Europe’s Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers (ACEM) staged its 12th annual conference in Brussels in September. Delayed from earlier in the year because of the security issues in the Belgian capital, the focus this year was safety as ACEM presented its “Safe ride to the future” report on the motorcycle industry’s commitment to road safety …
Some 150 motorcycle industry professionals and media gathered in Brussels in September for a 12th annual ACEM conference that focussed on setting safety priorities for the motorcycle industry. As the European Commission moves ahead with the brief it was given by the Council of Ministers some years ago (to explore ways to reduce unacceptably high road traffic accident fatalities) there has always been a risk that motorcycles could be interpreted as being part of the problem.
The poorly researched and misunderstood role of motorcyclists in a disproportionately high number of fatal road traffic accidents could have been misinterpreted with stark implications for the industry and its customers.
In recent years, however, motorcycle manufacturers, industry and rider’s rights organisations have worked hard to create a pro-active relationship with the EU and sought to embrace the safety improvements that could be made.
The Conference audience included policy and regulatory planning representatives from the European Parliament, various of the European Commission departments with transport policy competence, and institutions and motorcycling organisations from around Europe and further afield.
ACEM has produced further data from the OECD’s IRTAD that shows that on a more recent basis (2010 - 2014) the number of fatal PTW accidents in Europe decreased from 5,276 in 2010 to 4,262 in 2014, a reduction of 19.2%.
An analysis by segments shows that fatal motorcycle accidents went down by 17.3%, whilst the number of moped fatal accidents went down by almost 36.2%. All this takes place parallel to the steady growth of the powered two-wheeler fleet across Europe (+5.9% between 2010 and 2014).
The conference heard that the motorcycle industry has played a key role in this. Continuous improvements in safety features, including advanced motorcycle design, new intelligent features and new braking, lighting and suspension systems have been instrumental to increase motorcycling safety.
Various road safety and training campaigns, often led by the motorcycle industry, have also made significant safety contributions.
ACEM says that its members are currently working to further improve road safety by deploying Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) on powered two-wheelers in Europe. As part of this process, in March 2014 ACEM members adopted a Memorandum of Understanding on ITS.
By signing this Memorandum, the motorcycle industry agreed to initiate the deployment of safety relevant cooperative ITS on powered two-wheelers in Europe and committed to have at least one of their models available for sale with a cooperative ITS, either as standard equipment or as optional equipment, by 2020.
ACEM members are currently conducting research on an embedded eCall system for motorcycles. The minimum technical requirements needed for such a system have already been defined and research activities are ongoing in order to address the unsolved technical challenges.
Furthermore, building on the Memorandum of Understanding on ITS as well as on the work of the Car2Car Communication Consortium, three ACEM manufacturers launched in October 2015 the Connected Motorcycle Consortium, a platform open to members in the motorcycle and automotive industry to carry out joint R&D activities in the field of C-ITS.
The motorcycle industry is also taking the lead in the promotion of motorcycle training. In order to help powered two-wheeler users make informed decisions about their training, ACEM and the German Road Safety Council have joined forces to start promoting high quality post-license training schemes across the EU through a European Training Quality Label.
Other similar quality labels are currently being developed in the EU. Along with the European Training Quality Label, these schemes will help to increase the visibility of the best training programmes available and pave the way towards more uniform quality standards for training in Europe.
Strengthening co-operation between key stakeholders will also make a positive difference for motorcyclists across the EU. For this reason, ACEM organised, in close cooperation with industry associations and other key stakeholders, five motorcycling safety events in Warsaw (May), Athens (June), Milan (September), Madrid (November) and Paris (December).
These exchanges are paving the way for new actions that complement European policies and long-term strategic goals and that better reflect the specific national road safety contexts.
The motorcycle industry has also taken the lead on road safety campaigns and promoted pre- and post-license training among users. This effort has been instrumental in substantially reducing the number of fatal accidents involving PTW users in the EU.
Although the decrease in the number of fatal accidents is encouraging, it should not be a reason for complacency. ACEM believes that the number of fatalities amongst powered two-wheeler users can, and must, be further reduced. The industry is also a firm supporter of the EU Commission’s policy objective of halving the overall number of road deaths in the EU by 2020, which began in 2010.
However, technology and innovation can only ever be one part of the integrated approach that is required to responsibly address the issue of road safety.
A genuine integrated approach to road safety should also incorporate human behaviour and infrastructure. Industry-led initiatives must be complemented by decisive public action. Decision makers should address strategic policy areas including enforcement of road traffic rules, riders’ behaviour on the road and infrastructure design and maintenance. These areas should be addressed through inclusive policy plans at local, regional and national levels.
The most sustainable route to safer motorcycling lies within taking a comprehensive approach to safety policy and practice, based on a ‘shared responsibility’ approach and through exploring proper linkage with ‘command’ transport policy. Instead of public authorities approaching motorcycling issues via thinking such as “what do we do about the motorcycle safety problem?”, a new approach should be pursued. This will be based around the attitude of: “Motorcycling carries many socio-economic benefits and is an opportunity to offer the public a further alternative to the car for commuting. What do we need to do to support motorcycling, decrease casualties and reduce rider vulnerability?”
In order to realise this and ensure that safety is managed with an even hand and on a level playing field, the first and most important step is to recognise motorcycling’s place within society and the overall transport system. Indeed, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) firmly stated this key point in their primary recommendations from the 2008 Lillehammer safety conference. Similar conclusions were reached at an event organised by the International Motorcycle Manufacturers’ Association during the International Transport Forum in May 2014.
The new ACEM “Safe ride to the future” report sets out five primary analytics:
• An overview of the most significant industry-led initiatives in the field of road safety (e.g. key safety technology developments, advocacy actions, “accidentology” research).
• A look into the future of motorcycling – exploring the industry’s vision of intelligent transport systems and includes the memorandum of understanding agreed upon by ACEM members, which commits industry players to equip new vehicles with ITS features.
• An explanation as to why ACEM believes there is an urgent need for tailored policy interventions at the national level and outlines upcoming industry initiatives in this area.
• The previously mentioned European Training Quality Label, an initiative that aims at promoting high quality post-license training schemes.
• Finally, the report makes concrete policy recommendations to national and European decision-makers to improve road safety outcomes for motorcyclists across Europe.
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Safety in Numbers
From 2000-2014 the number of fatal accidents involving PTWs in Europe declined by
-44 percent from 7,612 to 4,262.
From 2010-2014 the number of PTW riders killed in Europe decreased from 5,276 to 4,262 - a reduction of -19.2 percent.
Between 2010 and 2014 the “motorcycle fleet” in Europe increased by +5.9 percent.
Between 2010 and 2014 the number of fatal moped accidents in Europe went down by -36.2 percent.
March 2014 – ACEM members adopt the Memorandum of Understanding on Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS).
Manufacturers will offer at least one model with ITS as standard or optional equipment by 2020.
October 2015 – ACEM members (Honda, Yamaha and BMW) launch the Connected Motorcycle Consortium (CMC).
September 2016 – ACEM launches the European Training Quality Label.
In 2010 the EU Commission embarked on a policy to see the overall number of road deaths halved by 2020.
The motorcycle industry supports some 165,300 jobs in the EU and an aggregated turnover of € 27 billion.
