EMAIL
3.1.2 Size of motorcycle silhouette
3.2.1 Voluntary use of conspicuity measures
3.2.2. Compulsory use of conspicuity measures
3.2.3 Australian Design Rule for daytime running lights
Measures to improve the visibility of motorcycles during the day can target between 5% and 10% of all motorcycle casualty collisions in Victoria. In about 2% of these accidents the vehicles approached each other from opposite directions and, therefore, a daytime running light could have improved conspicuity. In the other 3% to 8% of these accidents, the vehicles approached each other from the side so that colour and fluorescence may have improved visibility. Therefore, the Committee is of the opinion that all practical measures which increase motorcycle visibility should be pursued.
Conspicuity can be improved by two strategies:
1. Selecting the type of measure which is recommended, that is daytime running lights, motorcycle colours, including fluorescence, or modifications and rider clothing; and
2. Voluntary or compulsory implementation procedures.
There are three basic choices to be made in recommending measures to improve motorcycle conspicuity: brighter colours, daytime running lights or increased size. The Committee does not consider these measures are mutually exclusive.
The colour of the motorcycle and its rider can be used to improve conspicuity. Its effectiveness depends on the contrast between the motorcycle and its background. It is particularly useful to improve detection of a motorcycle approaching at an angle or in combination with measures which increase the size of a motorcycle's frontal silhouette.
Fluorescent yellow-orange and plain yellow materials are detected faster and further away than other colours, depending on the weather. On clear sunny days white is useful. On overcast days, fluorescent red-yellow is better. Black has no effect on motorcycle visibility.
Similarly, drivers respond more quickly and accept longer safety gaps in the traffic when motorcycle riders wear red and/or fluorescent jackets than when they see low beam headlamps, larger fairings or no extra conspicuity equipment. However, coloured helmets have no effect.
Therefore, the Committee is of the view that measures which encourage motorcycle riders to use yellow, white, red and fluorescent clothing and motorcycles should be encouraged.
3.1.2 Size of motorcycle silhouette
Motorcycle riders and car drivers agree that the main problem is their small size and their infrequency in the traffic population. Consequently, motorcycles fail to be noticed by drivers of other vehicles and size is one of the most important factors influencing detectability.
Size is important for four reasons:
1. Motorcycles' small size increases the likelihood that motorcycles will be obscured by traffic and their detection may rely on their being seen in a gap a long distance away;
2. Some experts say that other road users become conditioned to respond more to the visual cues provided by other vehicles than those of motorcycles because of their greater size and frequency on the road;
3. At a distance, motorcycles are similar to pedestrians or bicycles except for their speed. Thus other road users may not always be able to discriminate between them at long distances; and
4. Motorcycles' visual size can be enlarged by fairings but this effect must be balanced by the coinciding diminishing silhouette of the rider.
Daytime running lights are effective in drawing other drivers' attention to motorcycles because they increase the contrast between the motorcycle and the background against which he or she is viewed.
Daytime running lights can only be expected to influence whether the motorcycle is detected by other motorists when it approaches at an angle within 30 degrees of the driver's central vision.
FIGURE 1: Effect of Daytime Running Lights on Detection of Motorcycles Approaching at Different Angles
Research undertaken by the Transport and Road Research Laboratory in England demonstrated that two lamps and lamps over 180mm diameter have greater influence than single or smaller lamps.
Recent American studies have demonstrated that, at ambient light intensities equivalent to dawn and dusk in Australia, detection distance and time, noticeability and the size of gaps between vehicles which are accepted by other drivers, are improved by daytime running lights over 1 600cd. These studies did not demonstrate any effect when the ambient light intensity is equivalent to full daylight in Australia. Australian Design Rule 19/01 specifies light intensities between zero and 1 200cd which means that it cannot influence motorcycle conspicuity during the day and is unlikely to have any effect at dawn and dusk.
The Committee could find no evidence to demonstrate that lights have a significant effect on the accuracy with which other drivers can judge the speed of approaching motorcycles.
Therefore, the Committee considers that any Australian specifications for daytime running lights should take note of this most recent research data, and should specify a minimum intensity of 1 600cd for two lamps of greater than 180mm diameter.
In general, the effects of size, colour and lights on perceived visibility of a motorcycle approaching within a drivers' central vision are additive. These collective effects are not generally observed when motorcycles approach at greater than 30 degree angles.
When vehicles approach each other from adjacent directions, colour is more likely to improve conspicuity. When vehicles approach each other from opposite directions, lights and fairings are more likely to improve visibility. The frequency of motorcycle accidents involving vehicles which approach each other from these two directions is similar.
The Committee heard extensive evidence and received many submissions from the motorcycle rider community in favour of voluntary measures which increase visibility of motorcycles.
3.2.1 Voluntary use of conspicuity measures
Australian motorcycle riders are more likely than those in other countries to use all types of conspicuous equipment. For example, about 60% of motorcycle riders in Victoria voluntarily use daytime running lights during fine weather conditions compared with about 28% in England.
Fewer motorcycle riders use coloured clothing than daytime running lights and the frequency of this use is similar to other countries. Use of conspicuity equipment is consistently related to light intensity, weather, visibility and road conditions. This means that use is highest at times when it is likely to have most effect.
There is evidence that the voluntary use of coloured and fluorescent clothing and daytime running lights can be increased by publicity campaigns though their effect wears off after about 9 months. Further, surveys suggest that motorcycle riders are not opposed to selective use of daytime running lights or, to a lesser degree, brightly coloured clothing.
