Born-again bikers and newly-qualified riders will be at the centre of a new police road safety campaign.

In the last six weeks, three people have died and three others have been seriously injured after motorcycle accidents in the Bradford area.

In an attempt to reduce the high toll of accidents this summer, police in Bradford North and Keighley have joined with the Bradford Road Safety Office to drive the safety message home.

Sgt Roger Birkett, road traffic manager for Bradford North and Keighley Police, said: "There are two prominent vulnerable groups in relation to collisions involving motorcycles.

"There are the young riders on smaller twist- and-go-type machines. They are often involved in collisions near to junctions and often don't wear high-visibility clothing.

"Then there are the "born-again bikers", often older people with a disposable income who buy a larger machine to enjoy motorcycling in their spare time.

"We find that these riders are often involved in accidents in rural areas. It's not always through any fault of their own, but there are safety tips which they can adopt to help prevent collisions."

The tips include:

l wearing high-visibility clothing and leathers for protection

l using headlights to increase visibility

l looking over the shoulder before every manoeuvre

l looking out for hazards and other vulnerable road users like pedestrians

l expecting the unexpected and riding defensively

l riding at a speed at which they can slow down and stop in good time.

During 2002/3, 14 people were killed in motorcycle accidents and 750 injured on West Yorkshire's roads. Of these, the majority killed or seriously hurt were young motorcyclists.

Ken Scarlett, Bradford Council's principal road safety officer, said: "These riders may not realise how vulnerable they are. But in the event of a collision, they are the ones who are killed or maimed - not the people in cars."

Officers are launching a series of campaigns to reduce road casualties, alongside the Depart-ment of Transport's Think! Campaign.

Father-of-two Dale Keaton, who put together the Bradford Industrial Museum's Hot Metal Exhibition, has been riding for 19 years and has a "born-again biker" father.

He said: "A few bikers do spoil it for the rest by speeding, undertaking and overtaking without checking, but you have to respect the road. It is not a race track."