Motorcycle safety is the study of the risks and dangers of motorcycling , and the approaches to mitigate that risk, focusing on motorcycle design, road design and traffic rules, rider training, and the cultural attitudes of motorcyclists and other road users.
75-531: The Hurt Report , officially Motorcycle Accident Cause Factors and Identification of Countermeasures , was a motorcycle safety study conducted in the United States, initiated in 1976 and published in 1981. The report is named after its primary author, Professor Harry Hurt . Noted motorcycle journalist David L. Hough described the Hurt Report as "the most comprehensive motorcycle safety study of
150-423: A broad list of changes that have occurred that affect the current validity of the Hurt Report, broken into four categories: Hurt argues that the age of the study does not necessarily invalidate all its findings or even its core findings; rather, it highlights the need for current work to affirm or update the current state of motorcycle safety: The more time goes by, the less things look different. Riders today have
225-582: A collision with another vehicle, usually a car. In the MAIDS report, the figure is 60%. Other notable findings in the Hurt report (quoted below) were: The most recent large-scale study of motorcycle accidents is the MAIDS report carried out in five European countries in 1999 to 2000, using the rigorous OECD standards, including a statistically significant sample size of over 900 crash incidents and over 900 control cases. The MAIDS report tends to support most of
300-584: A columnist for Motorcycle Consumer News , Sound RIDER! and BMW Owners News magazines. After his first book Proficient Motorcycling was published by Bow Tie Press it became one of the best selling motorcycle books. He currently has four published books and one 2nd ed. He has been recognized twice as a writer by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation 's (MSF) Excellence in Motorcycle Journalism award. He has also designed
375-466: A crash. A sudden change in the surface can be sufficient to cause a momentary loss of traction, destabilizing the motorcycle. The risk of skidding increases if the motorcyclist is braking or changing direction. This is due to the fact that most of the braking and steering control are through the front wheel, while power is delivered through the rear wheel. During maintenance, the choice of material can be inadequate for motorcycles. For example, asphalt sealer
450-467: A helmet, turning or overtaking others, early morning and evening riding, errors in traffic signaling, and exceeding the speed limit have significant effects on injury severity." Also, in 2022, Kent et al. compared motorcycle, moped and bicycle injuries: "Overall the vast majority of injuries reported were of the extremities or pelvic girdle (62.2%), and this was true regardless of vehicle type […] The most common fractures regardless of vehicle type were of
525-549: A higher risk while using the roads (Rutter & Quine, 1996). This risk compensation effect was commented on in the findings of the evaluation of the "Bikesafe Scotland" scheme, where a number of those who undertook training said they rode faster in non-built-up areas after the course (Ormston et al., 2003). This is not to say that training is not important, but that more advanced training should be tempered with psychological training (Broughton 2005). A literature review found that driver and rider education had little benefit, due to
600-612: A limit on motorcycle power to 73.6 kW (100 CV ) had no proven safety benefit and was repealed in 2016. Talks about mandatory speed limiting devices have been unpopular in the motorcycle communities in countries such as the UK and Sweden. Rallies and motorcyclists' right organizations have worked to inform public officials about the negative impacts of such restrictions on their communities, with no reports of such regulations having been implemented. These groups have encouraged increased focus on rider training and roadside safety measures,
675-450: A motorcycle crash". Accidents that did not result in hospitalization or treatment for a critical injury, or a death, were not considered, nor was there any consideration of involvement of other road users, or culpability. The definition of reflective or fluorescent clothing was taken to include "clothing or other articles such as a jacket, vest, apron, sash, ankle or wrist band, or back pack including stripes, decals or strips". No assessment of
750-500: A motorcyclist contacts the ground, his clothing will permit him to slide relatively easily as opposed to "crumpling", risking injury to body parts being stressed in abnormal directions. Riders sometimes use the acronyms MOTGMOTT and ATGATT , which stand for "Most Of The Gear Most Of The Time" and "All The Gear All The Time", when describing their personal gear preferences. In many developed countries riders are now either required or encouraged to attend safety classes in order to obtain
