Motorcycle safety
Motorcyclists face a higher risk of fatal or severe injuries due to limited physical protection for the rider and lower visibility on the road.
The UK Department for Transport indicated that motorcycles have 16 times the rate of serious injuries, people either killed or injured, compared to cars.
A national study by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATS) found that: Bicyclists and pedestrians are also unprotected in collisions with cars on public roads.
A major work done on this subject in the United States is the Hurt Report, published in 1981 with data collected in Los Angeles and the surrounding rural areas.
[19]: 159–161 A New Zealand study using data taken between 1993 and 1996 in the city of Auckland, a "predominantly urban area" (Wells et al.[20] ) supported the Hurt Report's call for increased rider conspicuity, claiming that riders wearing white or light colored helmets, fluorescent or reflective clothing or using daytime headlights were under-represented when compared to a group of motorcycle accident victims.
The accident victims were those who were killed, admitted or treated at hospital "with an injury severity score >5 within 24 hours of a motorcycle crash".
Accidents that did not result in hospitalization or treatment for a critical injury, or a death, were not considered, nor was there any consideration of involvement of other road users, or culpability.
[22] Transportation historian Jeremy Packer has suggested four categories to describe the different approaches riders take to the risks of motorcycling.
Packer's analysis of the second category, hyperreflective self-disciplinary, acknowledges that seriousness, sobriety, ongoing training, and wearing complete safety gear is not misguided, but also has concerns over its close alignment with the profit motives of the insurance industry, the motorcycle safety gear advertisers, and the public relations desires of motorcycle manufacturers, as well as governmental bureaucratic inertia and mission creep.
[24] BMW psychologist and researcher Bernt Spiegel has found that non-motorcyclists and novice motorcyclists usually share the fatalistic attitude described by Thompson, insofar as they think that high speed motorcycling is like a game of chicken or Russian roulette, where the rider tests his courage to see how close he can come to "the edge", or specifically the limit of traction while braking or cornering, without having any idea how close he is to exceeding that limit and crashing.
[40] But Condon says the rider feels the limit of traction through his hand and foot interface with the handlebars and footpegs, and the seat, rather than extending his perception out to the contact patch itself.
[40] A 2006 research paper published by the Scottish Executive and entitled 'Risk and Motorcyclists in Scotland' identified attitudinal groupings in respect of risk and motorcycling.
[41] The individualistic philosophy of risk acceptance and valorization attributed to some motorcyclists contrasts with the fundamentally utilitarian viewpoint Western democratic societies often adopt in setting limits to individual freedom in the interests of public safety.
Similarly, in the US, a Centers for Disease Control publication on motorcycle safety discusses the increased fatality rate seen in US states that no longer require use of helmets.
[44][45] Rallies and motorcyclists' right organizations have worked to inform public officials about the negative impacts of such restrictions on their communities, with no reports of such regulations having been implemented.
The choice of roadside barriers and guardrails to prevent vehicles from crossing over a median or running off the road have proved to be dangerous for motorcyclists, as they are designed to dissipate braking energy for much heavier and structurally tougher cars and trucks.
[50] Australian motorcycle advocate Rodney Brown writes that the nature and likely consequences of hazards differ significantly for motorcyclists compared to drivers of other vehicles.
[52] For example, the current highway standards in the US permit pavement ridges of up to 1.5 inches (about 3.8 centimeters) without tapering, which pose a significant hazard to motorcycles.
[51] Potholes and presence of debris pose a greater hazard for motorcyclists than drivers of larger vehicles, because the former can cause a loss of stability and control and the latter can deflect a motorcycle's wheel at impact.
[52] Data from the Iraq War era showed that United States military veterans returning from Southwest Asia combat areas were dying in motorcycle related fatalities.
There were 4,810 deaths on motorcycles in the U.S. in 2006, an increase of 5 percent over the previous year, and more than double (2,161) over the decade before, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
[53] In a chapter of Coming and Going on Bikes, Iraq War veteran and author Jack Lewis observed combat veterans' disordered perception of risk, resulting in nearly suicidal behavior: "We already walked through the world's worst neighborhoods with bullseyes painted on our chests... the most at-risk riders in the military community are risk-tolerant, adrenaline-juicing combat professionals.
[63][64] In many developed countries riders are now either required or encouraged to attend safety classes in order to obtain a separate motorcycle driving license.
[65] This risk compensation effect was commented on in the findings of the evaluation of the "Bikesafe Scotland" scheme, where a number of those who undertook training said they rode faster in non-built-up areas after the course (Ormston et al., 2003).
Insurance premiums may be reduced upon successful completion as this program is recognised and supported nationally by the Motorcycle and Moped Industry Council (MMIC).
'Ride Forever' provides advice and online coaching and access to heavily ACC subsidised on-road instruction through a series of one day accompanied rides with registered motorcycle instructors.
[72] The small amount of initial countersteering input required to get the bike to lean, which is only about 0.5 seconds in average curves, makes it difficult to perceive for many.
[73] According to the Hurt Report, most motorcycle riders in the United States would over-brake and skid the rear wheel and under-brake the front when trying to avoid a collision.
Honda has recently developed a fuel tank mounted airbag for the Gold Wing model that takes just 0.15 seconds to deploy.
Additional tests were performed to show that when a motorcycle rider impacts a car during a frontal collision, the fuel tank mounted airbag prevents the person from traveling into the vehicle.
