Following the death of a Riverview motorcyclist on Tuesday, a close friend of the man who died is calling on the province to launch an aggressive awareness campaign specifically geared to motorcycle safety.
“Nova Scotia has tons of biker awareness the government does a lot of stuff for biker awareness, New Brunswick not so much” said Moncton’s Stacey Butler.
Butler is trying to mentally prepare to attend the third funeral in a year for one of her biker friends.
Riverview’s Dave Matthews will be laid to rest this Sunday after he passed away on Tuesday, following a motorcycle accident on Monday. RCMP say it appears Matthews was cut off by a driver who was ticketed for failing to yield the right of way.
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“172 dollar and 50 cents for someone’s life is a slap in the face to their loves ones. It’s disgraceful really,” Butler said.
But instead of calling for stiffer penalties for drivers who don’t yield to bikers, Butler is calling on the province to launch an awareness campaign.
According to N.B. media relations advisor Brian Taylor, in 2001 Nova Scotia declared May as motorcycle safety awareness month and put up billboards and signage reminding drivers share the roads with bikers.
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But Elaine Bell from the province’s Department of Justice and Public Safety said there are no plans to launch a similar campaign.
“Currently we have a campaign going on called ‘We Are All Traffic,’ which is specifically geared toward drivers and people on bicycles. So we have advice for bicyclists and motorcyclists,” she said. “Whether you are on four wheels or two everyone has a responsibility to share the road.”
That is just not good enough, Butler said.
According to N.B. Public Safety, 18 people have died in New Brunswick on motorcycles since 2014. Butler says three of the victims were her friends.
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“As riders, we know that we have to make ourselves more visible, we have to ride defensively, we have to be more aware of our surroundings than anybody else,” Butler said.
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But she says motorcycles are still at the mercy of cars.
“I can wear florescent orange and put Christmas lights on my bike and do all of those things, but the only people that are going to see that are the people that are looking,” she said.
“I just want it to stop. I just want people to see us. Whether I am in black or orange, just look is all I am asking.”
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