825-573: A new study would be conducted. In 1999, the European Commission conducted the MAIDS report , comparable in scale to the Hurt Report, following Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) standards, and studying 921 accidents as well as exposure data on an additional 923 cases from five locations in France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain and Italy. In 2005, Congress passed
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#1732790132262900-402: A rider need not lose traction and start to skid to know where the limit is. Motorcycle Consumer News Proficient Motorcycling columnist Ken Condon put it that, "The best riders are able to measure traction with a good amount of accuracy" even though that amount changes depending on the motorcycle, the tires and the tires' condition, and the varying qualities of the road surface. But Condon says
975-586: A rider skills course for sidecar riders. Hough has been called "a premier motorcycling journalist" and the author of "one of the most widely respected books on safe street riding." In the media he is frequently called upon to provide expert commentary on motorcycling issues, and his work is on the recommended reading lists of many other motorcycling writers. Hough was inducted to the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in December 2009 for his work as
1050-458: A risk of a fatal crash that was 35 times greater than that of passenger cars, based on 390 motorcyclist deaths per billion vehicle miles and 11.1 car fatalities for that distance. In 2016 this rate was 28 times that for automobiles. When looking at all reported crashes regardless of injuries, the crash rate for motorcycles in the US in 2016 was 6.31 per million miles driven, significantly higher than
1125-449: A separate motorcycle driving license . Training can help to bridge the gap between a novice and experienced rider as well as improving the skills of a more experienced rider. Skills training would seem to be the answer to reducing the KSI ("killed or seriously injured") rate among motorcycle riders. However, research shows that some who undergo advanced skills training are more likely to be at
1200-614: Is 23 times higher) than for cars. In the European union (the 28 member states) there were 3657 motorcycle rider and passenger fatalities in 2016, that is 14% of EU traffic fatalities, registered in the CARE database. Two major scientific research studies into the causes of motorcycle accidents have been conducted in North America and Europe: the Hurt Report (1981) and the MAIDS report (1999-00). A major work done on this subject in
1275-533: Is are the ones who have gone over. The others — the living — are those who pushed their luck as far as they felt they could handle it, and then pulled back, or slowed down, or did whatever they had to when it came time to choose between Now and Later." Spiegel disagrees that only those who have "gone over", that is, crashed or died, know the location of the boundary line. He says that if motorcycle racers, or even non-professional advanced riders who ride modern sport bikes near their performance limits, were approaching
1350-741: Is expected to be only 300 crashes, compared to the 900 crashes collected and analyzed in the Hurt Study, 921 in the MAID's Study (Europe 2000) and the 1,200 recommended by the National Transportation Safety Board." Published in 2011, Liz de Rome and colleagues undertook the first comprehensive study into the effectiveness of motorcycle personal protective equipment . In order to establish whether motorcycle personal protective clothing should be considered an effective safety measure, their in-depth motorcycle crash cohort study
1425-468: Is like a game of chicken or Russian roulette , where the rider tests his courage to see how close he can come to "the edge", or specifically the limit of traction while braking or cornering, without having any idea how close he is to exceeding that limit and crashing. In Thompson's words in Hell's Angels it is, "The Edge... There is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it
1500-419: Is possible for a good rider to extend his perception beyond the controls of his motorcycle out to the interface between the contact patches of his motorcycle and the road surface. Those subscribing to the first and fourth of Packer's risk categories are likely to believe no rider can sense when he is near the traction limit, while the second and third risk categories include those who share Spiegel's view that
1575-446: Is too low, with inadequate impact absorption to reduce fractures. It was the first study to conclude that: “A reduction in the maximum force limit would improve rider protection and appears feasible.” Work continues on determining a global standard for collection of worldwide data on motorcycle accidents and safety, which would enable international sharing of research. Such a standard would meet methodology criteria developed globally with
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#17327901322621650-502: Is used to fill and repair cracks in asphalt paving, but this often creates a slick surface that can cause a motorcycle to lose traction. Sometimes, steel plates are used as temporary covers over road trenches. The sliding nature of those, combined with an inappropriate installation can cause incidents. Australian motorcycle advocate Rodney Brown writes that the nature and likely consequences of hazards differ significantly for motorcyclists compared to drivers of other vehicles. For example,
