Infrastructure improvements to reduce motorcycle casualties

This report presents the technical findings of a two-year study which sought to identify effective infrastructure improvements to reduce motorcycle crash risk and crash severity, based on how riders perceive, respond and react to infrastructure they encounter. The project commenced with a literature review of national and international guides, publications and research papers, which also enabled the identification of knowledge gaps and areas where further detail was required. A crash analysis was undertaken to demonstrate the relationship between motorcycle crashes, travel period, vehicle configuration (i.e. motorcycle only and multiple vehicle crashes involving a motorcycle), road geometry, road layout (e.g. intersection type) and crash types. Explanations of why, and how, road infrastructure elements influence motorcycle crash risk were researched and are provided within this report. The study has built up a compendium of treatments, presented in such a way that engineering decisions to manage these elements can be justified, even if outside of existing design warrants, and asset management and maintenance practice. The research highlights that motorcycles should be identified as an individual road user group and considered as a ‘design vehicle’ during road design and asset management and maintenance practices. It is concluded that motorcycle crash risk can be managed, but requires changes in practice, in design, asset management funding and routine maintenance performance contracts. One example is in the identification of road sections and/or routes that pose the highest crash risk to motorcyclists, so that they can be managed and maintained appropriately.