Vic riders in the spotlight: new report

Recently released by the University of Adelaide's Centre for Automotive Safety Research (CASR), the document Evaluation of the VicRoads Community Policing and Education Project: Final Report takes an in-depth look at a VicRoads/Victoria Police motorcycle safety campaign carried out in Victoria over 2009 and 2010, and it throws up some interesting results.

The project itself was aimed at reducing motorcycle trauma in Victoria by a combination of enforcement and education initiatives, while the evaluation of the project, carried out by CASR academics, involved an analysis of road offences and crash data, online surveys, on-road speed surveys, and roadside traffic observation.

Of particular note was the finding that while the numbers of registered motorcycles in Victoria has steadily increased in recent years, from 74,863 in 1993 to 162,091 in 2010, the numbers of crashes involving motorcycles and resulting in injury have remained relatively steady over the past decade -- spelling "a marked decline in the rate of motorcycle injury crashes" over the past decade.

"Whether one examines motorcycle injury crashes, injured motorcyclists or injuries sustained in motorcycle crashes, the pattern is similar for Victorian data for the last ten years," the report states. "The overall numbers of crashes or injuries have been stable over the past decade but with a degree of variation from year to year.

"When the annual numbers of registered motorcycles were used to convert crash and injury numbers to rates, a marked decline over the past decade became evident. Whether looking at crash and injury numbers, or crash and injury rates per registered motorcycle, the numbers in 2010 were markedly lower than the average for the previous three years."

The report also highlights a tendency towards more crashes in lower speed zones, which could potentially be attributed to a rise in recent years of numbers of scooters and commuter bikes.

Riders were also found to be committing fewer traffic offences, which in contrast to general motorists, who are committing more -- especially when it comes to hand-held mobile phone offences. Learner motorcyclists offences, however, are also up -- the majority of which concern novices being caught on bikes that aren't compliant with the Learner Approved Motorcycle Scheme (LAMS).

While riders are offending less, attitudinal surveys have shown they thing they have a higher chance of being caught by police for a variety of offences now compared to years past. This, the report says, is of significant benefit, because "The main means by which highly visible enforcement achieves a safety result is through general deterrence, whereby the perceived risk of apprehension among road users is increased. The finding of an apparent increase in this perceived risk is a positive outcome for the Project."

Other findings highlighted an increase in the adoption of full-body protective gear in Melbourne-based riders following a targeted education campaign, figures rising from 17 per cent to 24 per cent to 38 per cent of riders across three individual roadside surveys carried out throughout the Project, but there is on-going issue with rider conspicuity. Cruiser riders were singled out as the worst offenders here -- "Riders of cruisers were particularly inconspicuous, with only one in 20 wearing conspicuous clothing or helmets," the report states.

Also, while no proof was found for the Project to have reduced motorcyle speeds, they did remain static - in contrast to car speeds, which increased. However, it was also found that the proportion of motorcycles exceeding a 100km/h speed limit was roughly double that of cars.

To read the full report, click here.