1725-474: The Iraq War era showed that United States military veterans returning from Southwest Asia combat areas were dying in motorcycle related fatalities. Between October 2007 and October 2008, 24 active-duty Marines died from motorcycle accidents. There were 4,810 deaths on motorcycles in the U.S. in 2006, an increase of 5 percent over the previous year, and more than double (2,161) over the decade before, according to
1800-856: The Motorcycle Safety Foundation pledged $ 2.8 million — with several conditions, including a provision that at least 900 cases would be studied. At the time, the funding was still about $ 2 million short. The National Transportation Safety Board originally had recommended a scope of 900 to 1,200 case studies. In 2009, the Federal Highway Administration and Oklahoma State University 's Oklahoma Transportation Center began conducting an 'abbreviated' Motorcycle Crash Causation Study with 300 case studies "to help identify common factors – including road configurations, environmental conditions and rider experience" and "how these factors may be affected by countermeasures that, if effectively implemented, will prevent motorcycle crashes or lessen
1875-591: The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and complying with Principles of Good Laboratory Practices and national as well as international regulations — ultimately to be adopted as a standard by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). While the CE marking standard for motorcycle protective clothing has been criticised for regulatory capture by
1950-460: The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) law (2005-2009) mandating a new motorcycle crash study and budgeted $ 2.8 million for the study, providing that motorcyclists, manufacturers, and other motorcycle related organizations would match that amount. The AMA committed $ 100,000 to the study, and continues to raise awareness and raise funds, and
2025-543: The 20th century." The study was initiated by the Department of Transportation 's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration , which contracted with the University of Southern California Traffic Safety Center — the work was ultimately conducted by USC professor Harry Hurt. The Hurt Report findings significantly advanced the state of knowledge of the causes of motorcycle accidents, in particular pointing out
2100-600: The Head Protection Research Laboratory (HPRL), of Paramount, CA. Professor Hurt, with a team of investigators (all of whom were motorcyclists themselves) examined motorcycle accident scenes in the City of Los Angeles, day and night, during the twenty-four-month period of 1976–77. They did on-scene investigations of over 900 accidents and studied 3,600 police reports from the area of each accident. Investigators later returned to 505 crash scenes at
2175-532: The Hurt Report findings, for example that "69% of the OV [other vehicle] drivers attempted no collision avoidance manoeuvre," suggesting they did not see the motorcycle. And further that, "the largest number of PTW [powered two-wheeler] accidents is due to a perception failure on the part of the OV driver or the PTW rider." And "The data indicates that in 68.7% of all cases, the helmet was capable of preventing or reducing
2250-690: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). In the Marine Corps, high-speed bikes accounted for the majority of fatalities. In 2007, 78 percent of motorcycle mishaps in the Marines occurred on a sport bike, compared to 38 percent nationally. In a chapter of Coming and Going on Bikes , Iraq War veteran and author Jack Lewis observed combat veterans' disordered perception of risk, resulting in nearly suicidal behavior: "We already walked through
2325-418: The PTW's overall conspicuity (46 cases). There were more cases in which the use of dark clothing decreased the conspicuity of the rider and the PTW (120 cases)." MAIDs concluded that in one case dark clothing actually increased conspicuity but reported none where bright clothing decreased it. Transportation historian Jeremy Packer has suggested four categories to describe the different approaches riders take to
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2400-575: The UK and Ireland mopeds are counted as motorcycles. The PTW (including both moped and motorbikes) rate is 8.2 fatalities per million population in the EU in 2016. In the EU in 2016, PTW fatalities represented 17% of traffic fatalities, with a range from 4% in Romania to 32% in Greece. More than 88% of those fatalities were males In France motorcycle fatality rates by travelled distance are 2200% higher (that
