MotorcycleMonitor2012

Preparedfor the Transportand Accident Commission

ISRI Project11‐065076‐01

Date: September 2012

Project Contact:Julie Young

DanielEvans

Address:Building 1,Level 2,

658Church St, Richmond VIC3121

Officephone:(03) 9946 0888

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1.EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

TheMotorcycleMonitorwasconductedforthefirsttimein2012bytheIpsosSocialResearch

Instituteon behalftheTransportandAccidentCommission(TAC)inVictoria.

The study was undertaken to gather detailed information about motorcycle riders, theirattitudes towardroadsafety,andbehaviourwhileriding. Theintentionwastogainafullyrepresentativesampleofthe motorcyclerider population.The survey was primarilyconductedonlinewiththeoptiontoconductthesurveyoverthephoneifparticipantspreferred. Atotalof548motorcyclelicenceorregistrationholderscompleted thesurveyinApril‐May2012fromasampleof2000.

Learningtoride

Themajorityofrespondentsheldafullmotorcyclelicence(96%),withacombined2%reportingtheyhadeitheralearner’sorprobationarylicence. Theaverageagerespondentsfirstreceivedtheirmotorcyclelicence(excluding anyyearsontheirLs)was24.6yearsold.

Theaverageagerespondentslearnttoridewas17.6yearsold,withmaleridersstartingtorideearlierthantheirfemalecounterparts(onaverage 17comparedto21.7yearsold). RespondentswholivedinregionalVictoriaand off‐roadridersweremorelikelytostartridingatayoungerage(15.4 and13.7years oldrespectively).

Forthemostpart,respondentssaidtheylearnttorideawayfromaridertrainingenvironment.Morethanhalf(51%)hadbeenself‐taughtand38%hadbeentaughtbyfamilyand/orfriends.Oneinfourmentionedtheyhadlearntthroughalearnerridingcourse(26%). However,whenaskedspecificallyaboutlearnerridercoursestheyhadattended,55%saidtheyhadtakenpartina ridingcourseofsomesort.

Ridingactivity

Themajorityofrespondentssaidtheyhadriddeninthelast12months(71%),withyounger respondentsmorelikelytohavedonesothanolderriders(94%for18‐25yearoldscomparedto

69%ofthoseaged26orolder). Familycommitmentsandalackofmotorcycleownershipwerethekey reasonsfornotridinginthelast12months.

Morethanhalfofrespondentssaidtheyeitherhadnottakenabreakfromridingsincelearning torideorhadreturnedtoridingaftertakingabreak(58%). Oneinthreerespondentssaidtheyhadstoppedridingbutmayrideinthefuture(35%). Aminorityofrespondentssaidtheyhadstoppedridingandwere unlikelytorideagain(7%). Oftheriderswhosaidtheyhadstoppedriding,theaverageagetheystopped was40.1yearsold.

Using the data on recent riding behaviour and riding history, more than half (56%) of respondents couldbeclassifiedas“activeriders”havingriddenamotorcycleinthelast12monthswithoutabreaksincelearning orhavingstartedridingagainafterabreak. Morethanoneinthree (37%)couldbeclassifiedas“lapsedriders”–havingnot riddeninthe last 12monthsbutnotrulingoutridingagaininthefuture. Sevenpercent(7%)ofrespondentswereclassifiedas“formerriders”withno intentionstorideagaininthefuture. Notably,basedonVicRoadsdata,oneinthree(33%)activeridersdidnothaveamotorcycleattheirhomeaddressinJune

2011.Thissuggeststhatwhilenothaving aregisteredmotorcycleathomemightbeanindicatorof rider‐inactivityor‘retirement’,itis nota clearpredictor.

Astoreasonsactiveridersrodetheirmotorcycle‐ridingforrecreationalpurposeson‐roadwasbyfarthemostprevalentofthethreeridingpurposescoveredinthesurveywith82%ofactiveriders reporting they had done some recreational on‐road riding in the last year. Similar proportionsofactiveridershadeithercommuted(44%)orroderecreationallyoff‐road(41%)atsome pointinthepreviousyear.

