Members of the European Union, EU, report road crashes to the database CARE. There are three crash locations specified: rural, urban and motorways. Studies and research of fatal crashes in different countries (for example Australia, Austria, Sweden, Norway, Germany, Slovenia) indicates that there are two locations where most fatal and serious motorcycle crashes occur: curves and intersections. Serious crashes also occur on straight roads with high speed. Regardless of where the crashes occurred, it is crucial to properly investigate every motorcycle and other vehicle traffic crash from various aspects. It is important to understand the reason behind the crash to understand the cause and find the best solutions.

4.1 CURVES
The most typical run-off motorcycle crashes where the rider leaves the road lane on the outside of a curve. The crashes are often caused by high-speed relative to riding skills and/or unforeseen road conditions. A common contributing factor is loss of friction due to spills, dirt, or gravel on the road. The outcome of the crash is often determined by the presence of roadside hazards such as barriers, poles, and trees.

The other common type of crash on curves is head-on collisions with an oncoming vehicle. In these collisions, the rider was close to the centreline or on the wrong side of the road. A common factor in these crashes is high-speed of the motorcyclist (and thus ‘cutting the corner’), The causes of these crashes are often the same as above, high speed, lack of riding skills and loss of control due to poor friction. Poor forward visibility and difficulty in predicting the entire bend are also common contributing factors.

4.2 INTERSECTIONS
Another key location for crashes is at intersections. The typical motorcycle crash here is a head-on crash with a large vehicle where the driver fails to yield where required. Common scenarios are drivers, whilst making a turn from a main road onto a side road, overlooks the oncoming motorcycle on the main road. Another typical crash is a sideswipe, where a driver turning from a side road onto a main road overlooks a motorcycle approaching on the main road.

Data from Swedish insurance companies on intersection crashes between motorcyclists and large vehicles show that the other vehicle driver caused the crashes between 67-93% of crashes (44).

4.3 STRAIGHT ROADS
There are several different reasons behind crashes on straight roads. Some examples are excessive speed, reckless riding, loss of control due to poor friction and defects on the roads. The risk for serious injuries increases when there are obstacles near the road or roadsides, such as barriers, trees, and poles. Another common crash type is a shunt crash where a motorcyclist crashes into the rear of a vehicle travelling in the same lane. Lack of crash investigation and research into these types of crashes means that there are no sufficient understanding of causes and thus the solutions.

4.4 SPEED AND MOTORCYCLE CRASH OUTCOMES
Speed not only increases the likelihood of crashes occurring, but it also has a determining role in the severity of the crash outcome. An Australian study (45) investigated the survivability of motorcyclist crashes with fixed objects at crashes with fixed object. The study used the findings to develop a predictive model for FSI risk as a function of travel speed that may be useful for road safety practitioners. The result shows that:

• the fatality risk remains relatively low below a pre-crash travel speed of 100 km/h, however above this speeds the risk rises sharply,
• the serious injury risk is significantly greater than the fatality risk and is above 20% even for low-speed crashes,
• motorcyclists with a pre-crash travel speed less than about 55 km/h, could be expected to survive a collision with a fixed object (45).

A series of tests were made at the Centre for Road Safety (CRS) in Australia 2017 to evaluate MPS for use on W-beam barriers. The results showed that those with MPS had a greatly reduced injury risk for a motorcyclist impact at 60 km/h and a greatly reduced injury risk while an impact at the same speed into w-beam barriers without MPS where likely to be fatal (46). These results show how important it is to consider motorcyclists safety on decision about roadside measures, choice of barriers, and the distance between objects and road edge to reduce the risk of injuries and fatalities. This importance grows as speed limits increase.

A study based on motorcycle injury crashes from the German In-Depth Accident Study (GIDAS) database for the period 1999–2017 found a strong relationship between relative speed and injury severity in motorcycle crashes was demonstrated. At 70 km/h, the risk for serious and fatal injuries at collisions with wide objects, crash barriers and narrow objects was 20%, 51%, and 64%, respectively. Head-on collisions between motorcycles and cars, traveling at 60 km/h present a 55% risk of at fatal or serious injury to the motorcyclist (48).

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 2. MOTORCYCLE SAFETY IN FIGURES
CHAPTER 3. GLOBAL, REGIONAL AND NATIONAL GUIDELINES ON MOTORCYCLE SAFETY
CHAPTER 4. WHERE DO MOST INCIDENTS AND CRASHES OCCUR?
CHAPTER 5. ADDRESSING MOTORCYCLE SAFETY
CHAPTER 6. ROAD SURFACE FRICTION
CHAPTER 7. THE NEED FOR ROADSIDE SAFETY ZONES
CHAPTER 8. BARRIERS AND MOTORCYCLISTS
CHAPTER 9. GUIDANCE BEFORE CURVES
CHAPTER 10. RECOMMENDATIONS
APPENDIXES
REFERENCES
TERMINOLOGY AND ACRONYMS
WORKING GROUP INFORMATION

Download the report as a pdf file.