IT has been a bleak couple of weeks for motorcyclists after a series of accidents on Dorset and New Forest roads left three men dead and one very seriously injured.

On March 20, father-of-two David Bartholomew, 54, of Bere Regis, was involved in a fatal collision with a car while riding his Honda CBF 1000 motorcycle on the A31.

The following day, internationally-renowned surgeon and father of three Nick Boeree, 53, of Lymington, died when his 1,300cc Yamaha FJR motorcycle was in a head-on crash with a lorry in the New Forest.

That same afternoon, a 48-year-old man from Poole received life-threatening injuries after his motorcycle and a car collided on the A350 at Blandford St Mary. Following an operation on his pelvis at Southampton Hospital, he is still receiving treatment at Dorset County Hospital.

Alf Stearn of Purbeck and District Motorcycle Club, who is in his 70s and has been riding motorbikes since his youth, said: “It’s just so sad. Most people will be looking to point the finger.

“We make hundreds if not thousands, of split second judgements and thankfully, 99.9 per cent of the time we get it right. With the volume of traffic there is today, you’ve only got to get it wrong once. That applies to the best drivers and the best motorcyclists.”

Despite his love of motorbikes, Alf admits that motorcyclists are vulnerable.

“The theory with a bike is that you can sometimes get out of a situation but it goes both ways,” he said.

“You can do everything 110 per cent but if somebody else doesn’t do it 100 per cent and you’re involved in an accident, the protection is not there. If you’re sitting in a tin box you have some sort of protection.”

He added: “At this time of year, the specialist motorcycling press tends to put out a warning. It’s not for those lads who ride to work every day but some bikers get tucked up in their cars during the winter and possibly go for a long time without riding.

“The modern motorcycle is a fantastic piece of machinery. If you take the average sports bike, it’s unbelievable to me that the man or lady in the street has got more power available than Barry Sheene (former world champion) used to have in a grand prix.”

Motorcyclists account for a one per cent of users but a fifth of all fatalities on the roads.

Dorset’s top traffic police officer, Chief Inspector Bob Nichols, has urged all road users to “Think Bike”, while motorcyclists can attend a Bike Safe course run by Dorset Police and Dorset County Council.

A national e-petition calling for motorcycle awareness questions to be included in the driving theory test has so far received 33,000 signatures.