VicRoads has been involved in this type of promotion since its "Visibility, It's Vital" campaign in 1977. However, motorcycle riders feel excluded from the forums in which relevant policy is decided. Mr. Damien Codognotto, President, Motorcycle Riders Association of Australia, said in evidence before the Committee:
When we say, 'We are the experts, we are alive after twenty years, we know what is going on in today's traffic, you don't, please let us have representation or consultation at the highest level' they simply won't do it.
Therefore, while the Committee supports these VicRoads' initiatives and notes their contribution to motorcycle safety, it emphasises the importance of consultation with user groups who will be most influenced by them.
3.2.2. Compulsory use of conspicuity measures
Compulsory daytime running lights can be taken to mean:
1. a legislative requirement for all motorcycles to use daytime running lights;
2. hard-wiring of new motorcycles; or
3. hard-wiring of new motorcycles plus the retro-fitting of existing motorcycles with hard-wiring.
This report has generally not concerned itself with the issue of retro-fitting.
Historically, compulsory daytime running lights have evolved from the Scandinavian experience of changing from left-hand to right-hand drive in 1967, and low ambient light levels in rural areas in winter. They have been extended to Canada and to all seasons of the year, but proposals to extend their general use to Europe and the United States have recently been quashed on the basis of inadequate evaluation and the potential dangers of daytime running lights (see Appendix C).
Compulsory legislation requiring daytime running lights specially for motorcycles is now confined to France and 23 States of America. In 1983, the Office of Road Safety prepared a draft discussion paper in which it acknowledged that there was no statistically significant difference between these American States and those without compulsory running light legislation.
Therefore, the Committee concludes that there is insufficient evidence to justify its introduction in Victoria.
There is little reliable information about the community's real attitude to motorcycles in general and "lights on" in particular. A survey in 1986 and another in 1987, funded by the Federal Office of Road Safety, found that only 1% of Victorians considered road safety was the most important issue facing the community. A further 2% said that road safety was the second most important issue of concern to them. Another survey in 1988 asked respondents to rank in order of importance a number of specific issues. They said they considered crime and violence more important than road safety. These surveys demonstrate that road safety is not an issue worrying many people in Australian society.
Further, the community considers drink driving and speed are the factors which most often lead to road crashes. Motorcycles are not within the most frequently cited contributors to road accidents in Victoria or in the rest of Australia. When licensed drivers were specifically asked, 54% said they think motorcycles are difficult to see in daytime, while 45% denied this was a problem.
Research into motorists' attitudes to motorcyclists , suggests that drivers consider motorcycle riders are risk-takers who operate outside the usual road rules. They say that more collisions are caused by the fact that motorcycles speed and manoeuvre rather than the fact that they are hard to see.
In another survey, drivers were specifically questioned about whether they favoured compulsory motorcycle daytime running lights because they made riders more visible. Ninety-eight per cent of those surveyed said they approved of the measure because it would cost nothing and motorcycle riders would not object.
Surveys of motorcycle riders in both Australia and England indicate that they have different opinions from car drivers but that they agree with each other. Riders base their choice of vehicle on cost, enjoyment and independence in that order. They think their main safety problem is their small size and consequent failure to be noticed by and lack of threat to drivers of other vehicles and argue that car drivers who also ride motorcycles are more aware of motorcycles. They say that compulsory daytime headlight use implies that riders rather than car drivers are at fault. Moreover, compulsion does not allow motorcycle riders the discretion to use their lights in appropriate situations such as a warning.
Therefore, evidence to suggest community support for compulsory daytime running lights has been collected against a background of the general indifference of Australians to road safety and their general lack of concern about motorcycles. It also disregards the strong contrary opinion of motorcycle riders.
The Committee is therefore of the opinion that the Australian community is indifferent on the issue of compulsory motorcycle daytime running lights.
3.2.3 Australian Design Rule for daytime running lights
The Committee could not find any other country in the world where hard-wired daytime running lights are required for the registration of motorcycles alone.
In Canada, the requirement for hard-wired running lights has been extended to all road vehicles.
In the current depressed economic climate, motorcycles required to comply with Australian Design Rule 19/01 introduced in early 1992, can be expected to take until the year 2000 before they comprise 60% of all registered motorcycles (the same compliance level as is now achieved voluntarily). Even if motorcycle registrations increase immediately by 15%, 60% compliance will not be achieved until 1997. This means that there is no potential for Australian Design Rule 19/01 to have any effect on motorcycle visibility for at least six years. The rate with which new vehicles penetrate the vehicle population in Victoria has been calculated in Appendix D.
Therefore, the Committee can find no legitimate justification or precedent on which to recommend that motorcycle design requirements include hard-wired daytime running lights.
The Committee recommends that:
1. The Minister for Transport implement road safety measures to increase motorcycle conspicuity by:
a) Encouraging motorcycle riders to use yellow, white, red and fluorescent colours for their motorcycles and their clothes;
b) Recommending to the Federal Government that daytime running light specifications include a minimum intensity of 1 600cd, a minimum size of 180mm diameter and a requirement for two lights; and
c) Encouraging measures which increase the frontal or overall size of motorcycles.
2. VicRoads and the Transport Accident Commission, in consultation with the Victorian motorcycling community, plan on-going public education programmes which encourage motorcycle riders to use appropriate conspicuity measures.
3. VicRoads and the Transport Accident Commission, in consultation with the motorcycling community and motoring organisations such as the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria, develop on-going public education programmes which encourage car drivers to be aware of motorcycles.
Road Safety Committee, Parliament House, Spring Street, Melbourne, Victoria, 3002,
Australia.
Telephone +61 3 9665 6644. Facsimile +61 3 96556858.
E MAIL rsc@parliament.vic.gov.au