Bike Safety

Doran

Doran

Doran

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Joined
19 Apr 2008
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SE London
I've been reading some interesting stats recently on the Essex Bike Safe Website.

Although it is often said that Bikes represent 1 percent of total traffic and 20 percent of deaths, if you actually take the number of accidents - as opposed to total traffic volume - the stats are much less disturbing.

Essentially, between 1999 and 2008, on average bikes were involved in only 10 percent higher rate of mortality than cars. That is, bikes represented 15 percent of accidents and of the fatalities within these accidents, accounted for about 25 percent.

This tells me that although bikes are disproportionately involved in an accident, the deaths from these accidents are not disproprotionately higher than in cars (only 10 percent).

Interesting as well, most riders were way above 25.

http://www.essex.police.uk/bikesafe/stats08.htm

And 125's seem to be involved in more serious injuries than bigger bikes, but with less fatalities overall.

Any decent stats from elsewhere anyone knows of? I find it quite interesting
 
Some interesting anecdotal stats from Thames Valley. Reading these makes me more confident that if you drive carefully, you will be ok.

Below are snap shots of what happened in some of the collisions detailed above. In each of the cases you are about to read the rider died. Some detail has been omitted to protect and respect the privacy of the families affected by them.

A 57-year-old man was riding an imported 1600cc Yamaha. He was travelling along the A413. He was within two miles of his home when he entered a left hand bend, and in doing so the motorcycle touched the road causing a loss of control. He collided with an oncoming car and was killed. He had been riding since 1999 and had ridden a range of motorcycles during that time.

A 66-year-old man was riding a 600cc Honda, having passed his test in June 2002. He was riding along the A361 at Chipping Norton when he lost control negotiating a left hand bend and crashed. No other vehicle was involved.

A 38-year-old man was riding along a 30mph restricted road in Reading. He died after he was struck by a car reversing into the road.

A 50-year-old family man, who was a relatively experienced rider, was travelling along the A41 on his Triumph when he ran into the back of stationary traffic which had been held up by a car waiting to turn right.

A man of 33 years of age, regarded as an experienced rider - having attended numerous track days and events - died on the A 43 near Bicester. He was riding his Honda VTR 1000, with a group of friends early one Sunday morning, on a bike that he had owned for a while. He was leaving a roundabout and lost control, colliding with the central barrier. No other vehicle was involved.

A young man was riding his Yamaha 600cc motorcycle along a national speed limit dual carriageway in Milton Keynes. His speed was calculated in excess of 100mph when he swerved to avoid a lorry turning into the road ahead of him. At the point when the lorry emerged into the road it was concluded that the motorcycle would not have been in the drivers view. He was 25-years-old.

Another rider, 28, was riding a Suzuki 600 in a small town just outside Newbury, Berkshire. He was showing off to friends when he lost control, clipped a verge and then nearby trees. He died as a result of his injuries.

A 45-year-old woman was riding her motorcycle through an Oxfordshire village, riding correctly and within the speed limit, when she was struck by a car that pulled across her path.

A 31-year-old man was riding his 650cc Suzuki along the A361 near Burford. He had passed his test in March 2002. He attempted to overtake a car and collided with an oncoming vehicle.

A 41-year-old man had passed his test in 2001 although he purchased a bike in October of the following year. He undertook a period of refresher training before going onto the road. One Wednesday evening he took his 600 Suzuki for a ride and, during an overtake, collided with an oncoming car. He sustained fatal head injuries because his helmet had not been fastened and came off.

A 32-year-old experienced motorcycle instructor was filtering to the offside of rush hour traffic in Milton Keynes, when a vehicle ahead in the queue moved out slightly so the driver could see ahead. This caused the rider to swerve to the offside and collide with an oncoming car.

One rider made the same journey along an Oxfordshire road every day and was very familiar with its layout. The speed limit is 50mph although he was, according to witnesses, overtaking a line of cars at high speed. He collided with an oncoming vehicle and was killed.

Most deaths are on rural roads - interesting....
 
Enough of this rubbish.

I've hit the jackpot:

http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roadsafety/research/rsrr/theme5/indepthstudyofmotorcycleacc.pdf

Massive document - very interesting.

One thing here that tickled me in light of the 'what is the point of a sportsbike' thread - this is my biggest worry about riding. Just one moment of this is enough:

‘some motorcyclists cite as the
primary reason for selling their sport bike the fact that they are unable to resist the
temptation to ride at dangerous speeds’.
 
Interesting Snippets from the report further:

It can be seen that super-sport motorcycles are over-represented in bend accidents,
but scooters and mopeds are under-represented in this type of accident while being
more likely to come to grief in rear-end shunt accidents. Super-sport bikes have a
significantly lesser propensity than other types of motorcycle for being involved in
both rear-end shunts and ROWV accidents. Somewhat surprisingly, sports-tourer
bikes appear significantly over-represented in overtaking/filtering accidents. No type
of motorcycle stands out as being over-represented in ROWV accidents, though
super-sport bikes appear to be under-represented.

All this is saying to me it is very safe to go Sunday Morning riding providing you are riding within your limits. That is to say, the risk of ROWV is low, bends high.

I find it funny that the chavs on their scooters are disproportionately going up the back of people.
 
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