MOTORCYCLE DRIVE FOR SAFER ROADS

A thousand motor cycle riders are planning to gather in Palma on Saturday to demand the withdrawal of the old guardrails at the side of the roads “as it has been demonstrated that these devices can have fatal consequences for motorcyclists, cyclists and car drivers”. The demonstration is part of a National Motorcyclists Demonstration which will be held simultaneously in Madrid and the Canaries and has been organised by all motorcyclists groups in Spain. The demonstration in Palma will start with a gathering at 10.30am in the car park at Son Moix stadium. At 11.30am they will start out on their march through the streets of Pascual Ribot, Paseo Mallorca, Jaime III, Paseo del Borne and Calle Conquistador. Shortly after 12 they will deliver a petition to the Council of Majorca and, some minutes later, another to Palma council.
Then they will return to Son Moix, where the group will donate blood in the Mobile Unit of the Balearic Islands Blood Bank.
They hope that this, with the slogan “Our blood gives life, no more blood on the roads”, will be an act which will make people aware of the problems on the road for motorcycle riders (and for anyone travelling on two wheels). In the written presentation of the demonstration they say that “the demonstration demands various substantial improvements to Spanish roads, such as the withdrawal of the “killer” guardrails, replacing them with safer ones as other European countries did years ago. Every year many motorcyclists die or have limbs sliced off when they hit these “knives” of the road. A crash at more than 30 kilometres per hour will cause the amputation of a limb. Also, the motorcyclists are demanding the withdrawal of ordinary paint on the road, which is slippery. “It causes motorcyclists and cyclists to skid and fall from their machines, often with fatal consequences. We are asking that all subcontractors working on the roads should use anti slip paint, which will be a benefit to all road users”. Also, they are asking that the use of motorcycles be encouraged with an increase in the number of parking spaces for them.