The only safety standards for motorcycle protective clothing, any where in the world, have been introduced into Europe. These standards have proved a valuable source of information for Australian and New Zealand riders about the features of effective protective clothing. While no clothing can prevent serious high impact injuries, there is evidence that over half of all motorcycle injuries could have been reduced or prevented by the use of effective protective clothing. This paper describes efforts to encourage the local motorcycle industry to develop a product safety assurance system. The objective was to encourage riders to be able to distinguish between products that will provide some injury protection and those which are just fashion items. A seminar was held to gain the support of key stakeholders including the importers, distributors and retailers of motorcycle clothing; riders and consumer protection and road safety agencies. The outcome was general consensus to establish performance standards and a regulatory system for protective clothing that would work in the best interests of riders and the industry. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E214057. Printed volume contains peer-reviewed papers. CD-ROM contains submitted papers.
Abstract