Riders rescue Londoners

There’s strong evidence that big-hearted motorcyclists offered work colleagues a way out of the chaos of Thursday’s terrorist attacks on London.

London’s George White’s dealership – in Shoreditch High Street – reports a huge rise in helmet sales on Thursday – indicating riders offered pillion places to work colleagues and other commuters.

MCN staff went into London from Peterborough to bring out some commuters stuck in the city on Thursday afternoon – and urged others to do likewise.

The London ambulance service says bikes proved critical during the emergency. All 10 of the riders in the service were in action during Thursday. Motorcycle paramedics Steve Jones and Larry Perkin were first on the scene at Liverpool Street and Aldgate.

Jones, 36, said: “We had no problem getting through on the bikes. Once we got to the scene we set about prioritising who to treat.

“But it’s not just treatment we do, we also use the bikes to pass vital information back to the emergency service commanders to help them make the right decisions.”

Londoners saw loads more bikes on the roads on Friday as those lucky enough to have a bike concluded it was their best route to work. It remains to be seen whether or not new riders will be encouraged to try bikes as an alternative to public transport in the wake of the July 7 outrage. Roads were reported as being heavily congested on Monday morning.

Read more about this story in MCN out on July 13.

Some motorcyclenews.com users are organising an ‘Anti-Terror Ride-In’, see link, right.

BBC on the London terrorist attack HERE