Bike camera call to target speeders Click on thumbnail to view image Click on thumbnail to view image Click on thumbnail to view image Click on thumbnail to view image Click on thumbnail to view image « Previous « Previous Next » Next » View Gallery ADVERTISEMENT Published Date: 30 April 2009 By Danny Carden A road safety chief wants controversial new cameras to target bikers, after two more motorcycle accidents on Dales roads. A biker fractured his pelvis in a crash on the Via Gellia on Friday and a woman broke her leg when her bike collided with a car near Bakewell on Sunday. Derbyshire Road Safety Partnership manager Robert Hill said the accidents – which follow two biker deaths over the Easter weekend – showed the need for "more sophisticated" safety measures. The partnership has placed crash statistics at blackspots and under-road sensors to identify popular biker routes. But its plan to introduce number plate recognition cameras (ANPR) has been criticised by bikers and civil liberties groups. Mr Hill said: "ANPR is dependent on funding – and agreement, as it is controversial – but would help us learn much more. "We know we've problems at certain places, but it's about being more sophisticated. "ANPR would mean we could contact individuals and say you were on this route doing this speed and give advice, but we're not sure about it yet." Motorbikes form less than one per cent of Derbyshire vehicles, yet 24 per cent of people killed or seriously injured on county roads last year were bikers. Mr Hill said: "People think we're targeting motorbikes, and they're correct as we've a particular problem. "The 24 per cent figure is down from a third in 2007, so 50 people have been saved from serious injury or death and we think we've a lot to do with that. "But bikers are still featuring too highly in the figures, so we'll keep plugging away." A man was airlifted to hospital on Friday after his Honda motorbike hit a wall on the Via Gellia near Bonsall at 12.15pm. His condition was described as stable on Saturday. The A619 was closed between Baslow and Bakewell from 5pm to 6.30pm on Sunday after a bike collided with Peugeot 306. The woman biker was taken to Chesterfield Royal Hospital with a broken leg. The partnership launched its Bikers' Guide to Derbyshire 2009 at Easter to highlight the 14 most dangerous county roads. Dave Plews, from the Crich-based Black Sheep Motorcycle Club, said: "All I think is are they trying to make the road safer or trying to raise money? "However, reminders would be great provided the idea is to make roads safer." To download the guide, click here. The full article contains 404 words and appears in Matlock Mercury newspaper. Page 1 of 1 * Last Updated: 29 April 2009 9:51 AM * Source: Matlock Mercury * Location: Matlock