexham Park Resource Centre in Berkshire from his home in Chalgrove, Oxfordshire.
With Road Safety Week (16-22 November) coinciding with the arrival of colder temperatures across the South Central region, Matt is issuing a strong reminder to his fellow motorcyclists that reducing speed and adapting to winter road conditions can mean the difference between walking away and life-changing injury or death.
The latest road casualty figures published by the Department of Transport showed that in 2024, there were 1,671 people killed on UK roads with a further 28,804 suffering serious, life-changing injuries. Travelling at high speed dramatically increases both the likelihood of collision and the severity of injury when crashes occur.
“I’ve been a paramedic for just over three years”, says Matt, “and in that time myself and my colleagues have been to numerous incidents caused by someone driving or riding too fast. We’ve been to patients who’ve been decapitated, lost limbs and suffered horrendous, fatal crush injuries.”
In winter months, the risks are magnified: roads are wetter, darker, colder and hazards such as black ice, fallen leaves or reduced tyre grip become much more dangerous.
Matt adds: “Take it from someone who commutes to work on their motorbike, when the conditions deteriorate in winter, riding at the same speed you use in summer simply isn’t safe. Braking takes longer, visibility is reduced, cornering is riskier and the consequences of any mistakes are far more severe.”
As daylight hours shrink and temperatures drop, here are Matt’s top tips for bikers in winter:
- Wear the right gear – wrap up warm and have the right protection, but make sure you’re still mobile enough to use all the controls properly
- Increase your following distance – allow more space behind vehicles and slow down earlier when approaching junctions, roundabouts and bends
- Make sure you’re seen – use high visibility or reflective clothing and ride more defensively so there’s more chance all other road users see you
- Know your route – look out for wet leaves, standing water and be aware of shady parts of the road that could contain black ice
- Reduce your speed – even a modest reduction in speed gives you the time to spot hazards, brake smoothly and control your bike
The Department for Transport Road Casualties Annual Report for 2024, published in September this year, showed that 364 bikers were killed on UK roads in 2024, an increase from the 336 killed the previous year. This was the highest increase in road fatalities of all vehicle types.
A further 5,468 bikers were seriously injured and 10,152 slightly injured.
Despite making up a small proportion of traffic, motorcyclists remain one of the highest risk groups. Analysis of injury rates per mile travelled shows that motorcyclists are around 45 times more likely to be killed or seriously injured than car occupants.
Watch Matt’s short film on safer winter riding, and driving, here:
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