Daily motorbike news, views & reviews
Despite a 2014 Austroads report finding there are too many speed zones and the frequency of zone changes is too high, chances of authorities making any changes as a result of the report are minimal, an Austroads official admits. The 116-page “Model National Guidelines for Setting Speed Limits at High-Rick Locations” report is not a …
Roundabouts are just as dangerous for riders as intersections says Austroads which has called for riders to be considered a priority in “Safe System” design. Their aptly named report, “Understanding and Improving Safe System Intersection Performance” says intersections account for 30% of all vehicle crash injuries, but a massive 47% for motorcyclists. It confirms the …
Australian governments have issued guidelines for trials of autonomous vehicles on our roads but made no mention of motorcycles. The 24-page Austroads and National Transport Commission report does not mention motorcycles once, although bicycles are mentioned. Austroads boss Nick Koukoulas says the guidelines draw on international best practice and have a strong focus on safety. …
Road construction and road safety experts around the world are acknowledging that roads need to be designed with rider safety in mind, but only one country seems to be following the advice. Highways England, the company responsible for running over 4000 miles (6400km) of England’s motorways and major roads, has joined a landmark collaboration to …
Austroads is producing a claimed world-first library of motorcycle hazard perception test (HPT) videos and supporting road safety material to help train novice riders. The project is expected to modernise the HPT videos used in most states and introduce them in Tasmania and the territories. It is believed the computer-based motorcycle-specific tests will improve learner training and graduated licensing systems. …
Yamaha is testing a robot motorcycle, Kawasaki is developing a bike with artificial intelligence and now an engineering student has built a riderless model-sized motorcycle. Could the bikes of the future ride themselves and not need rider input? In the above video, micro-engineering student Eric Unnervik, from the Research institution in Lausanne, explains (in French) how …
Roads need to be better designed, funded and maintained to reduce the risk of motorcycle crashes, a 244-page Austroads report has found. The report, titled “Infrastructure Improvements to Reduce Motorcycle Casualties”, is the result of a two-year study to identify infrastructure improvements to reduce motorcycle crash risk and crash severity. It says motorcycles should be …
Austroads makes no mention of lane filtering in its latest report concerned with achieving “safer” speeds in our urban road network. The 104-page report titled “Achieving Safe System Speeds on Urban Arterial Roads: Compendium of Good Practice” features a range of suggestions, but none mentions how effective lane filtering is in reducing rear-ender crashes for …
Austroads has published a major study into speeding which presumes that the public wants “safer speeds” that are lower speeds. The whole premise for the 161-page report seems to be that lower vehicle speeds means less risk. It recommends a wide range of campaign strategies including reducing speed limits, more signs showing your current speed, …
Sportsbike riders, in particular older riders, have greater odds of being involved in serious injury crashes than riders of other types of bike, according to an Austroads study released today. (November 3, 2015) The Motorcycle In-depth Crash Study found that bikes need better technologies (ABS, traction control, etc), riders need to be more aware and roads …