Motorcycleownership

Thevastmajorityofactiveriderssaidtherewasatleastonemotorcycleorscooterkeptattheirhome (90%). Aroundhalfofrespondentshadonlyonebikeathome(47%). Aspreviouslymentioned,onethird(33%)ofactiveridersdidnothavearegisteredmotorcyclelinkedtotheirhomeaddressinJune2011. Ofthisgroup,71%reportedtheynowhadatleastonebikekeptathome –themajority(85%)indicatingthattheyownedthebiketheymainlyrode.

Themostcommontype ofbikemainlyridden byactiveriders wasaroad bike(67%). Oneinfourmainlyrodeanoff‐road/trailbike (23%)and one inten ascooter(9%). Thisisconsistentwiththeprevalence of ridingpurposereportedbyriders.

Protectivegear

Themostcommonitemsofprotectivegearownedbyactiveriderswerehelmets(99%);andgloves(98%). Thevastmajorityofactiveridersalsosaidtheyownedaridingjacket(91%),ridingboots(83%)or ridingpants(73%). Twothirdsofactiveriders(68%)ownedacompletesetofprotectivegear.

Respondentsweremostlikelytoown onlyonepairofmotorcycleboots(46%)andmostlikelytoownmultiplepairsofgloves(67%) ormorethanonehelmet(66%). Youngerrespondentsorlessexperiencedriderstendedtoownfeweritemsofprotectiveclothingthanolderriders,althoughthosewithmultiplesets ofgearreportedtheyhadaccumulatedthisovertimethroughupgradingor replacingitems. The most commonreasonsfor notowningmoregearwasthatit wasexpensive andnotridingfrequentlyenoughtowarrantmoregear.

Regardlessof ownershipstatus, almost all respondents (96%) said they wore a motorcyclehelmet allthetime. Eightintenrespondents(80%)reportedtheyworeglovesallthetime.Ridingjacketswerewornallthetimeby70%ofrespondentsandridingbootswornallthetimeby61%ofrespondents. Ofnote,ridingpantswerewornmuchlessfrequentlythanothergear–only42%woreridingpantseverytimetheyrode. Intotal,oneinthree(32%)activeriderssaidtheyalwaysworeacompletesetofgearwhentheyrode(i.e.theyalwaysworebothjacketandpants(oraonepiecesuit)withahelmet,gloves,andboots). Alackofownershipofanyoneoftheseitemswasakeyfactorinthe relativelylowproportionofrespondentswearinga‘fullset’ ofgearallthetime(oneinthree(32%)didnotownacompletesetofprotectivegear). However,amongthosewhodidownacompletesetofprotectivegear,only44%worealltheirgearevery

timetheyrode. Thosewhodidnotwear theirwholekitevery time they rodewere most likelytosay itdependedonthedestinationorlength ofthetrip,ortheweather.

Astofuturepurchaseintentions,halfofrespondentsintendedtopurchasemoregear inthenextsixmonths (52%)withthose whoalreadyhadafullsetofgearmorelikelytosaytheyplannedtobuymoreinthenearfutureandyoungerriderslesslikelytosayso.

Attitudestowardsspeeding

Whenaskedabouttheirspeedingbehaviour, mostsaidtheywouldnotrideoverthespeedlimitevenif theyweresuretheywouldnotgetcaughtwithclosetotwo‐thirds(60%)disagreeingstronglyorsomewhatwiththestatement‘IrideoverthespeedlimitifI’msureI’llgetawaywithit’, –

Astothespeedtheyfeltridersshouldbeabletoridewithoutbeingbookedforspeeding,twothirds nominatedaspeedlimitof60kmorlower(67%). Regardlessofthespeednominated,morethanhalf(55%)saidtheywouldneverrideabovetheirnominatedspeedina60kmzone.However,whenthe same questionwasaskedabout100kmzones,fewerridersnominatedaspeedof100kmperhouror less(55%)andwerealsolesslikelytosaytheywouldneverrideabovethespeedtheynominatedatleastsomeofthetime(41%).

Crashhistory

Morethanhalf(54%)ofallrespondentsreportedthattheyhadexperiencedacrashwhileridinginthepast. Maleridersweremorelikelytohaveexperiencedacrash,aswereridersaged40+(58%and60% respectively). However,oneinthreerespondentswithundersixyears’ridingexperience hadalso experienceda crashontheirmotorcycle(32%).

