Recent studies have shown that age, driving experience, and risk exposure, measured in annual mileage, have a major influence on the involvement of motorbikers in accidents. Recent studies have shown that a further factor that is frequently discussed namely the performance of the motorbike, does not possess the importance that is attributed to it in the public discussion. Recent studies in Germany and other countries show that machine performance has no significant influence on accident involvement in the sense of a correlation between high engine performance and a high number of accidents. In the present study, a sample of more than 800 motorbikers were surveyed with a detailed questionnaire on accident involvement at the IFMA and the Motorshow in Essen in 1990. The detailed assessment of individual reports on motorbikes and accidents permitted a further study of the fundamental effects of the above mentioned factors in the most comprehensive sample yet to be studied in Germany. It also provided detailed information on involvement in accidents. (A)
Abstract