|
Responses To The Consultation
As already mentioned we received no feedback from within Northern Ireland, however we circulated the consultation to a wider audience across Europe, below are some of the comments we received.
Link to consultation page Click Here
Comment 1
It seems a solid and easy to read document. Easy understandable, what actually it should be in order to be read by the riders and not only. Well done.
I miss an abbreviation list. e.g. You write in the text about “KSI”. I know what it is, but I don’t think that everyone knows what it means.
Page 3: Road safety has become a priority within the UK and targets set by the European Union drive policy for national governments and local authorities. While the objective to reduce road casualties is honourable and important, the whole business of safety has become an industry which has taken on a life of its own. The measures and solutions that are put on the table are not necessarily the right ones because of the vested interests of the various stakeholders.
I understand more or less what you mean, however it sounds not fair for some people who really care to reduce accidents. You should consider to reformulating this sentence in a more “mild” way.
Page 3: The focus is on the machine, not on the rider, but, human behaviour is recognised as the greatest cause of road casualties.
The motorcycle industry maintains that the market drives production and continues to advertise power, speed and a racetrack image of motorcycling.
What makes you to believe that? Are there evidences to base on your opinion? My research experience (MAIDS, SafetyNET, 2-Be-Safe, Trace) gave me another impression: the rider was one of the most important parameter under investigation.
Page 4: The design of motorcycles has made them increasingly more specialised and for some categories, they generally reflect a greater emphasis on safety. However, certain motorcycles are manufactured with race tracks in mind which can create problems both in terms of injuries and attitude.
The motorcycle doesn’t cause any problem, the rider does! Don’t forget that naked hyper bikes’ riders also cause problems with stands, etc. I think you should reconsider the relation between PTW design and improper riding behaviour. It sounds like a kind of PTW “discrimination”.
Page 10: Land given over to car parking space can be used more efficiently, providing a sustainable alternative to cars in many aspects of modern life and this (less cars) can have a positive impact on safety and the environment.
Less cars means more bikes, doesn’t it? More bikes on the road will cause more accidents (proportionally). How do you consider the positive impact on Safety?
Page 21: Driver Awareness
There has to be an extra bullet point there: “MC driving speed”.
We (deleted to remove identity of the writer) concluded that the MC speed was a contributing factor for the perception failure of the Other Vehicle driver in many cases. Of course, it is not a pleasant parameter to report in this document, however I have to mention it to you.
Typically sports bike riders - and what is called the 'Weekend Warrior' - are a major problem for motorcycling, not only in terms of image i.e. sports bikes emulating the sound of a race bike and attitude but also in terms of injuries and death.
I checked the MAIDS data (see MAIDS report) and the sport bikes are slightly over represented in terms of accidents like other MC types. Do you have any official data to proven your statement?
Page 24: Single vehicle crashes
You should add here the elevation of bridge tarmac at the point that the concrete plates are connected to each other. The situation is dangerous when you ride on an entrance/exit ramp in a corner and the front fork has to handle this unexpected loss of grip.
Page 39 (end) - (Beginning) Page 40:
It seems to me a separate section which deals with the accidents causes. Now it is a mix of DRL (Daytime Running Lights) and general accident statistics.
Should you not include some more specific to North Ireland accident data somewhere in the document?
Page 49: The quality of motorcycles in terms of emissions is far better than cars simply because of size, but also the lower consumption of petrol means that cost savings for owners and lower pollution levels for government can be considerable.
This is true, but don’t forget that environmentalists and car industry argue that MC combustion engines pollute far more than car engines. Some simple reasons are the catalyst, carburetted engines.
Comment 2
What can I say?
This is bloody good work! Congratulations!
It will without doubt make an impression on the receivers.
Please keep me posted on the development.
It's the first time I have the opportunity to witness an organisation (or company) like yours come into being and to follow its development.
Exciting!
Comment 3
Thank you for keeping me informed of your new activities.
I already had a look to your web site which I found very interesting and really well done (congratulations). I also found a number of info and links that I forwarded to my colleagues for information.
I will circulate it among my colleagues and other stakeholders, and will let you know their reactions.
Comment 4
Thanks a lot for sending me the link to the webpage!
It is enjoyable reading the paper, a fantastic document and I will probably come back with some comments.
Comment 5
I have read your "little document" and it is f*** brilliant!
It is so well structured and the layout is excellent!
|
