The prevalence of crash risk factors in a population-based study of motorcycle riders Liz de Rome a, *, Michael Fitzharris b , Matthew Baldock c , Ralston Fernandes d , Alice Ma d , Julie Brown e a Neuroscience Research Australia; School of Medical Sciences, University of New South Wales NeuRA, Margaret Ainsworth Building, Barker Street, Randwick, Sydney, NSW 2031, Australia b Regulation and In-depth Crash Investigations, Monash University Accident Research Centre, Australia c The Centre for Automotive Safety Research, University of Adelaide, Australia d NSW Centre for Road Safety, Transport for NSW, Australia e Neuroscience Research Australia; School of Medical Sciences, University of New South Wales, Australia Introduction Riders of motorcycles, including scooters, represent almost a quarter (23%) of the world’s road traffic deaths and an increasing proportion of all traffic casualties due to the rapid global expansion of the motorcycle market [29,22]. In Australia, motorcycles account for 27% of all serious road crash injuries, with 1346 serious injury admission cases per 100,000 registered vehicles compared to 134 for car occupants [3,4]. While there is extensive literature about the risk factors for motorcycle crashes and injury outcomes, little is known about the prevalence of those factors in the wider motorcycle riding population. Commonly identified crash risk factors include demo- graphics (e.g., age, gender, licensure, training and experience), behaviour (e.g., alcohol, speed, and helmet usage), vehicle (e.g., engine size and conspicuity) and environment (e.g., curves/inter- sections, surface condition and road furniture) [6,13,18,19,25]. Injury, Int. J. Care Injured xxx (2016) xxx–xxx A R T I C L E I N F O Article history: Accepted 25 March 2016 Keywords: Motorcycle Crash risk factors Prevalence Population Crash A B S T R A C T Introduction: Motorcyclists represent an increasing proportion of road traffic casualties but, while factors associated with crashes are readily identifiable, little is known about the prevalence of those risk factors in the motorcycling population. Method: A stratified random-sampling frame was used to survey the population of registered motorcycles owners in New South Wales (NSW) when they attended motor registry offices. The postal codes in the State database of registered motorcycle were used to stratify the population into quartiles based on socioeconomic characteristics and to determine sample weights. Results: Participants (n = 506) represented 47% of eligible riders approached. On average participants were aged 43, rode 7 h/week and had 17 years of riding experience. Estimates based on multiple ownership rates suggest motorcycle registration numbers exceed the active riding population by approximately 15%. Less than half rode under 101 km/week, 25% rode over 300 km/week and just 42% rode every day. More rode frequently for leisure (70%) than for commuting (53%) and over half rarely rode in dark (52%) or wet (67%) conditions. Most wore protective clothing – helmets (100%), jackets (82%), pants (56%), boots (57%) and gloves (73%). Those with traffic infringements (32%) were mostly for driving (25%), not riding (10%) offences. In the past year, 13% had one or more motorcycle crashes including minor spills and 76% one or more near-crash experiences. The youngest riders (15–19) reported the highest rates of exposure in kilometres, hours, frequency of riding and commuting. They also reported lower crash involvement (3%) but more near-crashes (80%). Conclusions: This study provides an account of the prevalence of key risk factors across age groups in a population of active motorcycle riders in NSW. Novice riders were represented in all age groups although most novices were under 40 years. These data can be used to guide the development of targeted countermeasures aimed at improving motorcycling safety for riders of different age groups. ß 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd. * Corresponding author. Tel.: +61 295199858. E-mail addresses: l.derome@neura.edu.au, liz@lderconsulting.com.au (L. de Rome). G Model JINJ-6664; No. of Pages 9 Please cite this article in press as: de Rome L, et al. The prevalence of crash risk factors in a population-basedstudy of motorcycle riders. Injury (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.injury.2016.03.033 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Injury jo ur n al ho m epag e: ww w.els evier .c om /lo cat e/inju r y http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.injury.2016.03.033 0020–1383/ß 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.