Introduction

This Phase 2 report provides a summary of further road trial investigations conducted during the motorcycle seasons of 2023, 2024 and 2025. Research findings are presented, and the reader is signposted to more in-depth analyses contained in scientific journal papers that have been peer-reviewed by the academic community and published during the course of the work.

The practical aim of Project PRIME was to inform road safety engineering measures and reduce motorcycle casualties through the installation of novel road markings designed as ‘Perceptual Rider Information to Maximise Expertise/Enjoyment’ (PRIMEs).

Project PRIME: Phase 1 demonstrated that innovative ‘PRIME’ road markings produced positive changes in rider behaviour that underpin keeping motorcyclists safe on Scotland’s roads. The success of this work, supported by the Road Safety Trust, showcased Scotland as a world leader in motorcycle casualty reduction. In Phase 1, data from 32,213 motorcyclists were collected between 2020 to 2022 from 22 trial sites and two comparison sites making this a ground-breaking piece of work and the largest study of its kind. Throughout Phase 1 the trial sites had been brought up to the highest standard through road engineering works. This provided an opportunity to investigate PRIMEs without extraneous variables affecting rider behaviour. The results provided strong evidence of statistically significant behaviour change when PRIMEs were installed. Behaviour change was demonstrated through reductions in speed, improved road position, reduced braking on bends and increased use of PRIME road markings.

In Phase 2 of the research, specific activities have been conducted through 2023 to 2025 to increase the impact of the findings and expand the knowledge base above and beyond Phase 1. Investigations have focused on specific research questions including the effectiveness of PRIMEs on untreated roads. This was a particular point of interest from Phase 1 as many councils and road authorities will not have resources to conduct major road engineering activities before installing PRIMEs. Also the fundamental philosophy is that PRIMEs offer a cost effective and low intrusion behaviour change tool for reducing motorcycle casualties. In addition, through the rest of Phase 2 right-hand bends and the potential to reduce speed more than has been previously observed were investigated as specific research questions each year.

These investigations are pertinent to the wider implementation of PRIMEs for motorcycle casualty reduction across the UK and further afield. More specifically, a key focus of Phase 2 has been to develop knowledge and understanding of site characteristics that influence the success of PRIMEs. With this knowledge insights may be developed about bends which may or may not benefit from the installation of PRIMEs.

This is a new and innovative approach to casualty reduction that sets out to ‘prime’ behaviour through the use of dedicated road markings for motorcyclists. The road markings have been designed to provide a tool for motorcyclists to adapt their behaviour on approach to a potential hazard therefore optimising their expertise and enjoyment while remaining safe on the road.

Transport Scotland recently published its ‘Road Safety Framework to 2030′ with a long-term goal for road safety where no-one dies or is seriously injured by 2050 (Transport Scotland, 2021). Building on the strength of the previous 2020 Framework, it proposes a ‘Safe Systems’ approach to road safety delivery as set out in the National Transport Strategy Delivery Plan (Transport Scotland, 2020). This will be achieved by developing a more forgiving road system that addresses human vulnerability and fallibility to prevent deaths and serious injuries.

In support of this mission and the research aim, specific objectives have been identified:

• to inform road safety treatments for motorcyclists and reduce motorcycle casualties
• to support rider training and road user education initiatives, encouraging motorcyclists and other road users to consider motorcycling as a wider reaching activity
• to feed into rider information initiatives already developed to support Transport Scotland’s and the Scottish Government’s work in this area (e.g. ‘LiveFastDieOld’

Throughout this work a key focus was the need to implement safety measures that can reduce motorcycle casualties and reach out to and engage with, the motorcycling community.

Underpinning this philosophy was the understanding that for engineering measures to be effective, they need to be evidence-based, located where they are most likely to make a difference and developed from the motorcyclist’s perspective (Stedmon, McKenzie, Langham, McKechnie, Perry and Wilson, 2021, 2022).

The knowledge that is being developed in Project PRIME has implications for road safety, casualty reduction and education initiatives around Scotland, the UK and at international levels. The project team have had meetings with professionals from around the UK including the other devolved administrations (Wales and Northern Ireland) and elsewhere in Europe via the Confederation of European Directors of Roads (CEDR), Hungary, South Africa and Australia