By around 2040, motorcyclists are projected to become the dominant mode involved in death and serious injury on Australian roads. Those projections were based on historic growth trends in motorcycle use, trauma assumptions and safety investment scenarios.
The explosion of high powered “eBikes” is going to change this. And not in a good way.
I can’t believe the number of devices well beyond the 250W limit now being ridden around by young people.
(To be clear, I am all for people getting out and having fun. Anything that gets people moving and out of cars has enormous benefits).
But from a road safety perspective we need to be honest about what these devices actually are.
The kids in the video below (and the thousands we see every day) are essentially riding low powered motorcycles. When we investigate crashes involving these vehicles, that’s how we end up categorising them: “unlicenced and unregistered motorcycle”.
A few things worry me here…
Motorcyclists are around 20 to 30 times more likely to be killed or seriously injured per kilometre travelled than someone in a car (across Australia and New Zealand).
Those figures are based on riders who typically have licensing, training, protective gear and the presence of enforcement.
Many of the young riders on these high-powered devices have none of those things.
Then there is the longer-term effect…
If a generation grows up riding powered two wheelers, the logical next step for many will simply be motorcycles. More riders, earlier exposure, higher trauma rates.
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By around 2040, motorcyclists are projected to become the dominant mode involved in death and serious injury on Australian roads. Those projections were based on historic growth trends in motorcycle use, trauma assumptions and safety investment scenarios.
The explosion of high powered “eBikes” is going to change this. And not in a good way.
I can’t believe the number of devices well beyond the 250W limit now being ridden around by young people.
(To be clear, I am all for people getting out and having fun. Anything that gets people moving and out of cars has enormous benefits).
But from a road safety perspective we need to be honest about what these devices actually are.
The kids in the video below (and the thousands we see every day) are essentially riding low powered motorcycles. When we investigate crashes involving these vehicles, that’s how we end up categorising them: “unlicenced and unregistered motorcycle”.
A few things worry me here…
Then there is the longer-term effect…
If a generation grows up riding powered two wheelers, the logical next step for many will simply be motorcycles. More riders, earlier exposure, higher trauma rates.
————-