Initiative details
Motorcycle crashes are different. They follow different patterns to any other mode. They have different reasons, and they are by far more difficult to address. Motorcycle riders are considered vulnerable road users, and even those who wear good protective clothing are much more exposed to risk than road users in a protective cage or moving at lower speeds. Fatalities among motorcycle users are decreasing, but at a slower rate and with a lag when compared to car drivers. Hence, their share within total traffic fatalities has increased in recent years (currently at 16% in Europe).
Motorcycles are an important solution to urban congestion, they are environmentally friendly compared to cars carrying just one person, and they are an important economic factor for tourism.
Measures in the area of education are important and can be effective but would take decades to develop their full potential. Technological measures such as ABS are very effective but are slow to penetrate the market. It is particularly difficult to convince riders to use protective equipment. In contrast, infrastructural measures offer an opportunity for immediate impact.
Motorcycles are an important solution to urban congestion, they are environmentally friendly compared to cars carrying just one person, and they are an important economic factor for tourism.
Measures in the area of education are important and can be effective but would take decades to develop their full potential. Technological measures such as ABS are very effective but are slow to penetrate the market. It is particularly difficult to convince riders to use protective equipment. In contrast, infrastructural measures offer an opportunity for immediate impact.
Initiative date
Who was/is your target audience?
Policy makers
Public authorities
Powered two wheeler riders (excluding micromobility)
Topic
Improve vehicles and infrastructure
Organisation details
KFV (Kuratorium für Verkehrssicherheit, Austrian Road Safety Board)
Association
Austria
Vienna
Contact name
Martin Winkelbauer
Telephone number
+43 5 77077 1214
martin.winkelbauer@kfv.at
Website link
Project activities
If you work together with external partners, list the most important partners and briefly describe their role.
Our main partners are local and regional authorities who either permitted or requested us to apply our methodology on their roads. Initially, these were the regional road authorities in Carinthia, Lower Austria and Burgenland. The Grossglockner Hochalpenstrassen AG, a private road operator, was the first commercial partner. The regional governments in Styria and Tyrol were the next to contract us to analyse motorcycle crashes and to apply the method where appropriate. We also supported the road authorities in Luxemburg during their version of this project; today Luxemburg has about 60 bends with special road markings applied. These have also been evaluated, bringing about similar effects.
Please describe the project activities you carried/are carrying out and the time period over which these were implemented.
Research had shown that motorcycle riders move too close to the centre line in left hand bends with poor forward visibility. Only 5% of riders were observed on a safe trajectory, i.e. without the risk of hitting an oncoming vehicle. There are few head-on collisions observed (1 in 50 motorcycle crashes) because most riders run off the road (1 in 6 motorcycle crashes). It was seen that riders prefer lean angles close to their individual limit, but rarely exceeding that limit – instead they tend to run off the road or run into guardrails whilst still on their bike.
Our aim is to prevent riders getting too close to the centre of the road on such bends. This reduces the likelihood of loss of control and/or risky evasive manoeuvres.
The premise of the whole project is that motorcycle riders are told during rider training not to ride over anything that might be slippery. It is a widespread belief that road markings are slippery, hence, we paint road markings where we do not want the riders to ride. With respect to run-off-the-road motorcycle crashes on left hand bends with low forward visibility, this is the area next to the centre line. Riders moving in that area carry their heads beyond the centre line and will, in the event of oncoming traffic, have to change their trajectory, swerve around the oncoming vehicle and get into a precarious situation
This principle was first applied in 2007 by an engineer at the road authority in Carinthia, Austria (see figure 1). The initial layout was based on W-shaped markings along the centre line. A range of other measures to reduce crashes on a specific bend had already failed, but the application of these road markings was a success. The positive effect then vanished after the markings had faded following three years of wear and tear.
Additional tasks in the framework of this project included carrying out evaluation studies (please see the following sections for description), finding project partners, data collection, data analysis, and dissemination of the results. The most recent activity (in 2023) was updating the first crash analysis and treatment phase which had taken place in 2019 in Tyrol. The retrospective analysis found a reduction of 80% crashes on the bends where special road markings were applied.
Our aim is to prevent riders getting too close to the centre of the road on such bends. This reduces the likelihood of loss of control and/or risky evasive manoeuvres.
