To look cool or be safe? Fashionable Motorists and the Issue of Safety

Riding a motorcycle is all fun games until it is not. The breeze and the thrill and the speed are well-enough reasons to ride, but when you’re wearing ripped jeans and threadbare denim jackets, it’s not so much thrilling as it is dangerous anymore.

Riding without protective clothing cuold cost more than you think; Always wear protective clothing.

We know, we stress a lot on safety and appropriate riding gears. But it really is for your benefit – remember prevention is better than cure? That old adage still rings true today and is maybe even more prevalent than it was then. Despite it being the ‘coolest’ fashion trend, it still has its pros and cons.

Highways England, who works with the Department for Transport in the UK, sent an uncompromising message to ‘Distressed’ clothing brand in their new campaign. To raise awareness on the importance of safety on the road, they are using fashion to reach young millennials, or anyone following the current trend, with an affinity for two-wheelers.

What is the cost of fashion for young riders? the Government company seems to be asking.

Watch the full video here:

On a small pop-up shop in Shoreditch racks and racks of distressed, mostly denim, clothing, were laid out on the wood-paneled floors. But instead of the usual price tag with numbers and dollar signs, what was revealed was the true amount of substituting protective riding gear with fashionable, hipster clothing.

One sobering tag said: A shattered pelvis, part paralysis and two weeks in intensive care

From the press release by Highways England, they specified, from their research, that, “Young riders represent just 15% of motorcyclists in Great Britain but represent more than 38% of rider casualties – so a young rider is over 2.5 times more times likely to be injured than someone more experienced,” and how “the majority of riders of small bikes are aged 17-23 and are predominantly male.” 

Clearly, we are not a perfect people – we will make mistakes, and we will make them often. And that’s okay. But if we can do something to prevent our lives, and others’ lives, from being endangered, then we should make all the effort to do so. Life is a gift, and to ride is another, so let us not take them for granted.