GREATER Manchester Police has become one of the first forces in England to trial a new petrol-electric hybrid motorbike.
The three-wheeled bike will soon take to the streets in a move that will see another mode of sustainable transport become available to the emergency services.
GMP will have use of two of the WMC300FR motorcycles – which have been developed in collaboration with Northamptonshire Police and a number of British engineering innovation companies.
They will be utilised to patrol high harm collision routes carrying out speed checks and attend road traffic incidents, as well as for traffic management for transfers to and from court and the two Manchester football clubs’ Champions League matches.
The bikes will also be used during road safety campaigns and events such as the Conservative party conference.
The vehicles have compact batteries, a three-pin plug and USB ports, and can be driven on a standard car licence so more officers can use them after basic training.
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.
“These bikes will help us with our proactive policing throughout the whole of Greater Manchester, allowing us to have a more visible presence in neighbourhoods during our-day-to-day patrols as well as policing major events.
“We have six Traffic PCSOs who have been trained to ride these bikes, with a view to more officers being trained in the near future.”