The premise of the whole project is that motorcycle riders are told during rider training not to ride over anything that might be slippery. It is a widespread belief that road markings are slippery, hence, we paint road markings where we do not want the riders to ride. With respect to run-off-the-road motorcycle crashes on left hand bends with low forward visibility, this is the area next to the centre line. Riders moving in that area carry their heads beyond the centre line and will, in the event of oncoming traffic, have to change their trajectory, swerve around the oncoming vehicle and get into a precarious situation
This principle was first applied in 2007 by an engineer at the road authority in Carinthia, Austria (see figure 1). The initial layout was based on W-shaped markings along the centre line. A range of other measures to reduce crashes on a specific bend had already failed, but the application of these road markings was a success. The positive effect then vanished after the markings had faded following three years of wear and tear.
Additional tasks in the framework of this project included carrying out evaluation studies (please see the following sections for description), finding project partners, data collection, data analysis, and dissemination of the results. The most recent activity (in 2023) was updating the first crash analysis and treatment phase which had taken place in 2019 in Tyrol. The retrospective analysis found a reduction of 80% crashes on the bends where special road markings were applied.
In terms of implementation, what worked well and what challenges did you need to overcome?
In the initial phase, the main challenge was to convince the relevant authorities to allow us to carry out the project. These people take considerable risks, both personally in terms of reputation and organisationally in terms of damage claims.
This turned out to be much easier once the first (rather convincing) results were available. Studies were presented at the most relevant international conferences and by invitation, at locations where the measures were being considered.
From a legal perspective, it was often not clear whether these road markings could be applied at all and if so, who would be responsible for the decision. In technical terms, the choice of material used for the special road markings was a challenge, in order to avoid any crashes directly caused by the intervention and to prevent any corresponding damage claims.
For decision-makers who don’t ride motorcycles or even bicycles, it was more difficult to understand the rationale of this project. It seemed to be much easier when experienced motorcycle riders were involved in the decision-making.
This turned out to be much easier once the first (rather convincing) results were available. Studies were presented at the most relevant international conferences and by invitation, at locations where the measures were being considered.
From a legal perspective, it was often not clear whether these road markings could be applied at all and if so, who would be responsible for the decision. In technical terms, the choice of material used for the special road markings was a challenge, in order to avoid any crashes directly caused by the intervention and to prevent any corresponding damage claims.
For decision-makers who don’t ride motorcycles or even bicycles, it was more difficult to understand the rationale of this project. It seemed to be much easier when experienced motorcycle riders were involved in the decision-making.
Evaluation
Please summarise how you have evaluated the initiative’s impact (e.g. social media reach, survey, feedback forms, statistics).
The scientific evaluation of the intervention was a major part of the initiative.
There was a small study carried out solely on a small sample of bends in Carinthia in 2013, which lead to the elliptic design that is used today; it also provided some promising initial results. In the first evaluation study carried out in 2016, the elliptic design (see figure 2) and another shape was used, namely bars applied transversally to the direction of travel, continuously narrowing the space in between, suggesting a safe trajectory for motorcycle riders (see figure 3). This first evaluation study involved road markings on seven carefully selected bends in Austria and found the elliptic design to be slightly more effective. However, both designs were found to significantly change riders’ trajectories, for the most part keeping them away from the dangerous area next to the centre line (see figure 4).
In 2019, the first results in terms of crash reduction were investigated. There were 16 injury crashes among which one fatality in the 2.5 years prior to the intervention, and 7 injuries in the 2.5 years afterwards. The second evaluation study in 2020 found both shapes of markings to have similar effects, and they were even more effective than in the first study in terms of changing riders’ trajectories (see figure 5).
In 2019, the Tyrolean government commissioned a project to identify and address hot spots in terms of motorcycle crashes. 19 bends were found to be suitable for the application of special road markings. These bends were subject to another evaluation study. Whilst there had been 6.3 slight, 6.4 severe und 0.57 fatal injuries annually in the pre-intervention period, there were two slight and two severe injuries in the 2.5 year after-period. When controlling for the change of exposure during the Corona pandemic, this translated into an 80% reduction in injury crashes.
An interview survey that was carried out in the first evaluation study in 2016 indicated that riders understand the message perfectly and they perceive the intervention positively. Motorcycle riders are not an easy target group, but obviously they did not feel inconvenienced by the measure. The interviewees highlighted the self-explanatory and non-intrusive nature of the intervention.
