In this paper an analysis of the under-reporting of motorcycle accidents is presented. Data from a road traffic accident trauma register in Rhone Department (France) was compared to the police records for the same area. Data from the trauma registry consists of approximately 10 500 victims. An Injury Severity Score has been used to assess each casualty. Analyses of the injury patterns are provided. The objective was to reveal the main characteristics of the under-reporting of motorcycle accidents. Two main properties were the severity of the crash and the age of the driver: there were fewer police records when the injury was minor and the lower the victims age the less chance of the accident being recorded by the police. The limitations of the study are that there is no information of the exact type of the motorcycle - moped, scooter or motorcycle. Furthermore, there is no data on the use of crash helmets.
Samenvatting