Why does motorcycling have such a bad reputation for safety? One in four people associate it with the word “danger”. Geordie comedian and keen biker Ross Noble sums up a typical attitude;
“People go: Oh motorbikes, you're going to kill yourself on that. And that's a bit like going up to a chef and saying: Hmm, gas ovens. A lot of people kill themselves with gas ovens. You'd go. Yeah but loads of people don't. Loads of people make a nice dinner and shut the f**k up."
Statistically people are more vulnerable sitting on a motorcycle than sitting in a car; figures from the Department for Transport show that motorcyclists are 57 times more likely to be injured in serious crashes than car drivers. On average 500 riders are killed every year on Britain's roads, accounting for 20% of all road user deaths, and a further 5,500 are seriously injured.
However, to put those figures in perspective, there are 1.6 million motorcyclists on Britain's roads, so it's fair to say that 1,594,000 motorcyclists were neither killed nor seriously injured last year. Better still, the overall casualty rate for motorcycles has fallen over the past decade and is currently around 18% lower than it was ten years ago.
While motorcyclists are more vulnerable to injury than car drivers/passengers, that doesn't mean it is 'dangerous' to ride a motorcycle per se.
"Kill your speed"
After 'danger' the word most commonly associated with motorcycling by the public is 'speed'. Politicians, in particular, often respond to serious road accidents by imposing tougher speed limits – hence many A-roads now have a maximum limit of 50mph, reduced from 60mph. While this is a swift and cheap fix, it won't necessarily make any difference. Exceeding the speed limit was a contributory factor in just 5% of bike accidents in the UK in 2008. In fact the two most common factors contributing to motorcycle accidents in 2008 were failure to look properly and loss of control, which accounted for 30% of all incidents. Or to put it another way, riders are three times more likely to crash as a result of poor observation than by riding ‘too fast’.
Andy Ibbott of the California Superbike School is highly experienced in teaching motorcyclists to stay in control; “Over the years it has become clear that all riders, on all kinds of machines, can ride the straights really well. Most of the corners they carve tend to present a problem of some description of other”. Accident investigators confirm that the majority of riders who lose control on a corner (left hand bends are the worst) are travelling within the speed limit. Slower does not necessarily mean safer.
Responsible adults?
Interestingly, 46% of motorcycles are owned by people aged between 35 and 49, significantly older than the most accident-prone group of drivers, who are aged 17-24. In 2008 reckless riding was a factor in less than 10% of accidents and motorcyclists are half as likely to fail a breathalyser test as other road users.
So if motorcyclists are responsible adults who aren't riding recklessly beyond the speed limit, why are they so over-represented in the accident statistics?
Junctions. The most dangerous places for motorcyclists. During 2008 51% of serious injuries to riders occurred in collisions at junctions. It's easy to blame inattentive motorists, the SMIDSY (Sorry Mate I Didn't See You) but it's more complex than that. Sometimes vision can be obscured by traffic, road furniture or vegitation; the road position of the bike can make it hard to spot; filtering in congested traffic creates all sorts of issues.
Halving the number of collisions at junctions could reduce motorcycle casualties by 25% which would mean approximately 125 less deaths every year. That's a big difference.
But how can this be achieved? One option is a concerted campaign that is backed by the government, road safety professionals and pressure groups, motoring organisations (AA + RAC), motorcycle media and rider groups, alerting the public to the dangers of collisions at junctions and simple tactics for avouding these. Could the solution really be that simple? There's only one way to find out ....
From an article originally published in Used Bike Guide
