Does an on-road motorcycle coaching program reduce crashes innovice riders? A randomised control trial.

Objectives: Motorcycle riding is increasing globally and confers a high risk of crash-related injury and death. There is community demand for investment in rider training programs but no high-quality evi-dence about its effectiveness in preventing crashes. This randomised trial of an on-road rider coaching program aimed to determine its effectiveness in reducing crashes in novice motorcycle riders.Methods: Between May 2010 and October 2012, 2399 newly-licensed provisional riders were recruited inVictoria, Australia and completed a telephone interview before randomisation to intervention or controlgroups. Riders in the intervention group were offered an on-road motorcycle rider coaching programwhich involved pre-program activities, 4 h riding and facilitated discussion in small groups with a riding coach. Outcome measures were collected for all participants via telephone interviews at 3 and 12 monthsafter program delivery (or equivalent for controls), and via linkage to police-recorded crash and offence data. The primary outcome was a composite measure of police-recorded and self-reported crashes; sec-ondary outcomes included traffic offences, near crashes, riding exposure, and riding behaviours andmotivations.
Results: Follow-up was 89% at 3 months and 88% at 12 months; 60% of the intervention group completedthe program. Intention-to-treat analyses conducted in 2014 indicated no effect on crash risk at 3 months (adjusted OR 0.90, 95% CI: 0.65–1.27) or 12 months (adjusted OR 1.00, 95% CI: 0.78–1.29). Riders in theintervention group reported increased riding exposure, speeding behaviours and rider confidence.
Conclusions: There was no evidence that this on-road motorcycle rider coaching program reduced the risk of crash, and we found an increase in crash-related risk factors.