Motorcycle casualties and the scale of the problem

Around the world motorcyclists are grossly over-represented in road traffic collision statistics (de Moraes, Godin, Dos Reis, Belloti and Bhandari, 2014; Ozkan, Lajunen, Dogruyol, Yıldırım and Coymak, 2012; Vanlaar, Hing, Brown, McAteer, Crain and McFaull, 2016, Transport Scotland, 2021).

Typically, motorcyclists are around 51 times more likely to be killed on the road than car drivers (Crundall, Stedmon, Crundall, and Saikayasit, 2014; Department for Transport, 2019, Transport Scotland 2020). These statistics highlight motorcyclists as one of the most vulnerable road user groups on public roads.

In Great Britain, motorcyclists typically represent less than 1% of the total vehicle miles on roads, but account for 21% of all road fatalities (Department for Transport, 2019). In Scotland, motorcyclists represent only 2.2% of all registered vehicles but account for 14% of all Killed or Seriously Injured (KSI) casualties (Transport Scotland, 2020).

Latest published figures for Scotland indicate that there were 446 motorcycle casualties in 2024. This represented a decrease of 7% of whom 274 (61%) suffered serious injuries and 31 died. However, this was an increase of four fatalities from 2023 (Transport Scotland 2025). Within Great Britain as a whole there were 340 motorcycle fatalities in 2024 compared with 315 in 2023, an increase of 25 (Department for Transport, 2024).

This supports previous evidence that 65% of motorcycle fatalities occur in rural areas (Department for Transport, 2009). Most incidents tend to occur on rural roads at weekends which are popular times for recreational motorcyclists to be riding (Transport Scotland 2020).

In many incidents, only the motorcyclist is involved and the causes are attributed to a poor turn or manoeuvre, exceeding the speed limit, loss of control, travelling too fast for the conditions or sudden braking (Department for Transport 2021).

With many casualties occurring on bends, there is evidence that collisions are more likely to happen on sharp bends than on gentle bends (Bissell, Pilkington, Mason and Woods, 1982; Gibreel, Easa, Hassan and El-Dimeery, 1999; Walmsley, Summersgill and Binch, 1998). In these situations, the motorcyclist tends to ‘run wide’ across the centre of the road making them vulnerable to oncoming traffic, hard vegetation or roadside furniture (Stedmon, McKenzie, Langham, McKechnie, Perry and Wilson, 2021). Other reasons for running wide can include a change of line once already negotiating the bend; typically to avoid potholes, debris/loose material on the road and/or slippery tar bleed patches. Straying livestock, pedestrians or cyclists, or vehicles emerging from concealed driveways can also prompt an unexpected change in road position.

Furthermore, where riders ride on the left-hand side of the road, research indicates that left-hand bends are more dangerous than right-hand bends (Stewart, 1977; Stewart and Cudworth, 1990). This is thought to be due to a greater difficultly in perceiving road curvature when riding on the inside lane of a bend, and problems with maintaining optimum viewpoints, judging correct vanishing points and/or conflicts with identifying safe braking distances (Crundall, Crundall and Stedmon, 2012; Hirsch, Moore, Stedmon, Mackie, and Scott, 2017; Hirsch, Scott, Mackie, Stedmon and Moore, 2018).