A Survey of Motorcycle Safety Programs Across Australasia

Abstract

The continued growth in popularity of motorcycling has been accompanied by an increase in the number of motorcyclists killed and injured. While the effectiveness of motorcycle licensing and training has been examined, little is known about the many smaller motorcycle safety programs. This paper describes current motorcycle safety programs in Australia and New Zealand. Programs were defined by the six factors identified as major contributors to the over-representation of motorcycles in serious crashes (inexperience or lack of recent experience, driver failure to see motorcyclists, vulnerability to injury, road surface and environmental hazards, risk taking and instability and braking difficulties) and by their organisation, type of delivery and likely effectiveness. Very few small-scale programs had been evaluated. Many statewide programs had only limited or no process evaluation and very few had an outcome evaluation. Recommendations are made for current and future programs for delivery by road safety stakeholders, clubs and other local organisations.