1.5.1.1 Safety is without doubt the single issue most commonly associated with motorcycle use among transport professionals and the wider public.

Although fatal accidents are still rare events in absolute terms - one rider is killed every nine million kilometres travelled by motorcycle - riders are many times more likely to be killed than occupants of enclosed,“twin-track” vehicles which offer far more protection in the event of a collision.

1.5.2.1 In 2005, of 569 motorcycle users killed, 75% died after collision with a larger vehicle (Road Casualties Gt Britain 2005 DfT 2006).

The single largest grouping of such collisions was the 43% in collision with a single car. In terms of danger to other road users, figures for 2005 show 3.6% (n=20) of pedestrian road deaths and 2.7% (n=4) of cyclist deaths followed collision with a motorcycle.

1.5.3.1 There is also concern over the 23% (n=133) of riders killed in accidents where no other road-user was recorded as being involved. However, this figure is low compared with occupants of cars where 37% (n=613) died in such accidents during 2003 and even higher proportions for other larger vehicles

Motorcycle casualty rates

1.5.4 While there is no place for complacency when dealing with those killed or injured on our roads, it is important to recognise that a key measure of safety, the rider casualty rate per kilometre (a proxy for rider exposure to risk), has shown year-on-year improvement, falling by 28% over the 1994-98 baseline years for casualty reduction targets (figure 3, below).



Figure 3: Motorcycle Rider Casualty Rates 1996-2006 (Dft 2006;Dft 2007)

It should be noted there are no disaggregated targets for motorcycles. A number of improvements in motorcycle design and rider training have taken place over the last decade and the overall casualty rate for motorcycles has generally improved, despite the largely urban nature of motorcycle use and greater volume of larger vehicles within the same road space.

Unfortunately the fatality rate has remained more or less constant at around 11 to 12 rider deaths per hundred million vehicle kilometres.

Motorcycle accidents - urban and rural

1.5.5.1 Urban and rural areas see different patterns of motorcycle accidents. The severity of these accidents also tends to vary with the kinds of hazards encountered, and the impact speed of the vehicles involved. While the rural accident involvement rate (per 100 million Km ridden) was 38% lower than for urban roads in 2005, the motorcycle user fatality rate was three times higher on rural roads.

1.5.6 There is a public focus on rural casualties; but as accidents occur on both urban and rural roads so strategies need to be targeted in both areas.Motorcycling is playing an increasingly important role as an alternative to the car in congested areas and rider vulnerability in towns and cities needs to be addressed with similar vigour to strategies to reduce casualties in rural areas where motorcycle safety has a higher profile.

1.5.7.1 Broadly speaking, motorcycle traffic is split 60:40 between urban and rural roads and this is reflected in a similar split for non-fatal rider casualties.The situation is reversed for fatalities, where 60% occur outside built-up areas.

The number of motorcycle user deaths in rural areas has been relatively stable in recent years, but peaked in 2003 linked to the significant rise in motorcycling during the unusually long, fine-weather riding season of that year (see table 1).

Table 1: Motorcycle KSI casualties by road environment 2001-2005 (Dft 2006)

Motorcycle accidents in context

1.5.8.1 National data from Road Casualties Great Britain 2005 (DfT 2006) shows that motorcycle accidents occur in three broad contexts and have a seasonal element.

Figure 4: Motorcyclist KSI casualties: number and rate by month of year
(indexed), 2005 (DfT 2004b).