Making motorcycling safer

[shrub]

There is much fervent debate about motorcycle safety on these boards, and the advent of the body headed by Gareth Morgan shows that our safety is being taken seriously at a higher level, but what can WE do to improve safety?

I know for me, ATGATT is fundamental, but I really don't want to use my helmet, gloves, boots etc for what I bought them for - I hate the idea of binning my bike with a passion. Ultimately (as Katman has been preaching) our safety is our responsibility, but what techniques should riders be taught to improve that safety?

I have done a few advanced courses on race tracks, and while they were a lot of fun, most of what I learned was how to go round corners faster - I even lean these days! The most dangerous riding I do is not the brisk ride over the Lewis Pass, but my daily commute. I have learned all kinds of strategies over the years, like moving around in my lane, making eye contact, watching turning wheels, identifying drivers that are too busy with eating/talking/texting/changing the radio to drive etc, and so far they're working well for me.

What would you do to make motorcycling safer? What laws need to be passed? What training do different riders need? What attitude shift do all road users need?

[Usarka]

Heavily subsidised learner training (less than say 4 riders per instructor, with radio contact) so the right skills are learnt up front and so the wrong ones don't need un-learning at the other end.


A discount off your rego/ACC levy if you don't crash or get a ticket in that year.

Free pies.

[Bald Eagle]

The attitude shift required of all road users is one of tolerance and responsibility.

We can't legislate against stupidity. I continue to ride on the assumption that (a) I'm naked and (b) Everyone is trying to kill me. The rest is down to the fates.

[Usarka]

The attitude shift required of all road users is one of tolerance and responsibility.

We can't legislate against stupidity. I continue to ride on the assumption that (a) I'm naked and (b) Everyone is trying to kill me. The rest is down to the fates.

I made a submission to the safer roads thing last year, with the theme that attitude on the road reflects our attitude in society, and it's this whole attitude that needs to change.

They said attitude was outside scope of the the safer roads initiative (ie. it's all about legislation).

[javawocky]

Road down to the Tron this weekend with the wife who is a relatively inexperienced rider and the following stood out for me.

Following distances :
Honey, you are not in a car and can't stop as fast.

Room for error :
Darling, those nastly looking Cheese Graters on the side of the road can leave a nasty mark if you get tangled up with them. So when the wind is blowing and the road is wet leave a good gap between yourself and them in case you slip or a gust of wind blows you sideways.

This is not Hampton Downs :
Munchkins, no need to overtake cars all the time, better to sit and cruise in the slow lane and get there safely.

Lane splitting :
Babes, late splitting at over 50kph is pointless and is a risk you don't have to take.

I have a lot of training to do

[awa355]

Road down to the Tron this weekend with the wife who is a relatively inexperienced rider and the following stood out for me.

Following distances :
Honey, you are not in a car and can't stop as fast.

Room for error :
Darling, those nastly looking Cheese Graters on the side of the road can leave a nasty mark if you get tangled up with them. So when the wind is blowing and the road is wet leave a good gap between yourself and them in case you slip or a gust of wind blows you sideways.

This is not Hampton Downs :
Munchkins, no need to overtake cars all the time, better to sit and cruise in the slow lane and get there safely.

Lane splitting :
Babes, late splitting at over 50kph is pointless and is a risk you don't have to take.

I have a lot of training to do

I hope you listened to her.

[javawocky]

I hope you listened to her.

she was the on doing all the bad stuff, not me

[Blackbird]

A short while ago, I received the latest free newsletter from Megarider. In the newsletter, there's a piece on some new research at Nottingham University in the UK by researchers in the Engineering and Psychology faculties. Funded by the Institute for Advanced Motorists (IAM), the research project investigated different rider behaviours, including forward planning, hazard perception and levels of risk taking. A unique approach was designed to find out whether or not riders with advanced training ride differently to novice or experienced riders who don’t have an advanced qualification.

Advanced training, in the context of the study, related to people who had recently (in the last 3 years) completed the Institute of Advanced Motorists, 'Skills for Life' advanced training. The idea of the research was to explore issues associated with behaviour, skills and attitudes of the different rider groups.

Moving to the findings of the research, the research subjects were novice riders, experienced riders and riders who had taken advanced motorcycle training. The summary of findings are:

* Experience on its own does not necessarily make riders safer on the road and in some cases the experienced riders behaved more like the novice riders.

* Those riders who had taken advanced motorcycle safety training used better road positioning to anticipate and respond to hazards, kept to urban speed limits, and actually made better progress through bends than the other groups of novice and experienced bikers.

"Whilst experience seems to help develop rider skills to an extent, advanced training appears to develop deeper levels of awareness, perception and responsibility," Dr. Alex Stedmon noted, "It also appears to make riders better urban riders and quicker, smoother and safer riders in rural settings."