Forty‐fivepercent(45%)ofthosewhohadexperiencedacrashsaidtheyhadneededmedicalattentionasaresult. Themajorityofthosewhoneededmedicaltreatmentfortheirmost recentcrashreportedthishadbeenmorethan11yearsago(65%). Withtheriderpopulationskewedtowardsolderagegroups, thissuggeststhatcrashesrequiringmedicaltreatmentweremorelikelytohappenintheearlieryearsof riding.

Mostcrashesrequiringmedicalattentionoccurredonsealedroadsinbuilt‐uplocations(57%).Only14%ofincidentsoccurredonsealedroadsinruralareas. Respondentsweremostlikelytobelieveanotherpartywasatfault(46%)intheirmostrecentcrashrequiringmedicaltreatment.Oneinfivebelievedtheywerepersonallyatfault(21%). Around oneinthree(30%) respondentsreceivedcompensationorincomesupportasaresultofinjuriesfromamotorcyclecrash–most(85%)hadreceivedthiscompensationfromtheTAC(12%ofallthosewhohadeverexperienceda crashor26%ofthosewhohadexperienceda crashrequiringmedicaltreatment).

Implicationsoftheresearch

Issuesaroundprotectivegeararguablypresent thegreatestchallengefortheTAC. Thisresearchshowedonlytwothirds(68%) ofactiveridersowned a‘completeset’ofprotectivegearandonly

42%ofridersworeridingpantseverytimetheyrode. Thefactthatthe inconvenienceofchanging clothingtorideifthetripwasshortortheweatherwasfinewasakeybarriertowearingprotectivegearforeveryridealsosuggeststhathabitsaroundwearingprotectivegearwouldbehardtobreak. Makingprotectivegearcompulsoryforriderscouldbeonewayto

‘encourage’desirablebehaviour. However,arangeofpolicytools,bothregulatoryandnon‐

regulatory,aremorelikelytobeeffectiveinencouragingbehaviourchange.1 Messagingaroundtheideaofprotectivegearbeinganextensionofthemotorcycleandriding experienceitselfmaybeoneway to communicatetoridersthatwearingprotectivegearshouldbeconsideredasanecessaryritualeverytimeyouride. However,abetterunderstandingofthemindsetofridersandwhatwouldchangetheir mindsaboutprotectivegearwouldhelpinthedevelopmentofstrategiestoaddressthisimportant issue.

Duetothesubstantialproportionof ‘lapsed’ riderswhohadnotcompletelyruled outridingagaininthefuture,furtherresearchamongpeoplewhohaverecentlytakenupridingagainmayalsohelptoprovidemoreinsightintothisgroupanddeterminewhetherinterventionsarerequiredincluding whether there are any common skill or knowledge gaps among returning riders.Additionalresearchwouldalsohelptounderstandthelikelihoodoflapsed ridersseriouslytakingupmotorcyclingagaintogaugethescaleofthisissueandwhether thisisagrowing concernorif

‘lapsed’ridersaremerelyreluctanttoletgotheideaofridingagaininthefuture.

Lastly,motorcyclistsweremorelikelytosaytheywouldadheretospeedlimitsina60kmzonethanin100kmzones. BasedonotherTACresearch,theseresultswerenotdissimilartodrivers’attitudestospeed. However,itisaconcernthatroadusersingeneralweremorelikelytosaytheywouldspeedinhigherspeedlimitzonesiftheopportunitypresenteditself. WithchangesbeingintroducedtosimplifytospeedlimitsinVictoriaincomingyears2,thereisanopportunitytoincludecommunicationsonfollowing distancesandadjustingforreactiontimesatdifferentspeed limit zonesaimedat all road users,not just motorcyclists,as part of any educationcampaigns associatedwiththeseupcomingchanges.

1 HouseofLordsScienceandTechnologySelectCommittee,(2011),‘BehaviourChange’, availablefrom ResearchInstitute(2011),Acceptablebehaviour?Public OpiniononBehaviour ChangePolicy –availablefrom

2

ABCNews,Victoriatosimplifyspeedlimit zones(14August2012),Accessed17August2012,Availableat: