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Protecting
Your Rights In Our Nation's Capital!
MRF
Research Proposals
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The
Motorcycle as Transport:
Safe or Unsafe?
Submitted to
the Transportation Research Board, February 2002
Problem Statement:
The motorcycle
is a form of surface transport that offers the rider and his or
her passenger virtually no protection, little conspicuity and
daunting power. At rest, it is unstable. In motion, its operation
must command the attention of the rider. Yet, lifelong riders
log hundreds of thousands of miles of incident-free motorcycle
riding. How?
Virtually all
motorcycles can out-accelerate and out-break all automobiles --
indispensable to accident avoidance on the street. Riders can
find haven from collision in confined spaces (e.g., tight shoulders)
to which no motorist would dare venture. Do these unique features
more than offset the lack of protection relative to other motor
vehicles? Is the motorcycle a safe form of transport?
Research on "motorcycle
safety" offers no clues, because it focuses exclusively on motorcycle
un-safety -- that is, accident-involved rather than incident-free
operation. Moreover, accident and particularly fatality data are
imprecise, superficial and based on widely divergent accident
reporting practices. For example, distinctions drawn between accidents
classed as "single vehicle" and "multiple vehicle" are often false
distinctions. Consider the fatality prompted by an errant motorist
whose stray across a double-yellow line forces a motorcyclist
off the road and to his or her death. If the motorist simply motors
on, the fatality is recorded as "single vehicle." Such data artificially
hike "single-vehicle" accidents that prompt editorial post-mortems
that lay blame on a lack of rider skill. Additionally, patently
illegal behaviors (e.g., unlicensed operation, impaired riding)
further obfuscate the question as to whether the mode of motorcycling
itself, absent misconduct, is safe or unsafe.
Proposed Research:
The task is to
eliminate wild variances in accident reporting and recording and
eliminate the variables of impaired and unlicensed (read: unskilled)
riding for an unencumbered look at the mode itself. The challenge
is to find a sample group of car drivers (motorists) and motorcyclists
(riders) with comparable skill levels and street experiences while
eliminating to the greatest extent possible the likelihood of
alcohol involvement. Law enforcement provides a possible study
sample. There is a parity of vehicle operation skill between motor
officers (i.e., "motorcycle cops") and officers in patrol cars.
Moreover, accident involvement among on-duty officers is not likely
to involve alcohol. We propose a study of accident involvement
that compares motor officers and patrol car officers. Additionally,
we propose a companion study of fatalities classed as "single-vehicle"
to identify the existence of other causal factors involved (e.g.,
likelihood of an errant motorist who forced the fatality, existence
of road hazards, large game animals, etc.). The latter, of necessity,
would require in-depth study of a representative sample of individual
accidents, interview of investigating officers, etc.
Expected Benefit:
America is at
a critical intersection in surface transportation. Surface transport
budgets at both the federal and state levels face catastrophic
funding shortfalls. A fresh look at motorcycling -- the mode itself
-- could fuel public policy aimed at improving operator competence
(e.g., driver reeducation, more training, infrastructure for riders)
and better integrate the motorcycle in national, state and local
transport planning. This could guide government spending at all
levels to enhance surface transport safety for all road users.
Origin of
the Statement:
Motorcycle Riders
Foundation
Mr. Tom Wyld, VP-Government Relations
P.O. Box 1808
Washington, DC 20013-1808
Phone: 202/546-0983
Fax: 202/546-0986
E-Mail: wyld@mrf.org
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