Swedish motorcyclists: 'illegal riding, drink and drugs are a big cause of accidents'

In Sweden one third of the riders in fatal accidents didn’t have a valid license. In the group without a license 73% were drunk, had used drugs or both.

The 13th International Motorcycle Conference of the IfZ is not taking place in Cologne as usual, but – due to Covid-19 – it is a digital conference with online presentations. Here you can find presentations about safety and technique from different parts of the world.

Maria Nordqyist, political secretary at SMC.

One of the presentations comes from one of FEMA’s members, SMC Sweden. Maria Nordqvist describes the facts behind fatal and seriously injured riders. SMC has collected and analyzed accident data from indepth studies, from STRADA (Swedish Traffic Accident Data Acquisition) and compared these accidents with information from the vehicle and licence register.

In the presentation Maria shows that one third of the riders in the fatal accidents the rider didn’t have a valid license. In the group without a license 73% were drunk, had used drugs or both. In this group 77% were riding an illegal motorcycle.

The share of riders without a license is also high (about one third) among the severly injured riders. In this group many were riding a motorcycle they didn’t own and 21% of them were not legal to use on the roads. This is totally different to the Swedish riders in general who are safer than other road users according to several studies.

SMC states that it is obvious that traditional road safety measures do not work in this group. Measures like lower speed limits and more median barriers will not reduce these accidents. A complicated and expensive license education is counterproductive and is not a solution. It is important to raise awareness about the problem and the high risk of serious accidents.

In the conclusions SMC asks for
– A common position that education and license is important for safety.
– Annual stats are needed for all road users – to make the right decisions.
– Which group should be focus for the police?
– Increase access to education and tests.
– How can all systems and stakeholders work together to minimize the problem?
– Cooperate with the riders – we want safety!

Click here for the SMC paper (pdf).

You can watch the presentation below (13.34 minutes)

Top photograph courtesy of Motorcycle Legal Foundation