As the emergency services continue to green their fleets, a Northamptonshire based company has extended trials of its three-wheel petrol electric hybrid motorbike to the North West with Greater Manchester Police taking two bikes onto the streets.
The innovative WMC300FR motorcycle has been developed by Northamptonshire based White Motorcycle Concepts (WMC) in collaboration with Northamptonshire Police and a number of British engineering innovation companies. Its three-wheel design also means the bikes can be driven on a standard car licence, enabling more officers to use them following just basic training and offering greater flexibility in deployment.
GMP has trained six traffic PCSOs to use the bikes and these officers will use the bikes in different roads policing environments such as: patrolling high harm collision routes carrying out speed enforcement, attending road traffic incidents and traffic management for transfers to and from court and Manchester City’s and United’s home UEFA Champions League fixtures. They will also be utilised throughout road safety campaigns for engagement and enforcement purposes as well as events such as the Conservative party conference this month.
The batteries are compact and easily removed, and spares can be carried on the bike or conveniently stored back at the station – meaning the bikes do not need downtime for charging and can continue to be used for patrol.
Chief Inspector Ronnie Neilson from GMP’s Specialist Operations said, “This is a really exciting step forward for the Roads Policing Unit at Greater Manchester Police and our commitment to reduce road danger through Vision Zero, which is an ambition to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries, while increasing safe, healthy, equitable mobility for all.”
