Rider’s Perspective Survey

doe-speed-ad
The Rider’s Perspective Survey has now finished and a full report will be published!

Many thanks to all those who took part!

What’s Your Opinion?

At Right To Ride we have put together an online survey to gauge the views of riders about the potential dangers that they face on the roads as well as their opinions about two motorcycle safety campaign videos which have been put out by the Department of the Environment in Northern Ireland.

Why the survey

The Northern Ireland Department of the Environment (DOE) through its “Share The Road To Zero” road safety initiative, recently launched a motorcyclist safety campaign with two videos.

These are being shown on local TV and in cinemas in Northern Ireland as well as on social media.

According to the DOE the campaign has two key messages:

The first, “Bike Speed” urges bikers to think about the emotional wreckage they will leave behind if they feel the need to speed.

The core message to motorcyclists in this video is “It’s not just you who crashes.”

riders-survey-250The second, “Biker Aware”, aims to encourage drivers to pay attention, to take another look, to show consideration, to look really closely with road collision scenarios showing what we assume are fatal collisions.

The core message in this video to drivers is “Take another look”.

Police Service Northern Ireland (PSNI) Assistant Chief Constable Alan Todd comments:
“Northern Ireland has a big biking culture and thousands of people regularly enjoy freedom that a motorbike, scooter or moped offers. We want them to be able to continue that safely” (…). With brighter evenings, we are also particularly mindful of more motorcyclists taking to the roads, so we’re encouraging Bikers to ensure their motorcycles and safety equipment are in good working order, that they ride defensively and that if they haven’t already done so, consider booking an assessment session on our Bikesafe programme. In addition, all road users need to be conscious of greater numbers of motorcyclists using the road network.”

Comments About The Videos

Although we realise that these videos are only one step in delivering a strategy for Motorcycle Safety in Northern Ireland, we sincerely hope that our survey will encourage those responsible for these campaigns to take into consideration and actually listen to the views of riders.

After all, it’s our life, our motorcycle, our destiny.

Please take the time – it should only be about 15 to 20 minutes – to complete the survey, so that we can demonstrate that we, the riders are in full control.

The Rider’s Perspective Survey can be found at – Click Here

Links Information

The survey is anonymous, it does not ask who you are or where you live or any other personal identifying details.
We only want the views of riders who live in the United Kingdom: Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England, Isle of Man, Channel Islands etc.
No question is mandatory – if you don’t want to answer a question – leave it blank.
Although the more questions you answer, the more information available to find out what’s happening out there.
The time it will take to answer all questions, depends on how much you wish to write, but it shouldn’t take more than 15 to 20 minutes of your time.
The Rider’s Perspective Survey has now finished and a full report will be published!
Many thanks to all those who took part!

Bike Speed

Biker Aware

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  1. OK…. here goes… obviously we,re being told and shown that we are very easily missed in a drivers sightlines at road junctions etc…. in my opinion as a qualified motorcycle instructor there are 2 very important messages for all of us as motorcyclists…. Never trust that any driver has spotted you approaching (always use our position to optimise their view of us). Training is good for all of us hi vis…. position…. speed…. observation on our approach to and riding through bends…. (can we stop well within the distance we can see to be clear ahead)
    KEEP SAFE………RIDESAFE……..WE NEVER KNOW IT ALL!!!!

  2. I rode the street in the US on bikes for several years and raced motorcycles professionally for several years. My street riding was before helmet laws, head light on laws and before expressways. I fell off every way one can fall off, (crash) But I never got tangled up with an automobile. Most of the fatal bike accidents in the US are collisions with cars. And most of those were the automobile driver pulling out in front of a bike or turning in front of a bike.
    Early in my riding I made it a habit to always assume that a car that was approaching a stop sign or red light was not going to stop for some reason so I would either slow down or speed up so that we didn’t get to an intersection at the same time. This policy saved my life many times as I seen over the years when a car driver would stop at a stop sign and look right at me and pull out anyway. The reason was that he seen me but in his mind I didn’t register as a motor vehicle, I was a post beside the road as far as his mind recorded it. Thus the head light law which cut down a lot on bike deaths. Any bike rider who has ridden on the street for several years learns “Defensive Driving”.

