A WOMAN whose husband-to-be died in a motorcycle crash just three weeks before they were due to get married, is urging bikers to take advantage of a free safety course.

Police are running one-day safety workshops in a bid to cut the number of biker deaths on the county’s roads.

So far this year, five motorcyclists have died in Oxfordshire, compared to eight killed and 59 seriously injured last year.

Father-of-two Mick Inceman, 42, of Thame, a motorcyclist for 27 years, died while riding his bike to work last February, just three weeks before he was due to marry Paula Clack.

Ms Clack, 40, has now learned to ride a motorbike.

She said: “You can never have too much knowledge because there will always be situations you haven’t come across before. This course may just save your life. I can’t explain what it’s like to lose someone like this. It completely wrecks your life.”

The police course has been used to educate motorcyclists caught speeding or driving dangerously.

But it is now being offered to anyone in the Thames Valley Police area who holds a full motorcycle licence.

The six-hour classroom-based scheme aims to increase bikers’ ability to recognise hazards and deal with them safely. It is run by experienced, professional riders from private company DriveTech.

Motorcyclists represent just one per cent of road traffic, but account for nearly 20 per cent of all road fatalities.

Road safety police inspector Bob Jarrett said: “The course has something in it for everybody – and I defy even the most experienced motorcyclist to go away without having learned something.

“Even if it saves just one life, makes one motorcyclist do something different and avoid a fatal crash, then it would be worth it.”

For more details, and to book a place, see saferrider.org or drivetechride.com