Motorcyclists concerned that road defects are not being repaired, MLAs told

Calls by motorcyclists for hazardous road defects to be fixed in Northern Ireland are not being heeded by the authorities, MLAs have been told.

While potholes that affect four-wheel vehicles are repaired, many others that pose risks to those on two wheels, such as those in the middle of road lanes, are being left unaddressed, a motorcyclist advocacy group warned an Assembly committee.

Martyn Boyd, from the Motorcycle Action Group, gave evidence to the Committee for Infrastructure on Wednesday.

“It is long been felt amongst motorcyclists nationwide that officialdom more or less ignores us, and that is the reason for the existence of the Motorcycle Action Group, it basically keeps us in your consciousness, so that we don’t get forgotten about,” he said.

Mr Boyd expressed frustration at the criteria used by the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) in repairing potholes.

“I’ve been engaging directly with the Department for Infrastructure for many years on many aspects of road safety from a motorcycling perspective, this (potholes) being one of them, and succinctly put, our perspective is: if you make a road safe for a motorcycle or any two-wheeled vehicle, it will be safe for any vehicle, any road user,” he said.

“Unfortunately, I have to say, I really don’t feel that ever that message has been received, because there’s absolutely no evidence of them even thinking about it.”

Mr Boyd said he accepted that the department’s budget was “constrained”.

He added: “We’re not asking for more money to be found.

“What I have asked the DfI is to think about how they spend the money that they do spend on fixing the roads, and perhaps be a bit more effective, think a bit more imaginatively, because it’s great whenever they fill in the worst of the defects, but very often a number of the defects that are left behind are still hazardous to motorcyclists.

“There is a great feeling among motorcyclists, and I would agree with this, that we are a vulnerable road user group, recognised officially as such, and therefore we feel that there should be, for every vulnerable road user group, there should be a bit of extra recognition given to our safety needs.

“But that’s not happening with DfI. You know, they’re making the road smooth for bigger vehicles and they’re totally ignoring the defects that can still be quite hazardous to us.

“I have reported dozens and dozens and dozens of defects that are particularly hazardous to motorcycles just in the area where I live. There’s still dozens and dozens more.

“Defects on bends of a nature that won’t really cause you much trouble in your car, maybe give you a bit of a bumpy ride, but for a motorcyclist, really can be almost lethal. And I’ve engaged with them on that a lot, but I don’t feel I’ve got anywhere.”