Crash characteristics and causal factors of motorcycle fatalities in Australia

Motorcyclist fatalities contribute significantly to road trauma in Australia and continue to increase over time. Australian motorcyclists are 30 times more likely to be killed than car occupants per distance travelled. Understanding the crash characteristics and contributing causal factors of motorcyclist fatalities will assist motorcycling groups, road safety practitioners and road authorities to address motorcyclist safety, and reduce road trauma related to this group of vulnerable road users. This paper presents a case series analysis of all motorcyclist fatalities that occurred in Australia between 2001 and 2006 (inclusive). Case data for all 1,323 fatalities that occurred in this period were extracted from the Australian National Coroner?s Information System (NCIS). An examination of available police, toxicology and Coronial finding reports enabled essential information to be gathered regarding the characteristics and contributing causal factors associated with each fatal crash. A number of areas in which motorcyclist trauma may potentially be reduced are identified, and are presented within the framework of the Safe Systems approach.