Rider acceptance of advanced safety technology : a basic requirement for improved safety : concept, experience and results of a multimedia communication campaign on antilock motorcycle brakes.

Although antilock brakes (ABS) for the prevention of accidents are even more important for motorcycles than for cars and contrary to the fact that they have been offered in Germany since 1988, only five percent of motorcycles are equipped with them. Motorcycle manufacturers (excluding BMW and HONDA) do not offer ABS brakes. They argue that this is due to the lack of acceptance by the customers. Motorcyclists do not request ABS brakes since they generally overestimate their riding skills. In Germany, most magazines had presented ABS brakes for years in a negative way. A publicity campaign using a website was initiated in 2001 to change attitudes, especially of motorcyclists. The campaign succeeded in completely changing the attitude of the motorcycle press towards antilock brakes. In a representative inquiry which was done by the Hagstotz Marktforschung, 75% of the interviewed motorcyclists agreed with the statement: "A new motorcycle needs ABS". In the future the motorcycle industry should anticipate that other innovative safety technologies may need a participating and active communication campaign in order to be accepted by motorcyclists. For the covering abstract see ITRD E825082.