The bike parking in Bangor Co Down has been there for over ten years – at the very least!

So if you are  heading for an ice cream or refreshment in this glorious weather or just a ride out to Bangor check out and use the dedicated motorcycle parking!

Glenn Thompson, who was originally involved in getting the parking in Bangor, posted up this message on Facebook to riders:

“If anyone is heading into Bangor over the holiday fortnight, I just want to remind you that we have our own dedicated Motorcycle Park in the Queens Parade car park. Council are telling us to use it or lose it, so please use it. It has hitching posts to chain your bike to and is bollarded off from the cars. Plenty of watering holes close by like The Red Berry and Caproni Bangor close by and one minutes walk to the Main St and High St. Come on down. We’ll be glad to see you".

View the article/picture/location and comment on Right To Ride

The original drummer from the legendary rock group Status Quo will be performing at Billing Bike Fest, held at Northamptonshire’s Billing Aquadrome on 20th and 21st July.

John Coghlan was the bedrock of the group in the 1960s and 70s, playing with Status Quo right up to 1981. Playing the drums with the iconic rock band, he toured the world with the Quo as the powerhouse behind the band.

John, now with his own band John Coghlan’s Quo will be performing many of Quos hits and favourite tracks, at Billing Bike Fest on Saturday.

Tom Siddall, Event Director of Billing Bike Fest said: "We are so delighted that such a legendary rocker will be at Bike Fest with his group. He is bound to be a great favourite for all visitors, whether they’ve come for the motorbikes or the music!”

John Coghlan is not the only new addition to Saturday’s line-up as Bike Fest will also be joined by the Joseph Peace Stunt Show. According to Joseph Peace, he set out to devise a show like no other, blending circus and comedy with an insane amount of fire. This show is sure to have you cheering one moment and gob smacked the next!

Visitors can also enjoy the Bolddog Lings Mini-X Tour, uses Britain’s best motocross and extreme sports participants, introducing the mobile Mini-bike freestyle ramp. Plus other bands appearing include last year’s headline act The Great Divide along with Sons of Icarus, Dionysus Unbound and Foo Fighters tribute band The Four Fighters.

Supporting the Marco Simmoncelli foundation, Billing Bike Fest will host more than 250 riders taking part in their 2013 charity ride out, as well as having hundreds of bikes on show from motorcycle manufacturers. Motorcycle clubs will showcase everything from great British classics to modern day heroes, Japanese elegance to American icons.

And what festival wouldn’t be complete without the fantastic camping facilities at Billing Aquadrome including an indoor aqua park for all ages, go karting, climbing walls and much more.

Adult ticket prices start from just £10 when booking in advance or £12 on the gate. Children under the age of 16 get free entry when accompanied by an adult. Parking is also free throughout. The show is open from 10am to 5pm each day. Camping is £25 per adult and £12.50 per child. Camping can be booked by contacting 01524 781453 (8am-8pm weekdays). To book day tickets call 0844 8540064.

For the latest updates visit www.billingbikefest.com

Traffic police cuts could mean deadly, drunk and drugged drivers get away with it, says charity Brake, the road safety charity.

Traffic police numbers across Great Britain have been cut by 12% in five years, with some forces suffering 30-40% reductions, according to data released today by road safety charity Brake and webuyanycar.com. While traffic police in Scotland increased by 4%, numbers were down by 31% in Wales, and 13% in England. Brake and webuyanycar.com are warning the cuts leave some parts of the country dangerously short on vital frontline roads policing, which could put the public at risk from dangerous, law-breaking drivers.

The largest cuts have been in: Bedfordshire, where roads police have been reduced by 44%; South Wales and Dyfed Powys, where cuts are around 40%; and West Mercia and Hampshire, where reductions are more than a third. Read the full results broken down by police force area.

Brake and webuyanycar.com are concerned the resulting lack of roads policing officers will lead to forces struggling to enforce vital safety laws, such as on drink driving, speeding and mobile phone use, and could potentially undermine an important new drug driving law expected to come into force next year (see below).

International evidence shows enforcement is a key part of keeping roads safe[1], preventing devastating crashes and casualties by providing a deterrent against risky driving and ensuring dangerous offenders are taken off the public road.

