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SAM Club Newsletter – 5th May 2023

Editorial

Your editor has begun revising the SAM website this week. If there is anything that you think is outdated and should be replaced, or new sections/material you would like to see included, just drop me a line at sam-editor@iam-sheffield.bike.

Just in case you hadn’t noticed, it’s Spring. The SAM Committee are working hard to take advantage of reaching bikers taking their machines out of hibernation. There are two events that SAM members can support. The 21st May is Emergency Services Day. As usual there is a FREE Fun Day on The Moor in Sheffield. We are joining our partners, the Whiteknights Blood Bikes, to spread the word about how we help bikers develop their advanced riding skills. Another great event is the Bike Fest at Outwood School. Entrance is just £1/family and is a great chance to get our message to young people before they head off to College on their 125cc bikes. We need volunteers for both these events, so let a member of the Committee know if you can help. If you can’t, please make an effort to attend the event and show your support for the SAM Club.

Tuesdays are a great day for your editor. I get to spend the day researching, reading and writing about all kinds of motorcycling and allied subjects. It definitely beats doing home improvements at my son’s house! Tuesday is the one day of the week that I catch up on Kevin Williams articles. Normally, I wouldn’t mention them as they are linked in your newsletter and SAM members can decide for themselves what they want to read. Two articles, that I thought worthy of sharing, particularly piqued my interest this week. 

The first article was about blame and personal responsibility. Stuck in a rabid blame culture, motorcycle accidents and coroner’s inquest seem to be about identifying fault and apportioning blame. This is not the way to make riding safe or help road users understand and respond to any lessons that might be learned. Kevin, in recent articles, has been looking at the shared responsibility for some motorcycle accidents; and what each party can do to avoid conflicting road use. Extending some of the advice given in ‘Roadcraft’, he argues that understanding how we bikers perceive the hazard, in some instances there may be things we can do differently. See what you think. 


The second article was about a recent, long-awaited, report on the death of a Blood Biker. The rider was using the blue lights fitted to the bike and had passed a traffic light at red when the fatality occurred. Grant Schapps (Minister for Transport at the time) was asked by the coroner to clarify the law on how Blood Bikers can respond to emergency deliveries. The answer was enlightening and disturbing in equal measure. If the NHS were properly funded for the out-of-hours/holiday dispatch riding work, there would be no need for unpaid volunteers to undertake the emergency and routine work involved. Blood Bikers provide an invaluable service. As Kevin shows with an example from his own experience, if blood, other clinical specimens and documents are not delivered in a speedy way, patients and NHS clinical staff are seriously compromised. Make up you own mind, but the tragic death of this unpaid volunteer is a timely reminder of their dedicated service. The comments on the article are worth reading too. The SAM charity trains and encourages volunteers to support the vital services the Whiteknights provide. We expect that their welfare will be the first concern of everyone involved in helping them to deliver the NHS services we all need.


In the rest of your Club newsletter this week you can read how BikeSafe are heavily promoting their courses. Triumph is taking on young people to help the future of motorcycling and a 90-year-old granny reminisced about her riding days when taken on a pillion ride. Adventure riding can be done on small bikes and Romania seems a great place to ride. Finally, the pioneers of motorcycle racing is retold for you to enjoy. Happy reading.


Ways to stay in touch with your Club!

It’s really easy to stay in touch with your Club! We provide emails, a website and use social media accounts for you to contact us. All of which is free of any cost to the Club. If you are not getting the Club information circulated, or simply want to tell us something, just let us know at sam-editor@iam-sheffield.bike. We’ll be happy to ensure that we stay in touch with you. You can also now sign up for Club emails on the SAM website. Paul Conway
Editor & Webmaster, Sheffield Advanced Motorcyclists

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