Current Motorcycle Campaign
The latest TAC public education campaign targets two of Victoria’s biggest issues in road safety – motorcycle safety and speed.
The campaign, titled “Reconstruction”, features a slow motion replay of a crash involving a motorcyclist and a car. The ad graphically depicts the rider suffering a broken neck as a result of his speeding prior to the collision.
Victoria Police Major Collision Investigator Detective Acting Senior Sergeant Peter Bellion features in the ad and explains how the crash could be avoided had the rider obeyed the speed limit.
Campaign development:
Speeding is a significant contributor to serious road trauma across all road user groups. Vulnerable road users such as motorcyclists are especially at risk of death or serious injury when a crash involves significant speeds. Research shows that small increases in the average travel speed can lead to substantial increases in the numbers of road users killed and seriously injured.
The TAC’s vision is to make speeding socially unacceptable just as we have with drink driving. With regards to motorcyclists, an examination by Victoria Police between May 2002 and April 2003 of a sample of fatal crashes involving motorcycles indicated that 38% of riders were exceeding the speed limit prior to the collision 1. In addition, surveys conducted by the TAC from 2009 through 2010 show that more than one in four riders self-report speeding for at least half the time that they ride. Over half of this group report speeding “all or most of the time”.2
Last year, 49 motorcyclists were fatally injured on our roads. 31% of which, excessive or inappropriate speed was a contributing factor.
Campaign objectives:
- Reduce the number of speed related fatal motorcycle rider and pillion incidents.
- Educate motorcycle riders and pillion passengers about the impact of speed related road trauma on vulnerable road users - communicate that in the event of a collision at speed, the likelihood of a fatal injury is significant.
- Make riders aware that they can greatly reduce their chance of a crash by travelling at a speed that is within the posted speed limit and appropriate for the conditions.
- About the crash scenario
- In this crash scenario, was the driver at fault?
- What can I do to reduce my risk of being involved in a crash?
- What else is the TAC doing in this area?
- The science and research behind the campaign
- What is the relationship between speed and crash severity?
- What are the likely injury outcomes for riders at different crash speeds?
- Why do drivers ‘look but fail to see’ motorcyclists?
References
1. Victoria Police (2003). Major Collision Investigation Group (MCIG) fatal motorcycle crash study report.
2. Transport Accident Commission. (2011). TAC motorcycle tracking survey – Wave 2 report. TAC
Outdoor Campaign
Background on motorcycle crashes
Statistics for both fatal and claims involving hospital admission statistics for motorcyclists can be found under the Motorcycle crash data statistics section of this site.
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