than any of the previous three.
Reporting Scotland have this as a headline story.
It’s not on their website but STV have:
More motorcyclists died on Scotland’s roads in the past year than any of the previous three, police have said, as they launched a new safety campaign.
Police Scotland’s annual motorcycle safety campaign started on Tuesday, with officers aiming to promote safe riding and raise awareness amongst other road users.
The campaign comes as the force revealed 27 motorcyclists died on Scotland’s roads in 2022/23 – with 22 of them being killed during the months of April to September – the period the drive aims to target.
The total is higher than in any of the previous three years with 25 being killed in 2021/22, 18 in 2020/21 and 26 in 2019/20.
This is a good one for Rishi Sunak’s ambitions to have more Maths up to 18 years of age in school but probably not exactly what he had in mind.
Along with many of you, I’m sure, the use of crude numbers, percentages and graphs by our media, all of it, to scare and to attract clickbait, is a real concern.
What our school-leavers really need is an education in being sceptical, asking questions and pursuing the data to answer them.
This is an ideal example.
The report seems like bad news, clear and simple until you ask, why just the last three years?
Because there were 33 motorcycle fatalities one year before that in 2018/19.
Why did they not mention that?
Yes, Peter, it would have spoiled the story they wanted to tell.
But don’t they have to tell us the truth?
Sometimes, Nicola.
I won’t do it now, but for homework, class, try to find out what the trend has been since, say the SNP came to power?
Now, one more thing – wouldn’t it be interesting to know if motorcyclists were more or less at risk in Scotland than in other places? That would be news, wouldn’t it?
OK, phones out, first to get an answer gets to ring the interval bell!
Yes, Shona?
Found this:
Well done! Send the link to the class Whatsapp.
This reminds me of the recent and far worse Reporting Scotland story on babies born addicted to drugs, fed by Alex Cole-Hamilton (RS not the babies). Ignoring the dramatic fall in cases over 5 years, they just added them up to get a big number. I complained. See:
Shona, the bell!
Talking-up Scotland 
Nor do the articles indicate whether there are more of less miles ridden by motorcyclists in any of these years.
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Excellent point, you old teacher you!
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It is because I am an old cyclist – literally, an old one, not an ex one.
More people are cycling these days and so more kilometres are being cycled. The number of accidents involving cyclists has increased, but by less than the proportion of the increase in numbers of cyclists and kilometres travelled.
However, the media, being largely sustained by car advertising and having ‘motoring correspondents’ portray the increase as evidence that CYCLING IS DANGEROUS!!!!!! And so they can have another rant about why cyclists need to be banished from our roads – if they ever use them because they all cycle on pavements.
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Ehm, the Pandemic wouldn’t have any bearing on it otherwise they’d have mentioned it…..
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Another excellent comment Bobby. Go to the top of the class.
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