2475-489: The US data. The UK Department for Transport indicated that motorcycles have 16 times the rate of serious injuries, people either killed or injured, compared to cars. UK data for casualties, i.e. the total of all injuries and fatalities combined, showed 6,043 casualties per billion miles traveled on motorcycles in 2017, 25.4 times the rate of 238 per billion miles travelled for cars. In the UK in 2017 there were 116.9 motorcyclist fatalities per billion passenger miles, 61.5 times
2550-443: The US, a Centers for Disease Control publication on motorcycle safety discusses the increased fatality rate seen in US states that no longer require use of helmets. The CDC does not question individual rights, but rather discusses the devastating effects of an injury or fatality on the motorcyclist's family and others in the community and questions whether the motorcyclist can really claim to be placing only himself at risk. In France,
2625-782: The United Kingdom, for example, organizations such as the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) and Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) offer advanced motorcycle rider training with the aim of reducing accident rates. There is often an added incentive to riders in the form of reduced insurance premiums. In Canada, the Canada Safety Council (CSC), a non-profit organization, provides motorcycle safety training courses for beginner and novice riders through its Gearing Up training program. Again, as in
2700-482: The United States and the United Kingdom, the focus is on improved rider skills to reduce accident rates. Insurance premiums may be reduced upon successful completion as this program is recognised and supported nationally by the Motorcycle and Moped Industry Council (MMIC). David L. Hough David L. Hough (born 1937) is an American writer on motorcycle rider safety , education and training . He has been
2775-568: The United States is the Hurt Report, published in 1981 with data collected in Los Angeles and the surrounding rural areas. There have been longstanding calls for a new safety study in the US, and Congress has provided the seed money for such a project, but as yet the remainder of the funding has not all been pledged. The Hurt Report concluded with a list of 55 findings , as well as several major recommendations for law enforcement and legislation. Among these, 75% of motorcycle accidents involved
2850-454: The accident or control groups, or the use of lights in the control group, and therefore drew no statistical conclusions on their effectiveness, neither confirming nor refuting the claims of the Wells report. In each MAIDS case, the clothing worn by the rider was photographed and evaluated. MAIDS found that motorcycles painted white were actually over-represented in the accident sample compared to
2925-563: The actions of drivers sharing the roads. Technological changes, especially in the latter half of the 20th century, have made significant improvements in motorcycle safety. Serious research into motorcycle safety began in the US with the Hurt Report in 1981, followed by major studies in Europe and others. The main result of this research has been a greater emphasis on rider training and stricter licensing requirements. The US military recognized
3000-482: The city of Auckland , a "predominantly urban area" (Wells et al. ) supported the Hurt Report's call for increased rider conspicuity, claiming that riders wearing white or light colored helmets, fluorescent or reflective clothing or using daytime headlights were under-represented when compared to a group of motorcycle accident victims. The accident victims were those who were killed, admitted or treated at hospital "with an injury severity score >5 within 24 hours of
3075-411: The current highway standards in the US permit pavement ridges of up to 1.5 inches (about 3.8 centimeters) without tapering, which pose a significant hazard to motorcycles. Potholes and presence of debris pose a greater hazard for motorcyclists than drivers of larger vehicles, because the former can cause a loss of stability and control and the latter can deflect a motorcycle's wheel at impact. Data from
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3150-516: The dynamics of CAs mean that they result in worse injuries and outcomes." To address the risks of motorcycling, before and after a fall, motorcyclists use personal protective equipment (PPE, or more commonly "motorcycle gear"). Many developed countries now require certain articles of PPE, and manufacturers and governments recommend its extensive use. It is increasingly common for gloves, jackets, pants, and boots to be outfitted with hard plastics on probable contact areas in an effort to ensure that when
3225-412: The exposure data. On clothing, MAIDS used a "purely subjective" determination of if and how the clothing worn probably affected conspicuity in the accident. The report concluded that "in 65.3% of all cases, the clothing made no contribution to the conspicuity of the rider or the PTW [powered two-wheeler, i.e. motorcycle]. There were very few cases found in which the bright clothing of the PTW rider enhanced
