Draft Safer Journeys for Motorcycling Guide

Area of high concern

The intent of 'Safer Journeys for Motorcycling' is to address the disproportionately high crash risks associated with motorcycling in New Zealand. The statistics help to paint the picture:

• From 2006 to 2010, crashes involving motorcycles represented 12% of all road fatalities in New Zealand and 21% of all serious injury crashes.
• However, motorcycles account for only 0.75% of travel on our roads.
• The crash risk for motorcycling is estimated to be 18 to 20 times greater than that for vehicle drivers.

The Safer Journeys connection

Our vision

The vision of Safer Journeys, the government’s road safety strategy, is ’a safe road system increasingly free of death and serious injury.’

• The strategy sets out a road map for focusing effort where the greatest gains can be made. Increasing the safety of motorcycling has been identified as an area of high concern.

The Safe System approach

Safer Journeys introduces the Safe System approach towards road safety. It represents a fundamental shift in the way we think about, and act upon, road safety. It recognises that:

• People will always make mistakes and that crashes are inevitable.
• The human body has a limited capacity to withstand crash forces
• The whole system needs to be managed to make the road transport network more accommodating of human error.

This requires a shared responsibility among road controlling authorities, policy makers, motorcyclists, the vehicle industry, and central and local governments.

'Safer Journeys for Motorcycling' in a nutshell

The 'Safer Journeys for Motorcycling' guide reflects the Safe System approach. It considers motorcycling safety from the perspective of:

• safe roads and roadsides
• safe road use
• safe speed, and
• safe vehicles.

'Safer Journeys for Motorcyclists' will:

• provide guidance on the implementation of safety treatments on high-risk motorcycling routes
• reflect international best-practice, input from stakeholders, and the results of pilot projects, and
• provide advice on how to identify, assess and prioritise high-risk routes using crash data and input from riders and other key stakeholders.

The guide has been developed with input from stakeholders who represent a variety of interests and perspectives. This not only includes delivery agent NZ Transport Agency, but also key stakeholders such as MOTO NZ (Motorcyclists Own The Options), road controlling authorities, and ACC.

The safety guide is intended for all audiences interested in increasing motorcycling safety, but does focus primarily on safe roads and roadsides, and so would be of particular interest to road controlling authorities.

Our goal
While we ideally want to achieve a zero fatality rate for motorcyclists, we’ve set a goal to bring NZ into line with overseas jurisdictions which have the best safety record, such as the Australian state of Victoria.

We want to know what you think

The guide is in its early stages of development so this is a perfect time to hear from you. Please let us know by Friday, 27th January 2012:

• What is particularly good about the guide?
• What needs updating?
• What might be missing?
• How can we make this a better tool for improving motorcycling safety?

With that said, this is just the start of the conversation about motorcycling safety in New Zealand. We intend for this guide to be a dynamic document that is updated over time to reflect continued input and lessons learned.

We expect that the final version of the safety guide will be available in March 2012 after this engagement process.

How to provide feedback

This consultation closed on Friday, 27 January 2012

For More Information

• Read our Improving motorcycling safety page.
• Read our Questions and answers about the Motorcycling safety improvement project (PDF, 4 pages, 74 KB)
• Email us at motorcycle@nzta.govt.nz