Bikers’ group clears the air on recent Graeme Hall accident

A biker group, under fire for an Errol Barrow Day accident that left several injured, has sought to defend the group from allegations of reckless driving.

Since the accident, a debate about reckless driving by motorcyclists reignited on social media and call-in programmes.

President of the Black Knight Riders Fabian Reeves told Barbados TODAY a lot of misinformation was spread about the accident and stressed that not all bikers break the law and are nuisances to other road users.

While acknowledging that there are a “few” bikers who drive recklessly, Reeves said there a few bad apples in all aspects of life which includes bikers.

He declared: “I don’t like how people put everybody in one basket, one set of people this, then all doing the same thing.

“You do it to ZR drivers, you do it to policemen, you do it to a lot of other entities in Barbados and I’m not saying that they don’t have people that are lawless in whatever genre they operate”

As of Friday, two members of the club are still in the hospital, who Reeves said are in stable and good condition.

He denied bikers fled the scene after the accident.

He said: “It was not an accident where the bikers were being lawless or the driver was being ‘don’t-carish’ and did not care for others or anything; it was an accident. So I just want to put that out there first, it was an accident that took place which caused a ripple effect and a few people were injured at the accident of itself.”

Reeves said that when news of the accident broke, bikers from all over the island descended on the scene to check on their counterparts and they were subsequently asked by police to remove the bikers not involved in the accident in order for officers to photograph the accident scene.

He said the group of bikers in the accident included some of the most experienced riders on the island who were on their way to a breakfast meeting to discuss bringing the over 10 motorcycle groups together.

Invoking the memory of a prominent member of the biking fraternity, John Miller, who passed away two years ago, Reeves said: “Miller was the person who had the idea to bring everybody under one umbrella so we could organize different rides, events and stuff, including charity events to help the community and do things positive in the light of the people in Barbados.”

Reeves, a motorcycle driving instructor, said he is now promoting basic first aid for riders.

He said: “We actually are promoting right now or trying to organize that every single biker, every single member of the club is trained in first aid because at that point in time a lot of us that weren’t trained were not able to assist in the way that we would like to assist because we never expected anything like this so it’s a learning curve for us as well.”
(kobiebroomes@barbadostoday.bb)