  3. Bob Craven says

    A common mistake is to believe that the driver has seen you because is actually looking at you. ie eye to eye contact. never trust that alone, watch what his arms are doing, look at his wheels. are they beginning to turn , are his wheels being turned at all. is his silhouette, that of his car moving forward or back against its background. [t might be moving back if on a slight incline and he has slid back a bit before moving forwards.]
    Some also advocate the motorcyclist do the swerve manoeuvre, that’s rolling from side to side whilst approaching [ looking like a drunken idiot] This apparently breaks your silhouette from your background and brings the drivers attention to his sight line.
    Never ever presume that you have been seen. in bright sunlight as an example no amount of lighting of day glo will make you more apparent than the sun which is behind you so if you are casting a long shadow to the front remember the sun is directly behind you and in the eyes of a driver you are approaching. Funny they keep their windscreen clear but have dirty door windows, closed and do not turn the swivelling visor to the side in order to protect their eyes from direct sunlight… if they did it would make any approaching vehicle much safer.
    If a driver stops at a nearside junction and could set off before you get there but doesnt and is looking directly at you, again act with caution, mitigate or reduce the risk of accident by lowering your speed, dropping gears, moving position etc. Once past him and the possible danger give him an acknowledgement in thanks for his consideration. This goes a long way to encourage that sort of courtesy and something we can all do with more of. I am forever thanking other road users for their consideration and I think that it is has a positive effect particularly on an attitude toward motorcyclists
    BEWARE T JUNCTIONS. as I have experienced some 25% of drivers actually look the wrong way ie. left, first and then when all is clear look my away to their right as they are coming out of the junction and remember unfortunately most junctions are only governed with GIVE WAY signs and broken white lines so all vehicles can press out of tem and are not required to STOP at them. I USDUALLY SOUND MY HORN WHILST I AM SLOWING. just to get their attention back to me.

  4. Not only do idiot drivers pull out from side roads in front of motorcycles.
    I was on a bus yesterday and a car pulled out in front of it!
    The driver looked at the bus before he pulled out.
    If they can’t see a bus what chance do we stand!

  5. Three simple rules:
    1) Don’t assume they’ve seen you.
    2) Don’t assume that even if they *have* seen you, they’ll respect your Right of Way.
    3) Do assume they’ll do something stupid that will kill you unless you get out of their way.
    It’s not how it should be, but it’s how it is 🙁

  6. Keith Kintrea says

    I very much like the idea of advising drivers to look out for motorcyclists. Positioning is really important but in the cases of the the mini emerging from the side road and of the old fellow opening his door the motorcyclist should also have used his horn to warn of his/her approach. The motorcyclist’s speed also appeared to be too high for conditions (narrow gap, suburban road) in the door opening case.

    • bob craven says

      Its amazing how a simple comment can be made that puts it in a nutshell. The motorcyclists appears to be going to fast as that is exactly what one can expect from a driver.to say..he was going to fast. On the other hand a driver can see a motorcyclists approaching but apparently cannot judge the speed as there is little or no looming effect. [ getting bigger] so we cant win whichever way we are.
      But its right that we can sound a horn and that is very under rated. so books say that its aggressive I don’t think so. when one sees a car at a junction its the beginning of a long processes. we approach We slow. We keep our eye on them, glancing from time to time of any other danger, whats approaching ? is that carriageway free? possibly ?. slow even more and move out veer or swerve to the outside line to give greater distance of travel if the car drives out. A look at the drivers eyes are they looking at us, is he starting to move, has he seen us? are the car wheels moving.? is the car breaking against its background,? Are we to fast ? should we slow.? if not looking at our direction should i sound my horn ?slow even more.? all these things and more are flashing through our minds.
      Hopefully we come out the other end .He hasnt moved, he nodded his head as he had seen us, He has given us space and not put us in any peril . So we raise our hand as a thank you and hope that he will do the same again……, give consideration to anoiher motorcyclist.
      On we go enjoying the road.

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