Motorbike numbers

THE ROYAL SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF ACCIDENTS MOTORCYCLING SAFETY POLICY PAPER JUNE 2006
Motorcycle Use: There are around 1.52 million motorcycles (excluding mopeds) in Great Britain7. In 2004, 2.3% of households owned a motorcycle, the majority of whom also owned one or more cars. In fact, motorcycles are more common in households that own at least one car than in households that do not own a car. The highest ownership rate was in the South West of England and the lowest in Scotland. Around half of motorcyclists are aged between 30 and 49 years. Less than 10% of motorcyclists are aged 19 years or young, and 15% were aged 20 to 29 years. Just over one quarter are aged 50 years and over. Transport statistics8 show that after long term fall in motorcycle use, the trend has reversed, leading to an increase in the level of motorcycling. Over the last decade, motorcycle traffic has risen significantly, with most of the increase occurring between 1998 and 2003.

This trend is echoed by the change in the number of motorcycles licensed over the same period. There were over 1.1 million licensed motorcycles in Britain in 2004, compared with only 721,000 in 1994. These figures exclude unlicensed and tax exempt motorcycles. The largest increase has been in motorcycles with an engine size of 500 cc and above. An overview of motorcycling safety issues9 found that stocks of motorcycles over 500 cc had been rising since the late 1980s, and by 1997 accounted for 72% of licensed motorcycles in Britain. However, in more recent years about 45% of new registrations have been machines up to 150 cc and about 45% have been machines over 500 cc.

In contrast to these trends, the number of people taking the motorcycle test fell to 78,000 in 2004/05, which was the lowest number for seven years. The pass rate for the motorcycle test was 64%. In 20047, around 5.2 billion vehicle kilometres were travelled on motorcycles, which is roughly 1% of the distance travelled by motor vehicles on Britain’s roads. This was a fall from the 5.6 billion kilometres motorcycled in 2003, a year which saw higher than average temperatures and lower than average rainfall. Motorcycle travel peaks during the summer months, and in August for example, there is over twice as much motorcycle travel as in February. Nearly two-thirds of motorcycle trips are for work, business and education purposes (accounting for over half of motorcycle mileage). Although the number of motorcycle trips appears to have fallen by over time (from 11.2 trips per rider per week in 1985/86 to 7.8 trips per rider per week in 2004), the distance travelled has increased (from 62.9 miles per rider per week in 1985/86 to 88.9 miles per rider per week in 2004). Riders of larger motorcycles (over 500 cc) tend to have higher average mileage than riders of smaller machines. Back