Right to Ride has come across a simple but useful idea and product – which may help when you are heading on your bike or car across to Europe next year, where they drive on the “wrong side” of the road!
Indeed if you drive on the “wrong side” of the road and are heading to the UK or Ireland then “Roadside Reminder” may just stop you from making the simple mistake of driving on the wrong side of the road with possible serious consequences.
Development
“Roadside Reminder” realised that they could create a simple, affordable product that could easily help to prevent these sorts of accidents from happening to drivers all over the world, by creating a “Roadside Reminder” sticker.
The “Roadside Reminder” sticker was developed by Andrew Doherty, a postman and keen motorcyclists from the Isle of Man.
Andrew says, “It was some years ago when a young doctor and his girlfriend, a nurse, were killed on the Mountain Road during the TT fortnight between Ramsey and Douglas by a German biker who was riding on the wrong side of the road. The German biker survived it. But it was just the thought of how much good the this couple would have done in the world and the German man having to live with the consequences for the rest of his live. Some time after I was in Douglas boarding the ferry and I noticed that the unaccompanied that they were taking off the boat had a sticker on the back of the wing mirror which just said (IOM), to say where it was going. I just thought if you cut an arrow out of it and put it on the glass it would work much better.”
The Idea
The “Roadside Reminder” stickers were designed partly because over the last decade a number of other fatalities occurred involving foreign visitors during the TT Fortnight on the Isle of Man.
The authorities made the mountain road one way for a fortnight and put “links fharen” signs on the outskirts of the main towns, which helped but with thousands of foreign bikers in a relatively small area of 227 sq miles, this type of accident keeps on happening. A French biker was killed in 2008.
Andrew pushed for the “Roadside Reminder” stickers to given out to those attending the TT fortnight. There were no accidents of this type during 2009 or in 2010 so they seem to be working. Although some people may say it may not of happened anyway Andrew says, “I would like to see if over five years (using the stickers) whether this type of accident happens again. But this all depends upon the continuous distribution of stickers to prove the point”.
“You may think this is a local problem but after a lot of research, I found that it happens more than you would think and having driven abroad many times it is nerve racking.
About the Stickers
The arrow itself is made of a highly reflective material. It is only 6mm wide and it affixes to the top edge of the glass part of your wing mirror (the left or right mirror depending on the country in which you are driving).
It comes on a plastic card the same size as a credit card, making it easy to fit in your wallet or purse, and leaves no residue so can be removed with ease.
It works on a very simple principle. The first check you make before pulling off or making any manoeuvre is to look in your wing mirror. The sticker provides you with an instant reminder of which side of the road you should be driving on, preventing you from making any split-second mistakes.
So use a “Roadside Reminder” sticker and have a safe journey, wherever you are riding or driving.
Roadside Reminder – www.roadsidereminder.co.uk
This is an excellent idea, as a biker who has travelled to countries & driving on the wrong side of the road it would make life a whole lot safer.
Each corner we turned or roundabout or even each time we made a stop we had to think hard about what side we were on..
The Twisted Sisters think these should be used 100%..