CYCLISTS will be able to bag themselves a free fluorescent rucksack cover along with essential road safety advice in Bournemouth today.

The ‘Look Out’ event will be held in the Square between 11am and 3.30pm, with the aim of helping cyclists and motorists avoid being involved in accidents.

Staff from Bournemouth Council will be on hand to discuss the current and planned cycling infrastructure and assist anyone who wants to register for an urban cycling skills training course.

The road safety team will invite attendees to test how they would react to dangerous situations and Dorset Police will be there talking about the Highway Code and appropriate clothing and lights for cyclists.

Safety campaigners from LV= Streetwise will be demonstrating the benefits of cycle helmets and measuring children with their pop-up car seat height banner.

Free high-visibility rucksack covers will be handed out to visitors while stocks last, a limited number will also be available at the Daily Echo front office in Bournemouth.

The Look Out campaign is part of Bournemouth Council’s Getting About travel programme and its aim is to promote cycle safety by encouraging road users to respect each other’s needs.

Brightly coloured posters have been placed at the side of major roads, on buses and on cars in council-run car parks and campaign messages are featuring in local media.

The campaign’s main message to cyclists is to be visible, indicate your intentions, follow the Highway Code and respect the needs of pedestrians. Motorists are advised to always look twice for cyclists, indicate your intentions, respect the needs of cyclists and give them plenty of space.

Police offer free identity mark

CYCLISTS in Poole can have their bicycles marked free of charge by police on Saturday.

Poole Town and Oakdale Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT) will be marking bikes at the Joint Emergency Services Building in Wimborne Road between 12noon and 3pm.

And officers from the Rossmore and Alderney SNT will be at the student entrance to St Aldhelm’s Academy in Herbert Avenue between 2pm and 4pm.

Officers will be using BikeRegister marking kits and these will be available on a first come first served basis. Police recover large numbers of bikes in the town every year but only a fraction can be traced back to their owners.

Acting Sergeant Adam Gill, of the Rossmore and Alderney SNT, said: “If you can’t make it today, the best way to ensure that your bike will be returned to you if it is recovered by police is to take down the serial number (engraved into the frame and normally found under the bottom bracket) and register it on a secure online database such as bikeregister.com “Police have access to the database and can easily trace the bike back to you.” However he said this was not a substitute for a good quality D-lock.