Sheffield road safety: Seven motorcyclists & two cyclists lose lives in tragic spell on South Yorkshire roads

The first half of 2025 has already seen 21 deaths on the county’s roads, including seven motorcyclists and two cyclists, with five bikers known to have been taken to hospital following crashes during a single week this month.

Police are urging all road users to be aware of the vulnerability of motorbikes and bicycles, and for both they themselves and other road users to be careful.

South Yorkshire Police Roads Policing Inspector Matt Collings said: “Sadly this year, 21 people have lost their lives on the roads of South Yorkshire, and of those seven involved a motorcyclist and two were cyclists.

“We are committed to creating safer roads and through education and enforcement aim to reduce the amount of people seriously injured or killed, but everyone has a part to play.

“Motorcyclists are vulnerable road users and sadly continue to represent a high proportion of those seriously injured or killed on the country’s roads.

“While every road traffic collision is unique, there are ways we can all try to increase safety for everyone.

“Around this time of year, keen motorcyclists and cyclists enjoy using their bikes to travel and enjoy their hobbies.

“For drivers a ‘second glance’, a few extra seconds could be the difference between seeing the motorcyclist and not; the difference between life and death.

“Motorcyclists and cyclists are also urged to not assume you have been seen. We need to share the road and look out for one another.”

Police are currently holding BikeSafe workshops and more information can be found on the web page https://bikesafe.co.uk/

South Yorkshire has seen a catalogue of incidents in the last week involving motorbikes.

On Wednesday (May 14). emergency services called to to Savile Street, just outside Sheffield city centre after a crash involving a car and a motorbike. The rider was taken to hospital.

Earlier the same day a biker had been seriously injured in a crash on Barnsley Road, near Fir Vale. And earlier still, that morning, a 29-year-old man, suffered injuries that police said were not life-threatening or life-altering in a crash on Doncaster Road, Barnsley.

Another rider was left fighting for his life after a collision on Olympus Way, near Hoyland, in Barnsley, which was closed for a period of time while emergency services dealt with a collision between a car and a motorbike, on Saturday evening (May 10)

Last Thursday (May 8), a teenager died after his motorbike was involved in a crash with a Ford Puma on Warren Vale, near Rawmarsh, Rotherham, early in the afternoon.

That happened on the same day that it was announced that another motorcyclist had died, of injuries he had sustained 10 days earlier in described as a ‘single vehicle collision’ on Tuesday, April 29.

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