Motorcyclists represent a large proportion of road casualties in relation to their numbers. They make up less than 1% of road traffic, but suffer 14% of deaths and serious injuries.
Official statistics indicate that pedestrians are involved in a higher proportion of collisions per mile with PTWs than cars.
In 2004, there were 1,059 pedestrians hit by a motorcycle. Of these:
· 20 were killed, and
· 229 were seriously injured
[1]
There were no bikers killed in these collisions. [2]
In the same year, there were 253 collisions involving a pedal cycle and motorcycle. Of these:
· There were 226 pedal cyclist casualties
· One pedal cyclist was killed, and
· 35 pedal cyclists were seriously injured
[3]
There were no bikers killed in these collisions. [4]
The fact that there were no bikers killed in any of these incidents shows that regardless of blame, people on foot or bikes come off worse in crashes with motorcycles.
Although motorbikes pose a much lesser risk to people on foot and on bicycles than cars do, the figures above show that they do injure and kill people.
How do motorcyclists put their own lives and others’ at risk on the road? The types of crash involving motorbikes are often different to those involving cars. Department for Transport research has shown that motorbike crashes are particularly likely to involve loss of control on bends, or overtaking manoeuvres.
[5]
Excessive speed is more likely to be a factor in motorcycle crashes than crashes involving any other vehicle.
Exceeding the speed limit or driving too fast for the conditions are contributory factors for one in eight motorcycles that crash (13%), but are only contributory factors for one in ten cars (10%) and one in 17 trucks (6%) that crash.
[6]
http://www.brake.org.uk/index.php?p=920