Students to benefit from new cycling DVD

23 June 2009

Student with bike and Dorset Fire and Rescue Service

Keep Cycling, Keep Safe, produced by BU and Bournemouth Borough Council, will help international students stay safer on the roads.

A new DVD which will improve cycling standards and student safety in Dorset has been launched as part of BU’s activities during National Bike Week.

Keep Cycling, Keep Safe, produced by BU and Bournemouth Borough Council, provides students and adult cyclists with important safety tips.

The launch was attended by key stakeholders including Dorset Police’s Deputy Chief Constable Christopher Lee, Councillors Mark Anderson and Roger West, Bournemouth Borough Council, Dorset Fire and Rescue and BU staff and students.

The DVD was funded by BU’s Travel Plan Group and Bournemouth Borough Council’s Road Safety Department, with international students in mind.

Stuart Laird, BU’s Acting Estates Manager and Travel Plan Co-ordinator, said: “This DVD will aid cycle safety, particularly for our international students, but also the wider cycling community. In encouraging our students and staff not to use their cars, we must also encourage responsible and safe use of other modes of transport like cycling.”

The initial idea for the DVD came from Dorset Police Officer, PC Viv Maddison.

Speaking at the launch, she said: “While patrolling the area, I noticed some students cycling on the roads without helmets, reflective clothing or lights on their bikes. I have since witnessed a small number of students cycling against the flow of traffic, going through red lights and talking on their mobile phones whilst cycling.

“I was concerned that it was only a matter of time before a student cyclist, in particular those who may not be aware of UK traffic laws and legislation, was involved in a serious or even fatal collision, so I decided to take action. “

Bournemouth Borough Council is playing a key role in ensuring the local community benefits from the DVD. John Satchwell, Road Safety Manager, who also attended the launch, said: “This was an excellent opportunity to meet the need for an important training aid that is easily accessible to more international students locally.”

Thanks to a grant from the Prime Minister’s Initiative for International Education, copies of Keep Cycling, Keep Safe have been sent to the international departments of over 500 UK universities and colleges via BU’s Centre for Global Perspectives and the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA).

Caroline Howlett, BU’s lnternationalisation Development Co-coordinator, said: “We will be using this DVD as part of the International Students' Orientation Programme for our new students this September. I think that international students are particularly vulnerable on our roads when they first arrive in the UK, so it's great to have a resource that is designed with international students in mind - hopefully it will really help to keep them safe, both here in Bournemouth and across the UK."

The DVD was produced and directed by Red Balloon, BU’s commercial arm in the Media School.