3300-671: The failure of most programs to account for the age and inexperience of the highest risk drivers. After reviewing motorcycle rider education/training programs in three countries, Dan Mayhew of Canada's Traffic Injury Research Foundation said, "no compelling evidence that rider training is associated with reductions in collisions." David L. Hough has cited risk comparisons in the Hurt Report showing riders who did not receive professional or organized training, such as those who were self-taught or learned to ride from friends and family, to be two to three times likelier to be involved in an accident than those who had rider training. Hough also said that
3375-440: The first two discourses, Packer himself is sympathetic to the third approach and disdainful of the fourth. Packer's analysis of the second category, hyperreflective self-disciplinary , acknowledges that seriousness, sobriety, ongoing training, and wearing complete safety gear is not misguided, but also has concerns over its close alignment with the profit motives of the insurance industry, the motorcycle safety gear advertisers, and
3450-493: The harm when they occur." Consistent with its stated provisions, the Motorcycle Safety Foundation withdrew support of the abbreviated study, saying such a study would be "unlikely to either validate the findings of prior studies or establish, to any statistical significant level, any new causative factors. The abbreviated study would be unlikely to accomplish either of these goals because the sample size
3525-751: The head injury sustained by the rider (i.e., 33.2% + 35.5%). In 3.6% of all cases, the helmet was found to have no effect upon head injury" and "There were no reported cases in which the helmet was identified as the contact code for a serious or maximum neck injury." A lesser-known study, known as the Olson Report after the lead investigator in a 1979 University of Michigan study, found that rider safety could be enhanced by wearing conspicuous clothing (especially yellow-green); using headlights in daytime, especially modulated headlights; and using running lights and wearing retro-reflective clothing at night. A New Zealand study using data taken between 1993 and 1996 in
3600-496: The increase in motorcycle fatalities in the US after the year 2000 coincides with a relaxation of national rider training requirements. In the United States, the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) provides a standardized curriculum to the states that, in turn, provide low-cost safety training for new and current riders. Two states, Oregon and Idaho, eschew MSF's curriculum in favor of their own. With over 1,500 locations in U.S., and over 120,000 annual students, MSF trains about 3% of
3675-588: The industry, the EU is supporting the PIONEERS research programme – a comprehensive study into motorcycle protective clothing – via Horizon 2020 funding. The PIONEERS study aims to inform improved CE standards for motorcyclists’ protective equipment. Motorcycle safety Riding motorcycles on public roads carries several times the risk of riding in cars, which themselves are more risky than public conveyances like buses and trains. The human factors of motorcycle crashes are roughly equal between rider behavior and
3750-401: The large percentage of accidents due to alcohol and drug use, non street-legal motorcycles, and the presence of riders who do not have a valid motorcycle license. Roads are primarily designed for their main users, cars, and are seldom engineered with motorcycle specific safety in focus. The choice of roadside barriers and guardrails to prevent vehicles from crossing over a median or running off
3825-443: The likelihood of injury is extremely high in these motorcycle accidents – 98% of the multiple vehicle collisions and 96% of the single vehicle accidents resulted in some kind of injury to the motorcycle rider; 45% resulted in more than a minor injury. In 2022, Chen et al. found several factors influencing older riders' injury severity: "Individual-level factors such as being male, old age, no valid license, drunk driving, not wearing
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#17327901322623900-451: The limits of traction blindly, they would be like a group of blind men wandering around the top of a building, and most of them would wander off the edge and fall. In fact, Spiegel says, crashes among skilled high speed riders are so infrequent that it must be the case that they can feel where the limit of traction is as they approach the limit, before they lose traction. Spiegel's physiological and psychological experiments helped explore how it
3975-414: The need for their own focused motorcycle rider education in response to significant off-duty injuries of military personnel. Traveling on a motorcycle carries a much higher risk of death or injury than driving the same distance in a car. Motorcyclists face a higher risk of fatal or severe injuries due to limited physical protection for the rider and lower visibility on the road. In 2006 US motorcyclists had
4050-513: The number of motorcycle fatalities in the US has remained about 5000 per year for most of the past decade. In 2006, 13.10 cars out of 100,000 ended up in fatal crashes, while the rate for motorcycles was 72.34 per 100,000 registered motorcycles. In the European union (the 28 member states) there were 663 driver and passenger fatalities for mopeds and 3,644 driver and passenger fatalities for motorcycles, according to data available in May 2018, although in
