New road markings and signage have been installed in Derbyshire to help keep riders safer and better informed on the road.
Perceptual Rider Information for Maximising Expertise and Enjoyment (Prime) markings, with accompanying signage, have been positioned at accident hotspots on the B6015 at Devil’s Elbow and the A6 between Buxton and Bakewell, with further approved locations expected to follow.
“We’re the first county in England to introduce it,” Temporary Chief Constable of Derbyshire Police Simon Blatchly said, who is also National Motorcycle Lead for the Police Chief’s Council and Bike Safe.
“It’s taken considerable effort and time to achieve,” he said of implementing the new markings with help from Derbyshire County Council, National Highways, and the Department for Transport.
“I wanted to introduce it in England because it was shown in Scotland to reduce casualties. Anything we can do to help with casualty reduction and try to encourage riders to take that safe line around a bend.
“We don’t want to be a nanny state; we want people to enjoy the ride and go home safely,” Blatchly continued. “In Scotland, where they’ve done it, it has shown to have worked in reducing [casualties] and changing rider behaviour.”
Already in place in parts of Scotland and Wales since 2020, the initiative has proven successful with an average reduction of motorcycle injury collisions across all the trial sites by 61% and an average reduction of motorcycle collisions where someone is killed or seriously injured by 46%.
The system uses broken chevron-like markings on the road, called ‘gateways’, to guide riders around tight bends by suggesting the best line to take. Signage is placed well beforehand to inform road users of the upcoming markings.
These ‘gateways’ are said to encourage riders to travel through the gaps, helping them choose the best road positioning and speed and ultimately avoid braking through the bend.
The paint used has been specially evaluated so that it wouldn’t interfere with tyre grip, and Blatchly told MCN that Primes are about getting riders to think about the bend before they get to it.
“We’ve still got about 50% of motorcycle casualties that are rider error,” he added. “The wrong line on bends, drifting over on a bend and getting clipped by the car coming the other way, going too fast on a bend and hitting the wall.”
The head of Bike Safe emphasised that a good portion of cases still involve a ‘sorry mate I didn’t see you’ scenario from car drivers, something they are still tackling.
“It’s not just a few cops with a good idea… It has some academic rigour behind it,” the officer added. “It was Professor Alex Stedmon, who lived in Derbyshire and did all the work behind this in Scotland.”
For the Derbyshire rollout, they are relying on Dr Elizabeth Box, an expert in behavioural science and road safety, to assess how well the new system works by tracking riders’ speed, road positioning and braking behaviour before and after the Prime marking installations.
“We’ll continue to evaluate it as we’re going forward,” Blatchly said. “The main thing is allowing people to come to the county, enjoy their ride and get home safely. Hopefully the Prime markings will assist with that.”
Seven further locations were chosen across the county using motorcycle collision data from 2014 to 2024, which the Department for Transport have already approved. These include the A57 Snake Pass, the A53 Axe Edge and the A623 Peak Forest.
Like Bike S…