Barriers to change

It examines crash barriers that routinely save the lives of car occupants but can cause traumatic death to motorcyclists.The paper is from the international Panel established by EuroRAP to look at safe road design for motorcyclists. The Panel included motoring clubs, motorcycle manufacturers, riders’ organisations, practitioners, and national and regional road authorities.

Motorcycling is becoming increasingly popular for both leisure and commuting. The number of bikes in use across Europe reached more than 17 million in 2005, an increase of nearly 50% in less than 10 years.

Motorcyclists are more likely to be killed in crashes than other road users. They account for just 2% of road travel but 16% of all road deaths. Bikers are four times more likely to die than pedal cyclists and 30 times more likely than car occupants. Whilst road deaths in the EU have reduced significantly, motorcycle deaths have not.

As a result, the EU may fail to reach the target of reducing road deaths by a half this decade.

The International Panel’s work shows that simple measures, such as adding protection to barriers on tight curves where riders are most likely to be hurt, need to be systematically introduced on a large scale.

EuroRAP risk analysis can help guide engineers to priority sites. Road authorities can appoint in-house champions, as in France, to assure action on unacceptable risks to motorcyclists.

The Panel welcomes the proposed extension of the European barrier testing standard to take account of motorcyclists for the first time, but argues that the proposed changes do not go far enough to address the majority of real world crashes.

This paper needs to be read by everyone who wants practical action on designing safer roads for motorcyclists.