| Closing Report for The MCN Superbike and Road Racing Show at Alexandra Palace. 28th January - 5th February 2006 Background: This is the 4th consecutive year that the Metropolitan Police Service and the City of London Police Force have combined services with Transport for London (TfL) and presented BikeSafe-London at the MCN Superbike and Road Racing Show. Once again we were situated in the Panorama Hall near the main entrance, Palm Court. This year, Palm Court was the only access into the Show. The entrance at the rear of the Palace near the Arena was closed to the public. The stand retained the same footprint as the previous year. The stand displayed the BikeSafe-London scheme promotional material and was backed up by the National BikeSafe advertising leaflets that had been produced with funding from HSBC. This was all supported by TfL wall and leaflet literature. One side of
the stand was devoted to Fatal and Serious personal injury, with a crash
scene constructed depicting how a car had pulled out of a junction and
turned right in front of an approaching bike. Cones and cordon tape along
with a marked police BMW and a St John’s Ambulance First Response
Unit Pan European were all in attendance complete with blue flashing lights
surrounding the whole scene. The scene encouraged conversation with riders
and police and was seen as a positive display. The other side
of the stand housed the Rex Judd Yamaha R1 and a Harley Davidson Road
King marked up in police livery. Along with these, Kawasaki UK provided
the display with the New 2006 ZX10 and a Race bike belonging to Hawk Kawasaki
race team. Dangerous Games was in partnership with the BikeSafe-London team for the first time this year. They displayed what the concept is about and complimented it with a DVD and various leaflets. Staff reported a healthy interest in the project from both young riders and concerned parents. Three Plasma screens featured Think! Campaign television commercials and road safety clips from National Force areas, and we were happy to be able to show the recently released DfT Think! Campaign’s advert ‘How Close’. This was well received by all who saw it. Motorcycle UK provided a retail outlet for BSL merchandise, Hi-Viz products along with first aid kits, Roadcraft and many other road safety items. Three Lap top computers were in use through out the day and were being uploaded with the data capture sheets giving a running total of sign ups at any given moment. This was a new concept and proved to be a successful asset; enabling the customer to pick the specific force area he or she wished to attend and ensuring that all relevant information was available to make the follow up call. The information was passed electronically every night and as a result telesales had commenced within three days of the show starting. Field Impairment Tests were demonstrated to explain the effects of driving under the influence of drugs; this was well received by the public, with some interesting reactions and responses. The event was staffed by the Motorcycle Tasking Team and representatives from the City of London Police, along with Road Safety Officers and St John’s Ambulance. In addition to this, a few BikeSafe reserve officers were invited to assist and this was extended to the Metropolitan Special Constabulary who provided Officers on every day. The officers were employed to interact with the public, answer questions and to encourage them to fill in the data capture forms available, expressing their interest in rider skills days and the BikeSafe scheme in general. Other National Police Force areas had been invited to attend to see how BikeSafe-London operates in the Capital. Many worked on the stand during their visit and it was a good opportunity for networking between the different force areas. The National BikeSafe Event was publicised heavily. Sign
ups were predominately London and South of England based, which was to
be expected, due to the show Location, and all sign ups were quickly distributed
to other force areas as the show came to closure. Conclusion: The impression left
from this year’s show on the public, the organisers and the National
visitors has surpassed any expectations. A professional approach to organisation,
an increased authoritative visual impact and effective team work by all
those involved on each day has allowed the 2006 “Ally Pally Bike
Show” to take the Metropolitan Police and City Of London Police
united with Transport for London to a new level in the aim to reduce powered
two wheeler casualties on the Capital’s roads. Sarah Kell
|