Motorcycling and Accidents

It’s true that motorcyclists represent a large proportion of road casualties in relation to their numbers. They make up only around 1% of road traffic but suffer around 20% of deaths and serious injuries. The statistic that one in five deaths on the road is now a motorcyclist is sobering. Generally motorcyclists’ propensity to speed is not so very different to car drivers. But a proportion of motorcyclists speed more excessively than car drivers and this is particularly noticeable on single carriageway roads with a 60mph speed limit. Furthermore, speeding as a behaviour by motorcyclists leads to far more accidents involving their death than it does when car drivers have accidents speeding. Excessive speed features much more strongly in accidents involving motorcycles over 500cc, especially fatalities, even amongst experienced riders, suggesting overconfidence in ability. There have been two significant changes in trends in recent years:

• deaths and serious injuries on rural roads are rising, and there are now more deaths on the rural roads than in urban areas; and

• older rider casualties are not reducing until riders are in their early 40s, and that age group is featuring more strongly than before.In Scotland.

Accidents on rural roads tend to:

• Be the fault of the motorcyclist

• Involve the motorcyclist losing control

• Involve ‘sports’ bikes (over two-thirds of thirds of accidents), mostly those with larger engines (over 500cc)

• Involve very few mopeds or scooters

• Occur on single carriageways with 60mph speed limits

Accidents on urban roads tend to:

• Be the fault of a motorist other than the motorcyclist

• Involve cars turning in front of the motorcyclist

• Involve smaller bikes (less than 500cc)