FIM presents twice at the IfZ conference

The FIM will be delivering two key presentations to a respected international audience of motorcycle safety experts. The IfZ Conference, this year being held online due to COVID-19, is the only international conference exclusively dedicated to the safety of motorcyclists.
 
Today, one of the presentations comes from FIM Europe and one of our members, SMC Sweden. Jesper Christensen, Dimitris Margaritis and Maria Nordqvist are the authors of one study ”Traffic violations of motorcycle riders in fatal and serious injuries accidents in Sweden."  The presenter, Maria Nordqvist, describes the facts behind fatally and seriously injured riders. SMC has collected and analyzed accident data from in-depth studies and from STRADA (Swedish Traffic Accident Data Acquisition) and compared these accidents with information from the vehicle and license 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. 77% in this group were riding an illegal motorcycle. The share of riders without a license is also high (about one third) among the severely 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 in contrast to Swedish riders in general who are shown to be safer than other road users according to multiple 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.

FIM and SMC have also sponsored another study which will be presented at the IfZ conference: “The Dynamics of Motorcycle Crashes - Focus on Advanced (Antilock) Braking Systems and Post-Crash Motion.” Again, Dimitris Margaritis is one of the authors alongside Elaine Hardy (UK), James V Ouellet (USA) and Martin Winkelbauer (Austria).  The study describes an online survey that was carried out in 2019 which focused on motorcyclists who had been involved in a crash. The survey was disseminated throughout Europe, the USA, Canada, Asia, Australia and South America in order to get as much of a global response as possible. A sample of 1,578 motorcycle riders from 30 different countries answered a questionnaire with 39 questions on different parameters of crashes. Particular focus was put on questions most relevant to motorcycles like the use of protective equipment and assistance systems, in particular ABS. The survey’s overall results highlight the relationship between speed, protective equipment, assistance systems and injuries, as well as how post-crash motions change the patterns of crash occurrence and injury outcome. The presentation is made by Elaine Hardy.

See the presentations click HERE

FIM Communications