FIRST some undisputed truths. Most motorcyclists are safe and responsible road users. Many of the accidents in which bikers are injured or killed involve another vehicle.

Each crash is different: it would be an absurd simplification to blame one set of road-users, either motorcyclists or car drivers, for the increase in biker deaths. Finally, the most brutal fact of all. Twenty seven bikers have lost their lives on North Yorkshire's roads this year, more than ever before.

This preface of the self-evident is necessary because a section of the biker lobby is highly defensive. While the Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) is admirably robust in promoting the causes of its membership, it sometimes demonstrates the symptoms of a persecution complex.

This newspaper is in no way anti-motorcyclist. Neither are the traffic police, some of whom are bikers themselves. Instead, we are deeply concerned at the terrible tragedy of so many biker deaths.

Unfortunately this concern is sometimes treated with suspicion. York MAG spokeswoman Debbie Molyneux admits today that "there is a degree of scepticism among bikers about the motives of the police".

Yet this is the force that pioneered the Bike Safe campaign, endorsed by the MAG.

The group should know this: there is no concerted effort to deprive motorcyclists of their freedom. There is no media conspiracy to portray bikers as reckless.

We want safer roads for everyone. And the motorcycling fraternity could play a greater role in achieving that. Veteran bikers might become mentors to less experienced riders, for example.

Motorcycle groups must accept that bikers bear some responsibility for the increase in accidents, and that it is not purely the fault of other thoughtless motorists. Moreover they should wholeheartedly support the police in their efforts to cut the carnage.

And we shall do the same.

Updated: 11:51 Wednesday, October 01, 2003