A CAMPAIGN has been launched as warmer weather starts to bring out more and more motorcyclists onto the roads.

Members of the Cleveland and Durham Specialist Operation Unit (CDSOU) are urging bikers to stay safe on roads across the two force areas.

Throughout this week, starting Monday (March 30), officers from the motorcycle section will be focusing on machines that may have been laid up over the winter months to ensure they are taxed, insured and fit for the road.

Over the last three years in Cleveland and Durham the number of collisions involving motorbikes which resulted in injury has fallen from 223 in 2012, to 183 last year. The total for those killed or seriously injured has also reduced.

However, four riders died last year on the roads of Cleveland and Durham.

Sergeant Iain Rodgers said: “On a motorcycle there are no airbags or crumple zones to offer protection. You owe it not just to yourself but to others to be as safe as you can, remember if it goes badly wrong it’s often not just you that crashes.”

Two-thirds of all motorcycle collisions took place at a junction and of those 75 per cent were due to an error by someone other than the rider, with drivers often failing to see an approaching bike.

Neil Hamilton was a highly qualified and experienced motorcyclist who was killed near Tow Law in April 2013 by a driver who turned right across his path.

A father-of-two from South Hylton, Sunderland, the 60-year-old was out on his BMW 600cc bike when he was struck by a Mitsubishi 4x4 vehicle.

His widow, Christine said: “On Good Friday it will be two years since I kissed my husband, Neil, goodbye for what was the last time. He left the house that morning, just like any other day. But this time, he never came home.

“Neil was riding a motorbike when the car crashed into him, head on, on the wrong side of the road. The driver was attempting to make a right hand turn and said he didn’t see him."