Cape Town - South Africa's ER24 emergency service has been called out to more than 300 motorcycle crashes since the beginning of the year.
Spokeswoman Chitra Bodasing called on all road users to be more alert and courteous.
"Sadly, many riders either lost their lives, or sustained serious or critical injuries," she said. "Incidents included collisions between bikers and other vehicles as well as bikers losing control and crashing. Several cyclists have also either been killed and critically injured.
"One of the worst incidents this year was that of a cyclist who was killed when he collided with a vehicle about 30km outside Nelspruit. The man's body was found severed in half on the front passenger side of the vehicle.
ALL THE GEAR, ALLTHE TIME
Motorcycle Medical Response Unit rider Hugh Brown said: "I've attended to numerous incidents and, both as a biker and a medic, it's worrying to see the extent of injuries sustained."
Having seen first hand the severity of injuries sustained, such as fractures, head injuries and decapitation, Brown said he was lucky to have escaped serious injury thus far.
"I was involved in a collision, but I got away with a sprained ankle and a bit of road rash because I was wearing full gear," he said.
Brown provided the following advice for riders - but it applies equally well to all road users:
Concentrate- don’t allow yourself to be distracted while on the road.
Reduce your speed according to ambient conditions and traffic.
Keep your anger in check and remember that proving a point isn't worth killing somebody.
Wear approved protective gear. A quality helmet and decent jacket have saved many bikers from serious harm. The more gear you wear and the better its quality, the less your chances of sustaining serious injuries in most cases.