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Older and Returning Riders

Date:
By Richard
Category: General

From time to time we hear claims that older riders are over represented in motorcycle crashes. It is then assumed this is due to returning riders with a subsequent push for some sort of training for them.

Reference to the 2018 data would seem to bear this out.

https://www.tac.vic.gov.au/road-safety/statistics/summaries/motorcycle-crash-data/motorcyclist-age-group-and-gender-data

"53% of motorcycle riders who lost their lives in 2018 and 48% of those hospitalised in 2017/2018 were aged over 40."

However, also from the TAC website

https://www.tac.vic.gov.au/road-safety/statistics/summaries/motorcycle-crash-data

"As at June 2017, more than 420,000 Victorians held a current Victorian motorcycle licence or permit. Of these licence holders:

    88% were male
    5% were aged 25 or less
    70% were aged over 40
    20% were aged over 60 (with 4% over 70)
    Just over half (56%) of motorcycle licence holders were active riders"
    
 So while the age group and gender implies a 'worrying' crash rate for over 40s, they account for approximately 50% of fatals/hospitalisations yet comprise 70% of licenced riders. Using the stats on the Age Group page, under 25s have about 10% of fatals and 22% of hospital admissions, yet they are only 5% of registered riders. Comparatively the over 60s comprised 21% of fatalities and 10% of hospitalisations yet are 20% of licence holders, so they are underrepresented in hospitalisations and fatalities.

Overall, the outstanding recommendation from the Parliamentary Inquiry into Motorcycle Safety  all those years ago to have a central data collection agency is becoming more and more necessary as time marches on with so little being done to properly collate and use data to improve the safety of all road users, rather than agencies collecting what they deem significant to achieve pre-conceived aims.

 

 

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