4125-510: The owners of 4,000,000 new motorcycles sold for highway use. Motorcycle injuries and fatalities among U.S. military personnel have continually risen since the early 2000s. Among other United States Department of Defense -initiated programs, the Air National Guard seeks to understand why national safety programs have not sufficiently reduced mishaps, and how those programs might be modified to cause productive behavioral change. In
4200-475: The public relations desires of motorcycle manufacturers, as well as governmental bureaucratic inertia and mission creep . He sees motorcyclists who make non- utilitarian choices balancing risk and reward as being as respectable as other categories. BMW psychologist and researcher Bernt Spiegel has found that non-motorcyclists and novice motorcyclists usually share the fatalistic attitude described by Thompson, insofar as they think that high speed motorcycling
4275-418: The rate for cars, compared with pedestrians having about 7.6 times as many casualties per distance traveled. However bicycles and pedestrians travel at much lower speeds so the risk they incur per hour of travel is only a fraction as great. In contrast, the rate of fatal accidents for buses is lower than for cars, about 0.83 times as many. The article on Motorcycle fatality rate in U.S. by year indicates that
4350-623: The rate of 1.9 fatalities per billion passenger miles for occupants of cars. UK data shows a wider disparity between cars and motorcycles than US data in part because it is based on fatalities per passenger mile while US data is based on fatalities per vehicle mile. A national study by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATS) found that: Bicyclists and pedestrians are also unprotected in collisions with cars on public roads. In 2017, there were also 5,604 bicyclist casualties per billion passenger miles or 23.5 times
4425-453: The rate of 3.28 crashes per million miles driven for cars and similar vehicles. However the primary reason for the higher rates of injuries and fatalities among motorcyclists is that cars provide more effective crash protection. For automobiles, 31% of crashes result in injury but only 0.29% of accidents are fatal. For motorcycles 78.3% of reported crashes result in injury and 4.24% of crashes are fatal. Statistics from other countries confirm
4500-474: The report is still basically valid." Nonetheless, while the Hurt Report "remains the benchmark of motorcycle crash research" and contained at the time of its publication factual, verifiable information, in clear scientific terms — it has been described as outdated. In the year 2000, editors from the Motorcycle Safety Foundation wrote, in preparing the National Agenda for Motorcycle Safety: It
4575-650: The rider feels the limit of traction through his hand and foot interface with the handlebars and footpegs, and the seat, rather than extending his perception out to the contact patch itself. A 2006 research paper published by the Scottish Executive and entitled 'Risk and Motorcyclists in Scotland' identified attitudinal groupings in respect of risk and motorcycling. The paper identified three potential groups that they labelled as Risk Deniers, Optimistic Accepters, and Realistic Accepters. 79% of riders placed in
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#17327901322624650-408: The risks of motorcycling. Packer's book, 'Mobility without Mayhem: Safety, Cars, and Citizenship' is published by Duke University Press. Packer's first and fourth categories take opposite views of motorcycling, but share a fatalistic notion that to motorcycle is to tempt fate. The second and third categories differ in the degree of emphasis they place on measures to limit the risk of riding, but share
4725-473: The road have proved to be dangerous for motorcyclists, as they are designed to dissipate braking energy for much heavier and structurally tougher cars and trucks. Moreover, they are designed to be impacted on the sliding rail and not at their support poles, which act as swords to unprotected road users. Statistical explanation for the automobile bias is found in use and fatality figures; motorcyclists are in numerical minority. Road surface can also contribute to
4800-598: The same sort of accidents as riders in the 1970s, except that today they crash much more expensive bikes. Between 1997 and 2008, motorcycle rider annual fatalities increased from 2,116 to 5,290 – a 150 percent jump, according to U.S. Department of Transportation's Fatality Analysis Reporting System. In 2008 alone, deaths due to motorcycle crashes rose by an estimated 2.2 percent while all other vehicle classes saw reductions in fatalities. — Oklahoma State University, Transportation Center , 2009 In David Hough 's book Proficient Motorcycling , Dr. Hurt said he had always assumed
