Bikers’ age, speed, death toll rising in tragic unison

The Sunday Age has reported on the rise in motorcycle rider accidents and deaths, as well as the average age of the victims.

Paramedic Andrew Black, a motorcyclist for 35 years who is now in his 50’s told Gary Tippet that many emergency physicians call  bikers: temporary Australians.

To the start of November, 43 riders have died in Victoria – 16 more than at this time last year and the fourth-highest figure for this time of year in two decades. They represent a record 17% of the total road toll.

Transport Accident Commission (TAC) research points to rider attitudes being the cause of much of the toll: 26% of motorcyclists admit they will speed if they know they won’t be caught, compared with 17% of other motorists. Police figures show motorcyclist error caused about 70% of trauma crashes, compared with 50% in other cases.

Mr Black said bike accident victims were “Too fast, too risky, too stupid, too inexperienced”.

Not only were he and the victim similar ages, in their early 50s, “The lesson is that a motorcycle is a very unstable means of transport. At low speeds motorcycles just want to fall over. At high speeds they’re much more stable, but if you come off it’s an unforgiving place to be”.

Mr Black says TAC figures show motorcyclists are 38 times more likely to be seriously injured in a crash than car drivers and passengers.

“Where you wouldn’t even be injured in a car, if you come off a motorcycle and hit something, even at low speed, you can do really serious damage,” he says.

“There has been a shift in the age demographic of males who ride motorcycles, and it is us, the so-called ‘baby boomers’. Of the 38 motorcyclists killed in 2009, nearly half were in the 40-plus age bracket.”

That might be because there are so many more riders in the demographic than before, but a recent study in the United States – where the number of fatalities has doubled in the past decade – has determined that the age of riders over 45 was a contributing factor to the increase in deaths.

“It’s a lifestyle thing. Blokes are getting back on bikes they haven’t ridden in years or they have mates with bikes and think it will be fun. That’s great, but there has to be some balance with better education and a bit of a reality check.”