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Biker deaths on the rise
The number of people killed in motorcycle accidents rose last year, according to new government figures, although the total number of bikers injured fell.
Nearly 600 riders died on Britain's roads in 2006, up five per cent from the year before, while the number who were seriously injured stayed roughly static at just over 580 and the overall number injured fell six per cent to around the 23,300 mark.
This was in comparison with a one per cent decline in the total number of road users killed in the UK last year, a similar decrease in the number of serious injuries and a five per cent drop in all casualties.
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Commenting on these statistics, Kevin Clinton from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said: "The increase in motorcycle deaths was very disappointing after a fall in deaths for two years in a row.
"Motorcycle training should be improved and riders [need] to develop the skills and experience to ride the larger and more powerful machines they were now using."
These figures bear out the Parliamentary Transport Select Committee's recent warning that biker fatalities are too high, although the government rebuffed this point by highlighting the reductions already made.
Rider representatives, meanwhile, are dismissive of suggestions that the motorbike is an unsafe mode of transport, with Jeff Stone from the British Motorcyclists Federation reiterating last month that most accidents are often the fault of the other motorist.
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