Nearly half of car drivers in two-vehicle crashes with motorcycles contributed to the accident by not looking, according to a Government report published recently.

 In two-vehicle accidents involving a car and a bike, 47% if drivers contributed to the crash by failing to look, while only 16% of riders made the same mistake.

The report cites ‘failed to look properly’ as the biggest cause of crashes, contributing to 35% of all road accidents.  Exceeding the speed limit contributed to just 5% of all accidents, whilst travelling too fast for the conditions had a direct bearing on 11%.

The report, Road Casualties Great Britain 2006, also cited that road deaths for all road users fell by 1% from 2005-06, while for motorcyclists they rose by 5%.

The report is a blow to recent claims from road safety lobbyists that ‘down-sizing’ motorcycles by limiting power and speed would save ‘hundreds of deaths and thousands of serious casualties…. in quite a short time”.

The figures also seem in stark contrast to previous Government claims that speed contributes to around one-third of road accidents.

A DfT spokeswoman said that when fatal and serious accidents were looked at alone, the new report showed speed as a much bigger contributory factor.   She said exceeding the speed limit and travelling too fast for the conditions added together were a contributory factor in 29% of deaths and 20% of serious injuries.

She added: “We’re looking at educating people to prevent serious injuries and the accidents that kill someone.”  

See full report at www.motorcyclenews.com