Brake and webuyanycar.com are calling on the government to act to stem these severe cuts to life-saving traffic policing. It is urging the government to make roads policing a national policing priority, and ensure traffic policing is sufficiently resourced to tackle drunk, drugged and other dangerous driving.

Julie Townsend, deputy chief executive at Brake, said: "It is desperately worrying such large cuts continue to be made to traffic policing, just as progress is being made to improve the law on deadly drug driving. Roads police officers do a vital job enforcing important safety laws and protecting the public - their work is proven to save lives and prevent injuries and suffering. Cutting traffic police is a false economy, because the crashes and casualties they help to prevent inflict such devastation and are a huge drain on public services. These cuts also undermine important progress being made by government to tackle drug driving - because as much as we need a new drug driving law and screening devices, we also need the officers out there to enforce it. We urge the government to make roads policing a national policing priority, to make sure we have a strong deterrent against the risk-taking on roads that can easily cost lives."

A spokesperson from webuyanycar.com added: "It's imperative that the police have the resources to protect all road users from the drivers whose criminal behaviour puts us at unnecessary risk. We urge the Government to heed the warning of our report and stem the cuts before we witness a hike in needless incidents; incidents that, without road policing, are waiting to happen."

About the new drug drive law

The government is bringing in a new offence against driving with illegal drugs in your body, including limits for drugs in the bloodstream, similar to the drink drive limit, and provision for police to use roadside drug screening devices. Currently, prosecutors have to prove a driver is ‘impaired' by drugs, which is difficult and means prosecutions are relatively few.

Driving with drugs in the system can be deadly. For example, smoking marijuana before driving can more than double crash risk[2], and methamphetamine can encourage speeding and poor lane discipline[3]. Mixing drugs and alcohol is even more dangerous than simply taking drugs, or drinking, before driving[4].

Why roads policing is vital

Traffic police play a vital role in keeping us safe on roads. A proper deterrent is vital for sending out the message that road crimes are incredibly dangerous and will be taken seriously by the criminal justice system. Drug drivers state that a lack of enforcement is a reason they continue to offend, knowing they are unlikely to be caught[5].

According to Brake's research, a third of drivers (31%) think there is a less than one in ten chance of being caught if you drink and drive[6]. Senior police officers have expressed their frustration at the lack of priority given to roads policing by successive UK governments, stating the ‘second tier' status of roads policing leads to forces being unable to properly enforce driving laws [7].

Case studies

In June 2010 Lillian Groves, 14, was killed outside her home in Croydon by John Page, who had been smoking cannabis. He was convicted of causing her death by careless driving and sentenced to eight months in jail, reduced to four months for an early plea. He was released after just eight weeks. Lillian's family went on to campaign successfully for improved laws and enforcement on drug driving. Natasha Groves, Lillian's mum, said: "Lillian was a wonderful young child who did not deserve to die. She lit up rooms and gave warmth to everyone she met. A child being so suddenly killed, in such a needless and destructive way, is something that tears a hole in the heart of your family. We have successfully campaigned for Lillian's Law to make it an offence to drive on drugs, but this won't have the impact that is desperately needed unless there are enough police officers enforcing this new law. Specialist traffic police are vital to detecting and stopping dangerous drug drivers that cause carnage on our roads, so we plead for action to stop this decline in their numbers."

In October 1998, 18 year old nursery nurse Emma Greathead, from Worcestershire, and her friend, accepted a lift from a young man they knew when their car broke down. He overtook another car at more than 90mph on a 60mph road and they crashed into an oncoming vehicle. All three of them died, along with the driver of the oncoming vehicle. The driver of the vehicle he was overtaking was charged with causing four deaths but was acquitted of all charges. Emma's mother Sarah said: "I find it horrifying that traffic police are being cut in such great numbers, when they do such an important job in stopping people being needlessly hurt or killed. I can't even begin to explain the mental confusion, the physical pain and emptiness of our life caused by Emma's death. Any parent would understand the devastation of losing a child and the difficulty of dealing with the aftermath. Time makes no difference; your hopes and dreams are gone, you never escape it. Emma was a bright, beautiful 18 year old. We all miss her so much."