4875-511: The same time of day, same day of the week and with the same environmental conditions to measure traffic volumes, photograph passing motorcycles and interview 2,310 riders who stopped to talk with investigators. This allowed the research team to compare accident-involved riders to riders in the same location who were not involved in a crash. The study took place throughout the City of Los Angeles including urban as well as rural conditions, e.g., incidents of motorcycles striking animals. Each accident
4950-545: The second or third categories. The individualistic philosophy of risk acceptance and valorization attributed to some motorcyclists contrasts with the fundamentally utilitarian viewpoint Western democratic societies often adopt in setting limits to individual freedom in the interests of public safety. The utilitarian viewpoint is illustrated by concepts such as Vision Zero , a plan to minimize injuries and fatalities in transportation which originated in Sweden in 1997. Similarly, in
5025-455: The skull/face, rib, vertebral, and tibia/fibula with slight variations between vehicle groups. Martins et al. (2022) compared the injuries arising from loss of control accidents (LOCAs) vs collision accidents (CAs) among motorcyclists. They found: "The most common sites of major injury were the lower limb (40.9%), head and neck (38.1%), and upper limb (27.5%) […] Though both motorcycle CAs and LOCAs stress trauma systems in developing countries,
5100-531: The study. The Hurt Report summarized accident findings related to motorcycle crashes into a 55-point list . Among the major points: two-thirds of motorcycle-car crashes occurred when the car driver failed to see the approaching motorcycle and violated the rider's right-of-way. The report also provided data showing clearly that helmets significantly reduce the risk of brain injury and death but with no increased risk of crash involvement or neck injury. When interviewed in 1999, Professor Hurt "confided that he believes
5175-455: The type (open or full-face) of helmet was undertaken. Most of the crashes took place in "urban 50 km/h (31 mph) speed limit zones (66%), during the day (64%) and in fine weather (72%)". No association was observed between risk of crash related injury and the frontal colour of the operator's clothing or motorcycle. The MAIDS report did not publish information on helmet color or the prevalence of reflective or fluorescent clothing in either
5250-637: The view that riders have some degree of control and are not victims of fate. Packer is a Michel Foucault -inspired historian who sees the approach to motorcycle safety found in mainstream sport and touring motorcycling media, supported by the MSF, and generally consistent with the advice of transport agencies, such as the US National Agenda for Motorcycle Safety, as an ideology or " discourse ", and places it as only one among multiple ideologies one may hold about motorcycling risk. While giving respect to
5325-521: The widespread problem of car drivers failing to see an approaching motorcycle and precipitating a crash by violating the motorcyclist's right-of-way. The study also provided data clearly showing that helmets significantly reduce deaths and brain injuries without any increased risk of accident involvement or neck injury. The full title of the report was Motorcycle Accident Cause Factors and Identification of Countermeasures, Volume 1: Technical Report. After retiring from USC in 1998, Hurt established and headed
5400-412: The world's worst neighborhoods with bullseyes painted on our chests... the most at-risk riders in the military community are risk-tolerant , adrenaline-juicing combat professionals." Once the collision has occurred, or the rider has lost control through some other mishap, several common types of injury occur when the bike falls: The Hurt Report also commented on injuries after an accident stating that
5475-424: Was apparent that our effectiveness would be limited by a consistent lack of viable, current research in most subjects related to motorcycling safety. Wide-ranging changes in motorcycling and related factors have altered the motorcycling landscape since the Hurt Report so thoroughly that it is impossible to determine if the findings of past studies are still valid. The National Agenda for Motorcycle Safety study cited
5550-503: Was conducted over 12 months in Australia. It found that while protective clothing is associated with reduced risk and severity of crash-related injuries, a high proportion of clothing failed under crash conditions. Moreover, it also found that motorcycle armor is ineffective at reducing fractures. Subsequent research by Bianca Albanese and colleagues (2017) may explain this ineffectiveness: the CE marking standard for motorcycle armour
5625-414: Was studied individually with approximately 1,000 data elements, collected for each of the 900 accident scenes, including measuring and photographing vehicle damage, skid marks, scrape marks, people marks, and interviewing survivors. Hundreds of accident-involved riders donated their helmet to the research, which allowed team members to disassemble, measure, photograph and record the accident damage as part of
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