A UK motorcycle trainer on our motorcycle menace

I’ve been travelling back and forth to Barbados since 2016 and usually enjoy it. But, for a variety of reasons, I have to say, that enjoyment has been severely dampened. Having relocated here last December after a two-year absence, I’ve been amazed at the change in road traffic conditions in that time. There’s congestion everywhere. 

But, the one change that has caught my eye is the number of motorcyclists. The main highway that runs between the airport and Mile and a Quarter is, what, 34 kilometres, give or take? It is a playground for careless motorcycling. Now, I have the displeasure of living too close to the Tom Adams Highway. Sometimes, maybe at 1 a.m., I can hear a motorcyclist coming. They get level with my home and proceed on. Twenty seconds later, I can still hear them until they start slowing down for the next roundabout. An educated guess of their speed – I would put it north of 120 kph. I can hear them because they take the baffles out of their silencers or use a brand of exhaust system designed to create that obscene noise. 

Some motorcyclists think it’s a way of protecting them from other road users who don’t see them but can hear them. Frankly, that’s sheer nonsense. That’s the menace! It’s an absolute nuisance. Now, hear me out, I’m a passionate motorcyclist. I love bikes, I love the thrill of them. The UK has a robust motorcycle training regime. I got my UK licence in 2003 and my bike of choice, the one I’ve owned now for 19 years, is a Honda Blackbird. Built in 1997, it was the fastest road bike of its time, 1100 cc of raw power, capable of speeds of up to 195 mph. My second bike is a Honda Pan European ST1300 – an ex-police bike – 1300 cc of more sedentary power. So, I’m used to powerful machines and speed. 

In 2006, I did some advanced motorcycle training with the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (ROSPA). I’ve ridden with police motorcyclists in the UK on training exercises through the many serene country roads the UK has to offer. This is an even more advanced level of training. The police are some of the fastest and most competent motorcyclists in the world. But, of course, they have the training to match. My training takes me way beyond what is required to pass a motorcycle test and my experience supports a professional and personal approach to safe riding. You know why? Because I have people at home that love me and want me to come home safe – and I’d rather not die! If that doesn’t make you safe, I don’t know what will. Motorcycling is first about attitude to safety!

Back in the UK, I am a government-certified motorcycle instructor. I’ve been an instructor for nearly 20 years. During the last 20 years, I can say (with a great deal of pride) I have never been involved in a road traffic collision. That is not because I ride slow – I ride at a speed that is appropriate to the laws and the traffic conditions! I could be wrong, but I doubt most Barbadian motorcyclists can boast of the same level of training and motorcycling proficiency (if any at all). 

The motorcycle training regime in Barbados needs to be robust. I tell all my students: “It’s not difficult to ride fast in a straight line on a flat road!” 

Barbados’ roads are dangerous for motorcyclists. Roundabout design is dangerous, road surfaces are dangerous, street lighting is poor, road markings are poor to non-existent (especially at junctions), signage is poor, pedestrian safety is poor. There are a lot of risks. You ride at inappropriate speed not just at your own risk but you jeopardise the safety of others.

Personally, I’m horrified at the standard of motorcycling on Barbadian roads, but I don’t agree with using some kind of dragnet to solve the problem. That might kill them. That’s a lawsuit waiting to happen. They need to use mobile speed guns and cameras on high-speed roads that motorcyclists are known to use. I can’t speak to the level of fast pursuit training the police have, but, to catch these motorcyclists, greater police motorcycling presence is needed, backed up with fast response cars that can handle side roads and bends at higher speeds far more safely than a motorcyclist can. When they turn off these highways, they turn onto dangerous road surfaces which they can’t ride fast on. Then simply follow them until they stop. The rider will either ditch the bike and run off, fall off the bike because they ride beyond their ability, or give in, admit defeat and hand themselves over at the roadside because they don’t really want to kill themselves. Self-preservation is a powerful emotion. Either way, they get the dangerous bikes and riders off the road, one at a time. It’s not all of them, I’m sure, but they know who they are. 

Those motorcyclists are not just a menace, they are totally dangerous! One day they will kill themselves – or worse, they will kill some unsuspecting pedestrian or other motorist through the sheer stupidity and absolute recklessness of their actions. Then the struggling QEH will have to find the resources to fix broken bodies because these motorcyclists are not wearing any protection. If you want to ride that way, fine, take yourselves off to Bushy Park. But get that bare foolishness off the road before someone dies. 

Steve Prescott