FOLLOWING recent reports on motorcycle accidents, I thought you'd be interested to see the following news from the British Motorcyclists Federation (BMF).

A few days before receiving this I'd stopped to remove a one metre long, 80mm diameter metal pole from the middle of the outside lane of the roundabout by Dockgate 20.

I'd like to say that was a rare occurrence, but it's not.

We're used to navigating potholes, big lumps of metal and tiedown straps.

The BMF says: "Britain's roads are so littered with road debris such as broken glass, metal, gravel and other rubbish, that they are a real and constant danger to motorcyclists and cyclists.

"Based on 2005 figures, properly swept roads could have prevented 1,565 accidents and saved 36 lives.

" Further, says the BMF, more accidents (6.

3 per cent) are caused by road debris than the four per cent of motorcycle accidents that the Department for Transport (DoT) attribute to excessive speed.

The BMF has produced a Rubbish Roads Ahead booklet and is now writing to every local highway authority urging them to clean-up the areas of carriageway near pavements, on the crown of the road and on the outside of corners and bends - in other words, the areas unused by other vehicles but prone to use by twowheeled vehicles.

Motorcycles and pedal cycles have a very small contact patch between the road and the tyre so even a small amount of loose material can cause a loss of traction.

Road sweeping is a simple and effective method of road safety improvement that could save dozens of lives and prevent expensive and time-consuming litigation for highway authorities, says the BMF Debris can also cause punctures and seriously affect the handling characteristics for two-wheelers.

The European-wide Motorcycle Accidents In Depth Study (MAIDS) found that punctures were a cause in 3.

7 per cent of all the motorcycle accidents studied.

The DoT reports that in 2005, 4,065 motorcycles and 444 cycles were involved in an accident after skidding on an otherwise dry road.

This represented one in five of all dry road motorcycle accidents.

Go to www.bmf.co.uk and click on the full report and a link to download the booklet.