Anyone who has been bereaved or seriously injured in a crash can call the Brake helpline for support on 0845 603 8570.

www.brake.org.uk

We can now announce the Saturday night headliner has been confirmed, from The Jam will be blasting out hits from The Jam

Led by the Jam's ex base player Bruce Foxton, After The Jam split in '82, Foxton pursued a solo career. He had a hit with the single "Freak" and collaborated with other musicians, until he... read more here

Ducati teams make further strides in both British Superbike and National Superstock 1000 classes

Ducati enjoyed its strongest weekend’s racing for some time at Snetterton Circuit in Norfolk (5-7 July). Tristan Palmer had yet another fantastic race in the National Superstock 1000 class for Rapido Sport Racing, while the team’s rider in the main British Superbike class Matteo Baiocco scored the a best ever result by breaking into the top ten.

Coming off the back of a good weekend at Knockhill the team had the top ten in its sights, but with the ultra-competitive nature of the series, nothing is ever certain. The Italian made a good start in race one and jumped two spots from thirteenth on the grid to 11th at the end of the first lap, finding himself in a fierce mid-field battle that stretched from eighth back to 14th.

A safety car period followed, and Matteo managed to move up to ninth at half race distance before dropping back a couple of spots to eleventh. It looked like the Factory Ducati World Superbike test rider would just miss out on that elusive maiden top ten, but a fall from one of the front runners on the penultimate lap bumped the sole BSB Ducati back into the top ten to score the best ever finish for the Rapido Sport Racing team.

Another strong performance in race two for Italian rider and bike saw the Rapido Sport Racing team once again knocking on the door of the top ten. By lap 11 of 16 the Italian had taken tenth and was lapping slightly faster than the riders ahead. By lap 14 he was up to ninth, but a resurgent James Ellison just edged him back to tenth for a repeat result of race one over the line. Both rider and team were delighted with the double top-ten, and are confident that the performance can be repeated for the rest of the season.

Things would get even better for the Italian marque as the day went on, with Tristan Palmer starting from second place on the grid for the weekend’s only National Superstock 1000 race. A superb launch saw the rider from Nuneaton rocket into first place into the first corner. He was pushed back into second on lap two, but after a brief safety lap period took the lead back on lap nine.

A mistake on the same lap saw Palmer drop back to third, and despite his best efforts, didn’t have enough grip left to challenge in the last few laps. A scary moment at Montreal on the final lap saw Palmer run very wide, but he managed to pull the 1199 Panigale up just in time to maintain fourth place across the line.

Signs were also positive from Robbie Brown in the Superstock class. The DMC Racing rider had been struggling all weekend, but a change to the traction control gave him the smooth power delivery he’s been searching for all season. The 24-year-old had moved forward from 29th on the grid to 18th before a burst water pipe forced him out of the race on lap 11.

The Ducati TriOptions 848 Challenge made a welcome return to the support bill this weekend, and provided even more exciting racing for Ducati fans. In race one, Jonathan Railton’s unbroken winning spree was brought to an end with a superb lights to flag victory for Marty Nutt on the number 77 machine.

Race two saw a fantastic race-long battle between Nutt and Railton, with Nutt muscling past the current championship leader and defending strongly for the majority of the race. On the penultimate lap, however, there was nothing the Northern Irishman could do to hold off Railton’s charge, and at Agositini corner the number 40 machine took the lead. Railton pulled out a gap of almost half a second over the line, and made it five wins from six races so far in 2013.

Matteo Baiocco said:

“I’m happy for the position because we brought some good points home. We are much closer to the factory riders than at the other races so this weekend had been good. We stopped the improvements with the bike after qualifying. We might have been able to do some more with the setting but we were scoring our best results so it wasn’t worth risking it. The races felt long – I forgot about the sun, the last time I was here the track temperature was two degrees so it was very different. In the end, to get this result without coming to test here, which a lot of the other teams did, looks good for the rest of the races.”

The teams return to action at Brands Hatch for round 6 of the British Superbike Championship 19-21 July.