Research of motorcycle casualties has revealed just how vulnerable young riders are – and why observation, anticipation and road sense are the riders most powerful allies in the battle to ride safely.
A survey of crashes among young riders revealed that overwhelmingly they occur when the rider is ‘going straight ahead’, rather than on a manoeuvre such as overtaking or turning.
This finding flies in the face of many people’s views that bike riders are at risk because of their actions. Rather, it is the actions of other road users that put bikers in harm’s way.
Collision circumstances identified in the survey by Agilysis on behalf of the National Young Riders Forum found the most dangerous spot was a T-junction but not when the bike rider was emerging or turning; instead the young rider was travelling straight ahead when he or she was in conflict with a car. Just under 40% were approaching a T-junction when the collision occurred, suggesting that car and van drivers are pulling out of T-junctions into the path of the motorcyclist without being aware of their presence.
The data reinforces the need for motorcycle riders to develop better observation and anticipation habits to keep themselves safe from other road users who fail to recognise the dangers they cause motorcyclists. It also highlights the importance of bikers making their bikes visible through good light maintenance and wearing his-vis conspicuity jackets and stripes. In addition, adopting good road positioning where they are more likely by to be seen by others and riding at sensible approach speeds also help reduce risks.
The months which see the largest number of bike casualties is interesting: rather than December and January, when weather conditions would suggest bike riders are at most risk, young rider collisions actually peak in early autumn, particularly in September. This coincides with the start of the academic year and may reflect novice riders using motorcycles for the first time to travel further to college, work, or apprenticeships.
Overwhelmingly, young rider casualties are involved in collisions on 30mph roads, which see over 70% of bike collisions roads. An increase in the prevalence of 20mph limits across Great Britain mean that more collisions are now occurring on 20mph roads.
Analysis of police reports have unearthed a number of contributory factors behind motorbike collisions. For the 16-18-year-old age group, control errors, nervous behaviour and unsafe behaviour were major contributory factors, suggesting inexperience and a lack of road sense are key causes of collisions.
By the time the riders have entered the 19-21-year-old age group, observation errors are the highest percentages of any contributory factor (approaching 40%). Observation errors are commonly assigned in all collisions, not just those involving motorcyclists, under the assumption that if participants had looked properly, they would have been able to take mitigating actions.
The number of crashes where speed choice was a contributory factors has fallen sharply in the past five years, suggesting that young riders are travelling at safer speeds.