For the Love of Bikers HANG UP –
For the Love of Bikers HANG UP – An awareness campaign in Ireland – Republic Of Ireland and Northern Ireland – for Bikers by Bikers, to raise awareness of the danger to all road users caused by Mobile Phone use while Driving.
The campaign says that there is a huge lack of support for road safety of Bikers, constantly at risk by other road users on their mobile phones.
Every Biker out there is a son, daughter, sibling, parent, grandparent, friend. It’s not just the Biker that suffers, it’s everyone connected to them.
Drivers on the phone not only put Bikers at risk but also themselves, children in the car with them, other drivers, pedestrians.
It’s time to be responsible and “HANG UP” for everyone’s safety.
Some Day People Will Get It
There doesn’t seem to be a week in Ireland or the rest of Europe or even globally, on the internet, especially the social media of Facebook and Twitter, that there is a campaign launched to highlight the dangers of using a mobile phone whilst driving.
Advice, rules, regulations and guidelines for not using mobile phones whilst driving are at every turn in road safety messages and campaigns, featured on the news, police stop camera type programmes, social media, specific police enforcement campaigns – Rules of the Road and the High Way Code.
The use of the mobile phone whilst driving – talking or texting is an ongoing scourge – with riders’ continued observance of their use. This scourge is relentless with police carrying out specific enforcement of zero-tolerance crackdowns on illegal phone use with tickets and fines. It seems to make no difference as a threat to motorists, as police exercise no discretion in relation to mobile phone use.
However maybe someday people will understand the dangers and to keep highlighting this, campaigns such as – For the Love of Bikers HANG UP – are in our opinion worth getting a similar relentless safety message out to the driving public.
Behind The Campaign
Behind the campaign is Lee-Ann Monahan who has been riding bikes for 26 years, Lee-Ann comments, “Although we all know we’re more at risk on 2 wheels, it feels that every day now we are really running the gauntlet with mobile phones adding to driver distraction. It’s alarming how “acceptable” it has become.”
“I got so fed up moaning about it that I thought it was better to try to do something about it. I was going to organise a motorbike protest run to our capital city Dublin but then realised that although it would disrupt traffic for a few hours and make people angry it would then be forgotten after a few days so I thought the best way was to create a sticker campaign.”
Regarding the idea of the sticker, Lee-Ann also says, “If the sticker was just worn by motorcyclists then car drivers probably wouldn’t be bothered reading them but if I made them especially for the rear windscreen or bumper of a car then drivers would read them when in traffic or when cars are parked up.”
The campaign is totally non-profit campaign so the stickers are sold for exactly the cost for getting them printed up.
Lee-Ann’s friend Susan Farrelly, is an artist so she came up with the concept design and then a nominal fee was paid to a fellow biker in the UK (who Lee-Ann have never met) Liz Druella in Salisbury, to make it in to a graphic design so she could get it printed locally.
Other friends of Lee-Ann, Si McCreedy and Samantha Ralph promote the campaign for free on The Madarse Biker Rock Show on Madarse Radio Rocks every Friday 6-9pm. Friends Samantha Ralph of Urban Vape Room and Smiler O’Rocker of Murray’s Emporium in Ardee, Co. Louth sell the stickers in their shop for Lee-Ann.
At Motorcycle Minds we wish Lee-Ann all the best in her campaign which should get the support from all and be lifted up onto the national stage of road safety campaigns in Ireland at the very least!
For the Love of Bikers HANG UP
The non-profit campaign highlights the issues by using a sticker message.
Helmet / Bumper stickers 5×3.5″ are €1 each.
Reverse Stickers for rear windscreens 7×5″ are €1.20 each.
Postage for up to 10 stickers is only €1 for Republic and Northern Ireland and €1.35 for International postage.
Pay via Friends/Family on PayPal to leeann.monahan@gmail.com or drop in to Samantha Ralph in Urban Vape Room in Murray’s Emporium in Ardee, Co. Louth.
On Facebook – For the Love of Bikers HANG UP
RSA – Ireland – Driver Distraction – Mobile Phones & Driving
Ni Direct – Using your mobile phone while driving
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