Using the Internet to collect survey data: lessons from a survey of older riders in Australia

Surveys have been used widely in road safety to measure people's knowledge of and attitudes to road safety issues or programs, and to gauge the extent to which people engage in risky or protective behaviours. Traditionally, surveys have been conducted by mail, telephone or face-to-face. However, the impacts of privacy legislation, the popularity of mobile phones and the growth in telemarketing are affecting the viability of these methods. The Internet is becoming a popular medium for road safety (and other) surveys because it can provide a feasible, cost-effective and potentially time saving alternative to these traditional methods. This paper describes the anticipated and unanticipated advantages and disadvantages of using the Internet to collect survey data from motorcycle riders aged 25 and over in Australia. The survey was undertaken to find out more about the crash patterns of riders who had recently returned from riding after having held a licence but not ridden for many years. These riders are unable to be distinguished from continuing riders in licensing and crash databases. The methodological issues identified in conducting this survey will be of interest to researchers who are choosing the best survey technique to use for other road user groups.