"The  most recent officially released Department for Transport figures for road  casualties  in Great Britain 2009 show that there were 472 motorcycle user  fatalities  in  collisions  reported to the police. This was 4% lower than  during  2008. The reported number of killed or seriously injured also fell  compared  to  2007, down 4% from 6,049 in 2008 to 5,822 in 2009.  The overall  motorcycle  casualty rate fell by 6 per cent from 6,745 motorcycle casualties per billion vehicle miles in 2008 to 6,371 in 2009. This is good news from a statistical point of view but it is the actual human cost which is so unacceptable. 472 people still died!

"An Audit Commission report found that road casualties cost the NHS in the region of £340 million annually and the economy as a whole £8 billion. These are astronomical figures and they make it clear that not only are communities bearing the grief of the death and injury, they are bearing the financial cost as well. As motorcyclists, we have to begin taking responsibility for our own safety, investing in assessment, training and re-training so we can begin to see the casualty figures dropping.