Deakin University
School of Psychology, Geelong Waterfront Campus, Geelong VIC 3217

Summary of Findings: Testing the Motorcycle Rider Behaviour Questionnaire with Australian Motorcyclists research project

Investigators: Dr Lucy Zinkiewicz (lucyz@deakin.edu.au), Patrick Wig (patwig@deakin.edu.au), Amy McKenna, Lauren Gook and Kristen Gerlach

The study aimed to investigate how various motorcycle riding behaviours (e.g., wearing protective gear, riding at night) were related to involvement in a motorcycling accident, as well as how riding behaviour and crash risk varies with age, sex, whether you live in the country or city, your feelings about your motorcycle, and some personality characteristics, one of which was psychological need for control.

As the team was lucky enough to collect a large amount of data, we're still analysing it all. However, here's some preliminary information about respondents to the questionnaire, and what was found.

Who completed the questionnaire?

Our online questionnaire was completed by 1365 motorcycle riders, made up of 1168 men and 195 women. Respondents ranged from 18 to 86 years of age, with an average age of 43.53 years, and were employed in a wide range of occupations.

Respondents came from across all states and territories in Australia, with about a third coming from each of NSW and Victoria. They mostly lived in cities of 100,000 people or more (72%), with 23% from regional areas and 4% from rural areas, which is similar to the spread of the Australian population across these areas.

They rode a range of bikes, with about 28% riding sport/touring bikes and 25% riding sport or supersport. Riding experience ranged from less than one year to 70 years (18 years on average), and annual kilometres rode ranged from 50 to 200,000 km (12,816km on average).

So what was people's riding behaviour like?

We found that, on average, respondents reported:

•  Nearly always wearing protective clothing (an average score of 5.5 out of 6),

•  Occasional speeding (average score 3 out of 6), and

•  Hardly ever committing control errors (cornering too fast or too wide) (average score 2 out of 6), traffic errors (e.g., failing to notice pedestrians or signs) and stunts (wheelies and wheel spins) (both 1.5 out of 6 on average).

How does behaviour relate to crashes?

Respondents reported being involved in very few accidents over the last three years, with 70% of people being involved in none at all. About 58% of these involved the rider hitting another road user or an obstacle, and 52% were due to the rider being hit by another road user. Most of the crashes caused damage only, though nearly 3% caused serious or fatal injury.

As you'd expect, more risky riding behaviour was associated with involvement in crashes over the last three years. Those reporting more traffic errors, control errors, speeding and stunts were involved in more crashes in total, and in more crashes in which they hit another road user or obstacle. Those wearing protective clothing less frequently were also involved in more crashes in total.

Were there any differences by age and sex?

The younger the rider, they more they reported speeding while on their bike, regardless of the amount of riding experience they had. However, more riding experience was associated with fewer control errors (less cornering too fast or too wide).

Male riders reported performing more stunts and wearing less safety equipment than did female riders, with younger male riders performing more stunts and wearing less safety equipment than did older male riders. Younger male riders were also more involved than older male riders in crashes where they hit another road user/obstacle, and in crashes where they were hit by another road user.

What about by region?

Riders living and riding in urban (metropolitan) areas reported significantly more accident involvement and speeding than those living and riding in regional areas. Accident severity didn't differ in urban, regional and rural area, though crashes in which the rider was hit by another road user were more frequent in urban areas.

What about psychological need for control?

We've not yet done all the analyses in relation to personality, though we have some interesting findings in relation to psychological need for control. For both men and women, higher need for control was associated with fewer traffic errors. For men, higher need for control was associated with more wearing of protective clothing.

However, and unexpectedly, higher need for control was also associated with more performance of stunts. This is really interesting, and we plan to do some interviews to look at this issue, later this year.

In conclusion...

We'd like to thank all our respondents for their enthusiastic response to the survey – we were overwhelmed by your eager participation! And we really welcome your feedback on our survey questions – they'll be very useful in revising our questions.

We're hoping to present some of these findings at the 9th National Conference on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion, being held in Melbourne over July 26-28 (see http://www.injuryprevention2009.com/index.php), if they accept our paper. We're also aiming to present papers at forthcoming road safety conferences, as well as write up the results for publication in some academic journals.

If you'd like more detailed information on anything we've reported here, or would like to be sent copies of any journal articles or conference papers we publish down the track, please email Patrick Wig at patwig@deakin.edu.au or ring him on (03) 5227 8489. Patrick's a fellow rider, so he's familiar with many of your experiences and concerns, and happy to satisfy your curiosity!