"This is real cutting edge research and the hazard perception results, in particular, have shown that advanced riders were quicker to identify hazards and had a greater awareness on their responsibility to themselves and other road users," Dr. David Crundall from the School of Psychology added. "The results indicate that, indeed, the advanced riders had a different mind set to the other groups - especially when we looked at other aspects of the research such as hazard perception skills and interpretations of liability. We referred back to 'locus of control' theory and used a standard questionnaire to investigate if our rider groups had a fundamentally different mindset from the outset - they didn't (which was good!) but then when we looked at their interpretations of the hazards, we found that the advanced riders placed a greater emphasis on rider responsibility. When we looked back at their riding behaviour from the simulator we found that advanced riders took more defensive road positions that allowed greater views round bends etc. Interestingly, our 'experienced' group (standard riders with at least 3 years full licence and no advanced training) behaved in some respects like advanced riders and in others like novice riders - illustrating that experience (length of time riding) alone does not necessarily make people better riders."

Good situational awareness as opposed to just bike handling skills is the key to survival, either at low speeds or higher speeds. All about anticipating potential hazards and strategies to mitigate them.

I posted this extract on my blog and a few forums to test the reaction. Only a handful of people said "Absolutely and I'm going to do something about that". Sorry to say that the majority either joked about it or were downright abusive as if the research was an affront to their manhood.

Always thought that bike riders were more receptive to on-going skills development than pure car drivers but maybe not?

[awa355]

I would agree with their findings. As a experienced rider, over 40 yrs riding, I still get things wrong. Some days I go out and ride like a new boy. May have gotten around all corners, ( bar one) in that time but in hindsight I could've got around many in a safer manner.
I wonder how much is simply human behaviour. In theory you can be perfect all the time. In practice, non of us deliver 100%.

[Clean_up]

For what it is worth, I belive the best thing that WE as motorcyclists can do is to ALWAYS expect the unexpected, ride like every TWAT on the road has NO idea what the hell they are doing and that they are AIMING to flatten you, ALWAYS, and I mean ALWAYS have an escape route for EVERY situation you are in....ie, coming up to a blind corner, EXPECT some DIPSHIT to be coming round it on the wrong side and be ready for that with a plan for getting out of it alive.
Unfortunately as we have all been saying here, the majority of motorcycle accidents ARE NOT caused by the motorcyclist, so we have to anticipate that EVERYONE else on the road is out to get us. Always think......how can I get out of this if shit goes bad real quick.
According to statistics.....for a motorcyclist it is not a matterif, but more when, are we going to be involved in a crash....so it is up to US to do all we can to stay alive...
ATGATT, always have an escape..if that means riding into the ditch instead of the front of that truck on the wrong side, chances are grass and dirt are more forgiving than 50 tonnes of steel.

Anyway that is just my thoughts......

[Oscar]

All the advanced skills I have I learned on a dirt bike, off the road.

[Blackbird]

Unfortunately as we have all been saying here, the majority of motorcycle accidents ARE NOT caused by the motorcyclist, so we have to anticipate that EVERYONE else on the road is out to get us. Always think......how can I get out of this if shit goes bad real quick.
Anyway that is just my thoughts......

I think that's generally true but with better situational awareness, could a motorcyclist have done more to avoid the accident which was caused by another vehicle? It was almost by sheer chance in the early 2000's that the advanced course I took focussed on awareness more than handling skills and although I'd been riding for over 35 years at that time, some of the things the instructor taught weren't intuitive. It's been an on-going life-saver for me.

[Ocean1]

Always thought that bike riders were more receptive to on-going skills development than pure car drivers but maybe not?

Interesting. But, with respect I'd be surprised if, having coached the "advanced" group the IAM found anything BUT what they wanted to see in that group.

There's a name for that effect in research structure and analysis, but I'm fookt if I can remember it...

[Tink]

There is much fervent debate about motorcycle safety on these boards, and the advent of the body headed by Gareth Morgan shows that our safety is being taken seriously at a higher level, but what can WE do to improve safety?

I know for me, ATGATT is fundamental, but I really don't want to use my helmet, gloves, boots etc for what I bought them for - I hate the idea of binning my bike with a passion. Ultimately (as Katman has been preaching) our safety is our responsibility, but what techniques should riders be taught to improve that safety?

I have done a few advanced courses on race tracks, and while they were a lot of fun, most of what I learned was how to go round corners faster - I even lean these days! The most dangerous riding I do is not the brisk ride over the Lewis Pass, but my daily commute. I have learned all kinds of strategies over the years, like moving around in my lane, making eye contact, watching turning wheels, identifying drivers that are too busy with eating/talking/texting/changing the radio to drive etc, and so far they're working well for me.

What would you do to make motorcycling safer? What laws need to be passed? What training do different riders need? What attitude shift do all road users need?

I just learnt a lot from what you just said!!!! Thanks

[Ocean1]

All the advanced skills I have I learned on a dirt bike, off the road.

Yup. I failed to learn too many advanced skills but I sure fall down way better.

"Er indoors is the first person I've taught to ride that hasn't started with serious time on a small dirt bike. In the greasiest slime I can find.

100hrs compulsary boot camp on an XR200.