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THE
ROYAL SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF ACCIDENTS
MOTORCYCLING SAFETY POLICY PAPER
JUNE 2006
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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.
Motorcycle Accidents & Casualties
Despite forming only 1% of road traffic, motorcyclists account for 180% (almost
one in five) of road deaths and serious injuries. In 2005, 569 motorcyclists were
killed on the road, 5,939 were seriously injured and just over 18,000 were slightly
injured.
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Riders:
Anyone who obtained their full car driving licence on or after 1 February 2001
must complete Compulsory Basic Training (CBT) before they can legally ride any
type of motorcycle or moped on the road. People who obtained their full car driving
licence before 1 February 2001 do not need to take a CBT test to ride a moped,
but must do so in order to ride any other motorcycle. However, CBT and/or motorcycle
training is still strongly recommended.
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Other
Raod User Behaviour:
Most motorcycle accidents involve a collision with another vehicle, usually with
a car, but large vehicles also feature strongly. Although, there is much that
motorcyclists can do to avoid such collisions, the behaviour of drivers is equally
crucial.
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Motorcycle
Design:
Improvements to the design and construction of cars over the last 10 or 20 years
have resulted in very substantial reductions in deaths and injuries on the road.
This has not been the case with changes to the design of motorcycles
The Environment:
Road Design is of particular importance to motorcycle riders since bad design
features can increase risks to them. Features that are unnoticed by a car driver
can be dangerous for a motorcycle rider. For example, features such as steel manhole
covers positioned on the line round a bend, white paint on the road where a rider
needs to change direction and loose grit gathering on the road surface can all
prove dangerous if not lethal to motorcycle riders.
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