IHE Motorcycling Guidelines

Motorcycles have been a feature of our roads for well over 100 years. During that time they have served as a basic mode of transport, an economical alternative to the car, a workhorse and even a lifestyle icon. Their popularity has risen and fallen in concert with a number of diverse social and economic factors. Recent years have seen an upturn in the popularity of motorcycling, bringing the advantages and disadvantages of the mode into sharp relief, the most obvious of the latter being safety.

Although motorcycles were able to exceed their year 2000 road safety targets, progress since then has been poor. Against the Government’s 2010 casualty reduction targets, motorcycle casualty numbers buck a trend of generally improving road safety although the ‘rate’ associated with motorcycle accidents has been declining over the last decade. However, it is important to remember that those services provided by the motorcycle for over a century are still valid and that being a vulnerable mode is not the same as being an undesirable one.

The IHIE Motorcycling Guidelines have been produced in support of the Government’s Motorcycling Strategy whose central point is to ‘mainstream’ motorcycles into core transport policy.

The Guidelines are laid out in individual chapters that deal with specific areas as they relate to motorcycle use and suggest ways in which transportation professionals should consider and take account of the particular needs of motorcycles in their work.

The guidelines are kept under constant review. Updates to the Guidelines are indicated by date and version number at the base of each chapter page.

The website includes guidance on:

• Policy
• Travel Plans
• Road Design & Traffic Engineering
• Motorcycle Parking
• Road Maintenance
• Road Safety Campaigns
• Motorcycles and Traffic Calming
• Motorcycle and Road Safety Audit

The website also includes news and a forum (to be updated in 2011) where riders and professionals are welcome to post fresh information.