Crashes put five bikers a week in hospital

TOTAL OF 249 MOTORCYCLISTS ADMITTED IN A YEAR

FIVE motorcycle riders a week ended up in hospital in Coventry and Warwickshire as a result of collisions on the roads in just one year.

A total of 249 motorcyclists were admitted to hospitals across the region in 2016/17, according to latest figures from NHS Digital.

Of those, 218 admissions were taken by University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust, which runs the University Hospital in Walsgrave and Rugby’s St Cross hospital.

The other 31 were admitted to the South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust, which runs hospitals in Warwick, Leamington, Stratford and Shipston-onStour.

The admissions to the UHCW Trust made up one of every 779 admissions between April 2016 and March 2017 – one of the highest rates in England.

The overall total of 249 injured bikers in Coventry and Warwickshire was slightly lower than the total admissions for both hospital trusts in 2015/16 of 241.

Across the whole of England there were 10,073 admissions of motorcyclists to hospitals in 2016/17 – an average of more than one admission every hour.

However, the number of admissions was down slightly from 10,115 in 2015/16.

This reflects the decreasing number of motorcycle riders involved in accidents. According to figures from Department for Transport, the number of casualties involving motorcycle riders has decreased from 19,918 in 2015 to 19,297 in 2016.

Of these 19,297 motorcyclists, 319 were killed, 5,553 were seriously injured and 13,425 received slight injuries.