The first appearance of the photo-shopped figure of a rider and an oncoming bus achieved hundreds of thousands of likes and tens of thousands of shares on Facebook. Google lens finds this image being used all over the globe (see figure 6).
There was a small study carried out solely on a small sample of bends in Carinthia in 2013, which lead to the elliptic design that is used today; it also provided some promising initial results. In the first evaluation study carried out in 2016, the elliptic design (see figure 2) and another shape was used, namely bars applied transversally to the direction of travel, continuously narrowing the space in between, suggesting a safe trajectory for motorcycle riders (see figure 3). This first evaluation study involved road markings on seven carefully selected bends in Austria and found the elliptic design to be slightly more effective. However, both designs were found to significantly change riders’ trajectories, for the most part keeping them away from the dangerous area next to the centre line (see figure 4).
In 2019, the first results in terms of crash reduction were investigated. There were 16 injury crashes among which one fatality in the 2.5 years prior to the intervention, and 7 injuries in the 2.5 years afterwards. The second evaluation study in 2020 found both shapes of markings to have similar effects, and they were even more effective than in the first study in terms of changing riders’ trajectories (see figure 5).
In 2019, the Tyrolean government commissioned a project to identify and address hot spots in terms of motorcycle crashes. 19 bends were found to be suitable for the application of special road markings. These bends were subject to another evaluation study. Whilst there had been 6.3 slight, 6.4 severe und 0.57 fatal injuries annually in the pre-intervention period, there were two slight and two severe injuries in the 2.5 year after-period. When controlling for the change of exposure during the Corona pandemic, this translated into an 80% reduction in injury crashes.
An interview survey that was carried out in the first evaluation study in 2016 indicated that riders understand the message perfectly and they perceive the intervention positively. Motorcycle riders are not an easy target group, but obviously they did not feel inconvenienced by the measure. The interviewees highlighted the self-explanatory and non-intrusive nature of the intervention.
The first appearance of the photo-shopped figure of a rider and an oncoming bus achieved hundreds of thousands of likes and tens of thousands of shares on Facebook. Google lens finds this image being used all over the globe (see figure 6).
What has been the effect of the activities?
In addition to the scientific investigation of effects on trajectories and injuries, a cost-benefit assessment was carried out. Roughly speaking, for the cost of a single slight injury, the special road markings can be maintained for about 100 years. Even if the most expensive and safest material for road markings is used, the material for a single bend only costs about 1,000 Euros. The whole application can be carried out by four persons (two for guiding traffic and two applying the markings) and can be completed in about one hour.
The intervention even worked well, where other measures had already unseccussfully been applied.
The intervention even worked well, where other measures had already unseccussfully been applied.
Please briefly explain why your initiative is a good example of improving road safety.
The intervention is effective and highly efficient.
It prevents crashes overall, not just injuries.
It is as effective against property-damage-only crashes.
It is self-explanatory.
It is immediately effective. Diminishing effects have not been observed, and in fact, the effects on trajectories were even stronger 3 years later than immediately after the application.
There is only a negligible risk of incorrect application.
There is already evidence that it can be applied globally, with local variations proving to be just as effective.
There is sound scientific evidence for the effect on trajectories. Significance tests for crash reduction could not yet be applied due to the low number of injuries in the after-period.
There is no need to be an expert on motorcycle safety to be able to understand why and how the intervention works (given it is properly explained).
There is strong user acceptance.
There is strong support from user representatives such as FEMA and FIM.
It prevents crashes overall, not just injuries.
It is as effective against property-damage-only crashes.
It is self-explanatory.
It is immediately effective. Diminishing effects have not been observed, and in fact, the effects on trajectories were even stronger 3 years later than immediately after the application.
There is only a negligible risk of incorrect application.
There is already evidence that it can be applied globally, with local variations proving to be just as effective.
There is sound scientific evidence for the effect on trajectories. Significance tests for crash reduction could not yet be applied due to the low number of injuries in the after-period.
There is no need to be an expert on motorcycle safety to be able to understand why and how the intervention works (given it is properly explained).
There is strong user acceptance.
There is strong support from user representatives such as FEMA and FIM.
How have you shared information about your project and its results?
The scientific results were presented at several international scientific events, such as the ifz Motorcycle Conference in Cologne (2018 and 2022) and more recently at the First International Motorcycle Road Safety Conference in Zaragoza. The success of the measure has also led to invitations to speak at other events.
Supporting materials
