Over the years there have been hundreds of separate pieces of research devoted to motorcycle safety. Beginning with the landmark Hurt Report in the 1970’s (still the most definitive on the subject despite its age), motorcyclists, motorcycle advocacy organisations and government appointed agencies have all had a go at trying to determine why motorcycles are disproportionately involved in road crashes.
The motivation for these studies has been as varied as the studies themselves and the results also. Some results have provoked changes in the industry and in legislation, sometimes for the better and some times for the worse (see “motivation” above). Some have resulted in no change at all except for a wringing of hands on all levels and a shifting of the subject to the “too hard” basket.
So, why ARE motorcycles disproportionately represented? Well, the answers range all the way from stupidity and carelessness on the part of all road users involved, design flaws in motorcycles themselves, and, more often than not, a shrug of the shoulders accompanied by some cop-out answer like the question requiring more research (ca-ching goes the university cash register)
But here’s one about which to think. Could it be that road users really DON’T see us as they usually claim (SMIDSY)? What if we really ARE invisible? What if, despite education campaigns, better training, lights-on, hi-vis and every other device and action that we have instigated to make ourselves more obvious, what if, even after all that, they STILL don’t see us?
What if it has nothing to do with either them or us? What if all the research has overlooked the most obvious and basic reason why they don’t see us? What if they don’t see us because we are the wrong SHAPE?
Before you pooh-pooh the idea, stop and think for a moment. Most of us are car drivers as well as bike riders. What is it that we are on he lookout for most when we are on the road? OTHER CARS. Of course we are. And what SHAPE are 99% of the vehicles with which we shape the road? They are low and wide. And what shape is a motorcycle? It is thin and high. (incidentally, I am sure that it has already crossed your mind that accidents involving PEDESTRIANS who have a similar profile could easily be explained by the same rationale, their SHAPE could be a determining factor.)
Mush more research needs to be done before this theory can be given a great deal of credibility but I find it interesting. Unfortunately, there would not be a significantly large representative sample of sidecar-related accidents (or CanAm Spyder ones for that matter) to provide a definitive answer but it certainly warrants more examination.
Of course, it WOULDN’T be better if we WERE flat because the form would take away nearly all the ADVANTAGES of riding anyway, filtering, agility in corners, maneuverability, etc, etc.
Maybe some clever person can come up with an idea that MAKES us look bigger without actually having to be so; holographic projection or something like that? In any event, next time you ARE out and about, think about the possibility that the motorists with whom you are sharing the road really CAN’T see you and it isn’t because they are “stupid cagers”, it’s because they are not conditioned to look for your SHAPE.