Newsletter
Latest news
Latest press releases
Latest publications
29-01-10 ACEM Report 2010
01-12-08 Safety Plan for Action v. 12.08
Register and receive ACEM's newsletter and updates
Lucky 13: still on the safe side
ACEM’s cartoon character to accompany the motorcycling season with more safety tips and recommendationsPDF FR ; NL
Brussels, 14.5.2009 – Spring coincides with more motorcycles, scooters and mopeds on European roads. The Lucky 13 road safety cartoon launched last fall by ACEM, the Motorcycle Industry in Europe, is aimed at raising the riders’ awareness about the risks coming from the roadway itself with tips and recommendations to riders on how to best tackle potentially unsafe situations.
Lucky 13, a cartoon character, explains with his clumsy and unpredictable behaviour - and a substantial degree of humour supporting a serious message - what to look out for when riding on a scooter or motorcycle.
The poor conditions of many European roads and the fact that PTWs specific needs are widely neglected in road engineering are the cause of many accidents and can even worsen their effects. This fact has also been stressed by the European Road Federation urging authorities to improve the infrastructure and take into account the needs of these particular users. Supporting this view but also recognising that such a process may take time, ACEM’s campaign intends to encourage riders to identify road infrastructure shortcomings and adapt their behaviour accordingly.
The first six episodes are available from www.acem.eu/cartoon in English, Spanish, Italian, French, German, Dutch, Portuguese, Swedish and Slovenian. Lucky 13 will soon be available in Polish and Czech.
Lucky 13 was presented to the European Commission at the European Road Safety Day held in Paris last October and is part of the initiatives developed in the framework of ACEM’s commitment to European Road Safety Charter aiming at reducing road fatalities by 50% by 2010.
Note to editors:
Accidents caused by the infrastructure account for 8% of the total according to MAIDS, the Motorcycle Accidents In-Depth Study, that analyzed more than 900 motorcycle and moped accidents during the period 1999-2003 in five sampling areas located in France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain and Italy. To provide comparative information, more than 900 control cases have also been analyzed in the same sampling areas. The data collected in the MAIDS study represents currently the most comprehensive database of PTW accidents available today. See www.maids-study.eu
The full series can be published for free with ACEM’s permission. For more details contact Filippo Segato, f.segato @ acem.eu, 0032 2 235 0707.
Av de la Joyeuse Entrée, 1 B-1040 Brussels, Belgium | Tel +32 2 2309732 | Fax +32 2 2301683 | Email 
conception Vertige asbl