Current Motorcycle Safety Campaign - Reconstruction , April 2012

This campaign communicates the speed impact relationship for a motorcyclist. Underlying this is the importance of adhering to the speed limit to reduce the severity and probability of a crash.

This campaign is about educating riders on the physics of speed and that ultimately, you cannot defeat the laws of physics no matter how experienced or skilled a rider you are. The TVC component is modelled on the Reconstruction campaign developed for car drivers in 2006 which also featured Detective Acting Senior Sergeant Peter Bellion.

The key proposition for this campaign is to successfully demonstrate the effect a small amount of speed can have on trauma outcomes.

View the Reconstruction TV commercial

Campaign development:

Speeding is a significant contributor to serious road trauma across all road user groups. Vulnerable road users such as motorcyclists are especially at risk of death or serious injury when a crash involves significant speeds. Research shows that small increases in the average travel speed can lead to substantial increases in the numbers of road users killed and seriously injured.

The TAC’s vision is to make speeding socially unacceptable just as we have with drink driving. With regards to motorcyclists, an examination by Victoria Police between May 2002 and April 2003 of a sample of fatal crashes involving motorcycles indicated that 38% of riders were exceeding the speed limit prior to the collision(1). In addition, surveys conducted by the TAC from 2009 through 2011 show that more than one in four riders self-report speeding for at least half the time that they ride. Over half of this group report speeding “all or most of the time”.⁽²⁾

Last year, 49 motorcyclists were fatally injured on our roads. 31% of which, excessive or inappropriate speed was a contributing factor.

Campaign objectives

• Reduce the number of speed related fatal motorcycle rider and pillion incidents.
• Educate motorcycle riders and pillion passengers about the impact of speed related road trauma on vulnerable road users - communicate that in the event of a collision at speed, the likelihood of a fatal injury is significant.
• Make riders aware that they can greatly reduce their chance of a crash by travelling at a speed that is within the posted speed limit and appropriate for the conditions.

View further Information on this campaign with topics covering
• About the crash scenario
• What can I do to reduce my risk of being involved in a crash?
• What else is the TAC doing in this area?
• The science and research behind the campaign
• What is the relationship between speed and crash severity?
• What are the likely injury outcomes for riders at different crash speeds?
• Why do drivers ‘look but fail to see’ motorcyclists?

View Previous Campaigns

References

(1). Victoria Police (2003). Major Collision Investigation Group (MCIG) fatal motorcycle crash study report.
(2). Transport Accident Commission. (2011). TAC motorcycle tracking survey – Wave 2 report.