Motorcycle safety lacks funding and research despite high risks, Deakin University expert says

MOTORCYCLE safety needs better funding so one mistake isn’t a “death sentence”, according to researchers.

• Filtering for a smooth ride
• Upgrade for riders’ favourite roads
• Failure to give way most common crash cause

MOTORCYCLE safety is poorly funded and under-researched even though riders are over-represented in road death and injury statistics, a leading expert in motorbike safety has said.

Liz De Rome from Deakin University said Australia led the world in car safety but motorbikes and riders were trailing behind.

“We don’t build roads that are friendly to motorcyclists. Riders are like the canaries in the coal mine, if something is negatively impacting them it’s going to be adversely affecting other road users as well,’’ Dr de Rome said.

The senior research fellow also said drivers were trained to see other cars and were more likely to turn in front of oncoming bikes.

“Drivers look, but they don’t see,” she said.

Dr de Rome and other international experts will speak at a motorcycle safety seminar at Deakin’s Waurn Ponds campus today.

“Motorcycles make up 4 per cent of the motor vehicle fleet but are a far weightier proportion of road deaths and 23 per cent of road injuries,’’ Dr de Rome said.

Dr de Rome called for more manufacturers’ investment in safety as well as more research into rider behaviour and more thought given to road infrastructure.

“We need make a safe system so that when you do make a mistake it’s not a death sentence.’’

Research has shown drivers were more likely to turn in front of bikes than in front of cars, often leading to serious injuries and fatalities, she said.

Riders are vulnerable road users, as is reflected in road injury statistics.

“The SMIDSY excuse — ‘sorry mate, I didn’t see you’ — is shockingly common,” she said.

“Motorcyclists often prefer to ride in their own space away from other vehicles for their own safety, but their small vertical profile goes unnoticed because drivers have trained themselves to look for cars.”

Motorcycle safety will be discussed at a Deakin University seminar.

So far this year, 31 riders have died on Victorian roads, 14 fewer than last year’s horror year.

15.5 per cent of all road deaths. The rider deaths represent about one in six fatalities on Victorian roads.

Although the tally is down, the toll is close to the long-term average and comes as the number of riders has risen in recent years.

More than 410,000 Victorians now hold a Victorian motorcycle licence, and of those almost nine out of 10 are male.

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@IanRoyall