Road safety – Motorized two-wheelers: new knowledge and research needs –

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Motorized two-wheelers: new knowledge and research needs

Road safety - Motorized two-wheelers: new knowledge and research needs -

The National Institute for Transport and Safety Research (INRETS) brings together researchers and specialists in Marseille for two days to reflect on the scientific aspects of motorized two-wheeler safety.. A fresh wind that feels good !

At the initiative of the National Institute for Research on Transport and Safety (INRETS), nearly 150 researchers, scientists and specialists of all kinds have been working since this morning in Marseille on the safety of motorized two-wheelers.

And like the mistral which blows over the Phocaean city, these workshops bring a breath of fresh air that is particularly invigorating on the world of motorized two-wheelers, far from the sterile clashes between politicians sclerotic in their security approach to zero risk and motorcyclists often inclined to playing the frightened virgins at the slightest questioning.

Set up thanks to the involvement of Pierre Van Elslande, director of the Accident Mechanisms Department at INRETS, the conference should lead to real proposals to reduce the risks associated with the practice of motorcycles and scooters..

The safety of users of motorized two-wheelers is in fact at the heart of current concerns, whether in political terms (repression), economic (societal costs of accidents) or industrial (progress of manufacturers in terms of passive safety)..

Even before the official closing tomorrow by the interministerial delegate for road safety Michèle Merli herself, a first assessment of this conference can be found in its very title: "Motorized two-wheelers: new knowledge and research needs".

Develop new tools

An immense need for research is in fact felt in the field of motorized two-wheelers: statistics based on Bodily Accident Analysis Bulletins (BAAC) drawn up by the police at the scene of the accident. have shown their limits (read in particular), and INRETS is struggling to generalize its Detailed Accident Studies (EDA) which advantageously complement them.

Most researchers also continue to distinguish in their various works only "cyclos" of less than 50 cc and "motorcycles" of more than 50 cc, whereas it would be infinitely more relevant to refine the categories by differentiating between the "less than 125 cc" of the "big cars", not to mention the different categories of scooters, maxi scooters and motorcycles or their respective user types…

Opening the conference this morning at the Alcazar Library, Norwegian researcher Rune Elvik from the Oslo-based Institute of Transport Economics attempted to find out whether the risks to bikers were "fair and just", in the terminology of John Rawls, compared to other categories of users (motorists and users of public transport, in particular). He identified nine fundamental risk factors (kinetic energy, friction, visibility, compatibility, complexity, predictability , rationality, vulnerability and tolerance of the environment), five of which are particularly important on motorcycles: the visibility of motorcyclists, their compatibility with the environment, their rationality ("reasonable" behavior), their vulnerability (absence of bodywork) and the tolerance of the environment (infrastructures which more or less "forgive" road trips, falls and other slips).

"The risks run by bikers are not fair"

This conjunction of factors, which can be summed up in a triptych "driver – vehicle – environment", will moreover be taken up by most of the participants: each of the components must be taken into account in an accident situation..

INRETS in brief

Created in 1985, the National Institute for Transport and Safety Research (INRETS) is a public scientific and technological establishment (EPST), placed under the dual supervision of the ministry in charge of research and that of transport. It operates mainly in land transport but also has air and sea interfaces..

With nearly 500 people spread across 18 research units (Villeneuve d’Ascq, Arcueil, Versailles-Satory, Bron, Lyon-Satolas, Marseille and Salon-de-Provence), its missions are "bring together and develop scientific knowledge through a global approach to the transport system, provide expertise and advice, contribute to the general effort of higher education, promote research results in the context of economic partnerships and disseminate knowledge acquired from a large audience".

It appears in particular, according to studies carried out by Mr. Elvik in Norway, that the accident rate for bikers is not higher than that of motorists, but that only their lack of protection explains the higher proportion of victims: risk of being injured in an accident is much higher in two-wheelers than in a car, but the risks of having an accident would be about the same on a motorcycle and in a car.

"There is no evidence that bikers behave less responsibly than other categories of riders", says Mr. Elvik:"on the contrary, they wear a helmet, protective clothing, drive with the lights on, are subject to power restrictions, are increasingly equipped with anti-lock braking systems and often have to go through gradual permits".

"In most collisions, it is not the rider who is responsible but another category of users", notes the researcher again before concluding that the risk is therefore"inequitable and unfair as it relates to the vulnerability of the rider".

A "completely wrong" Zero Vision

Mr. Elvik did not hesitate to wring his neck out "totalitarians"from the Vision Zero project (read and), which notably plans to limit the speed to 30 km / h in areas where there are pedestrians, 50 km / h at crossroads and 70 km / h on roads where there may be a head-on collision between two vehicles.

"It’s a completely wrong view", he lamented:"we only take into account the speed and not the mass of the vehicle, which is however very favorable with regard to motorcycles. We can easily imagine the consequences of a frontal collision between a truck and a motorcycle traveling at 70 km / h !"

Finally, Mr. Elvik took the opportunity to recall that he had never wished to ban motorcycles, but that his words had simply been distorted by a tabloid newspaper in which he demonstrated the absurdity of the Zero Vision project which, s’ he wanted to follow his logic to the end, should set a maximum speed of 15/20 km / h on all types of tracks, or simply ban two-wheelers … "It is the role of researchers to warn society against the disastrous consequences of this type of totalitarian ideology.", concluded Rune Elvik before giving way to first responders.

Hopefully this work – to be discovered in detail on Site soon – will finally allow government policies to evolve in a way that is a little less binary than the endless "speed = danger" equation … To be continued, stay tuned !

Eric MICHEL

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