New stats highlight P2W rider collision and casualty risk
Recent statistics confirm that motorcyclists and other powered two wheeler (P2W) riders are at much higher risk of serious injury on roads across Essex, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock than any other road user group.
The statistics, published by SERP partner Essex Highways, show that while motorcycles comprise around 0.6% of traffic by vehicle miles, their riders make up 26% of killed and seriously injured (KSI) casualties. What’s more, 31% of all injuries to motorcyclists in the SERP area in the last 18 months were KSIs.
Explaining the high level of KSI casualties, Andy Stroulger, Road Traffic Casualty Reduction Manager for Essex County Fire & Rescue Service, said: “Motorcyclists are the road user group inherently most vulnerable to injury as unlike a car, motorcycles offer very little protection to the rider in the event of a collision. Therefore, even if death is avoided the injuries sustained can be very serious.
“As a result, they have always had a high ‘severity ratio’ – the percentage of all injuries that are classed as serious or fatal.”
The casualty stats also show that young P2W riders are especially vulnerable, with 43% of injured riders in Essex, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock aged between 16-25 years.
The SERP P2W casualty stats are in line with those across the UK.
Department for Transport (DfT) figures* show that 339 motorcycle users were killed in 2014, which equates to 19% of all road deaths. And the number of motorcyclists who were seriously injured (5,289) increased year on year by 8.7% to the highest level since 2009.
Nationally, the number of slightly injured motorcycle casualties also increased by 8.7% in 2014. Overall, the total number of motorcycle casualties across all severities in 2014 was 20,366, which is also the highest figure since 2009.
While there was a 3% year on year increase in motorcycle traffic in 2014, the statistics led the DfT to conclude: “The increase in injured casualties has outstripped the increase in traffic, indicating that it is not just an increase in exposure that is driving the upturn in casualties.”
SERP has a number of products, initiatives and campaigns in place to engage with riders including the provision of roadcraft and machine skills courses, with the aim of reducing the number of riders who are killed or seriously injured on the county’s roads.
In addition, SERP has recently run an extensive campaign specifically targeting other road users, to encourage them to be aware of and consciously look out for motorcyclists.
*Source: Reported Road Casualties in Great Britain: Main Results 2014
24 August 2015