MOTORCYCLISTS have been involved in almost 20 serious crashes on Dorset's roads in the past 12 months.

On Friday, October 6, a motorcyclist killed on the A31 between Canford Bottom and Merley became the ninth biker to die on Dorset's roads in a year.

The casualty, 17-year-old David Pilbro from Bournemouth, was riding a red and black Hyosung motorcycle at around 12.50pm when he was involved in a collision with white Ford Transit panel van. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Analysis by the Alliance Road Policing team last year found men aged between 40 and 60, riding powerful motorbikes, are most at risk of death or critical injury.

The vast majority of riders were male and a quarter of those killed or critically injured were riding in convoy with friends.

Motorbikes over 500cc were involved in eight out of ten such crashes and half of riders affected were aged between 40 and 59-years-old.

Kieran Pittick, 36 and of Schelin Way in Shillingstone, Blandford, died on the A357 on October 7 2016 when his Suzuki motorcycle was involved in a collision with a tractor registered to a Stalbridge company.

Stephen Perry, of Fellowsmead in Marnhull, Sturminster Newton, was charged with causing death by careless driving. He will go on trial later this year after pleading not guilty to the charge.

On October 23, 2016, Joe Howe, who was 23, died in a collision in Lindsay Road, Branksome.

Mr Howe had been riding a green Kawasaki which was involved in a collision with a car just after 5.35pm. A 21-year-old man who was also on the motorbike was airlifted to Southampton General Hospital with life-threatening injuries.

On January 28 this year, 67-year-old motorcyclist Graham Hibbs from Wimborne was killed in a head-on crash in Victoria Road, Ferndown.

The driver of the second vehicle, a white Renault Clio, was uninjured.

Deborah Quartey, 24 and of Thames Close in Ferndown, has since appeared at court charged with causing death by driving without due care and attention.

Married couple Sid and Barbara Samways both died after their black Kawasaki motorcycle was involved in a collision in Shaftesbury Road near the Compton Abbas airfield at 3.40pm on April 2.

The bike collided with a green Ford Escort.

Mr Samways, 74, was pronounced dead at the scene. Mrs Samways, 71, was airlifted to Southampton General Hospital. Police released a statement confirming her death in hospital on April 7.

Jamie Myers, 24 and of Shaftesbury, was later charged with two counts of causing death by driving without due care and attention while over the specified drug drive limit and one of causing death by driving an unlicensed vehicle.

The rider of a blue Honda motorcyclist was killed in a crash involving a green Skoda Octavia in Sea Road North, Bridport on April 8 this year. The casualty, a 50-year-old man from Martock in Somerset, died at the scene.

On the afternoon of August 28, the rider of an orange KTM motorcycle was killed in a collision involving a cyclist and an orange Ford Focus near to the Mosterton crossroads on the A3066 near Beaminster.

The casualty was a man in his 40s from Crewkerne.

"Dearly-loved" Paul Tovey, who was 35, was killed when his orange Kawasaki motorcycle was involved in a collision with a white Audi A1 in Parkstone Road on Tuesday, August 29.

Emergency services were called to a stretch of the road near the junction with Birds Hill Road at 9.15pm and Mr Tovey was taken to hospital with serious injuries. He died shortly after his arrival at the hospital.

Other motorcyclists suffered serious, life-threatening or life-changing injuries in crashes across Dorset.

A man remains in a critical condition after a collision at the entrance of the Knoll House Hotel in Studland on August 22.

The Bournemouth man, who is in his 20s, was riding a black Suzuki motorcycle which was involved in a collision with a silver Audi S8.

His pillion passenger, a 17-year-old girl from Austria, was taken to hospital with a fracture to her arm and leg. She has since returned home.

On August 4, an 18-year-old man suffered 'potentially life-changing injuries' after his Suzuki motorcycle was involved in a crash with a Mitsubishi Colt driven by a 67-year-old woman in Wallisdown Road.