The Department of Infrastructure and the police team up to promote the road safety message
ahead of this years TT festival

Social media will help to boost this year’s TT road safety campaign which was launched at the Sea Terminal in Douglas on Monday.

A poster campaign will see posters displayed at the ferry ports in the UK and Ireland as well as in the Isle of Man in prominent positions around the course as well as at camp sites and popular vantage points.

Some posters carry the slogan Don’t Bin It and show a damaged motorcycle in a wheelie bin, while others use the line Biker to Foot Passenger and show an injured person waiting to board the ferry on foot.

The plan is to back up the poster campaign with information on social media using the hashtags #SafeSummerRidingIOM, #ShareTheRoadIOM and #IOMTT.

Government road safety manager Gordon Edwards said:

‘Riders are encouraged to remember it’s business as usual for delivery drivers and heavy goods vehicles. I also remind people to get to their favourite spots well ahead of racing as the roads are busiest and most collisions occur in the golden hour before roads close.’ 

He added there would be a work sheet for all the island’s school children to do and there would also be radio advertising to broadcast the message. As usual the road safety team will set up their stall in different locations around the island and staff will be wearing tee-shirts bearing the question: ‘Have you seen the unmarked police bike?’

Superintendant Kevin Willson said:

‘Please come and enjoy the event and hvae a great TT. Enjoy the racing but stay within your limits, respect other road users and come back safely next year.’

He said they hoped to reinforce the message with social media including the force’s Twitter feed, Tweetbeatiom.

‘We will also be chatting to people around the course and we want people to start thinking about the road safety message before they even come to the island. Our primary interest is for people to stay safe,’ he said.

Inspector Dave Dobbie said people could not only use the Tweetbeat information to learn of any road closures, accidents and places to avoid, but they could also find the locations of speed cameras on any given day.

‘We might not say exactly where each one is but we will indicate a particular stretch of road then if people are caught they have no-one but themselves to blame. We would rather get the message out to people than have to take them to court,’ he said.

John Turner