OA20105. Motorcycle crashes: Europe’s biggest challenge for Vision Zero

Abstract Background The advantages of motorcycles regarding psychological, transport, economic, and environmental issues are clear compared to cars, but safety is a key issue. Vision Zero is the idea that all road traffic accidents cannot be avoided, but the loss of lives and the occurrence of severe injuries can be prevented. If the same trends continue, it is impossible to achieve zero fatalities and serious injuries on European roads by 2050. The current motorcycle road safety policies should be reviewed. In 2022, motorcyclists accounted for 16% of all road fatalities in the EU. Moped riders accounted for an additional 3%, meaning that together, powered two-wheeler riders represented almost one in five (19%) of all road deaths in the EU during that year. Motorcycle drivers are 49 times more likely to die in a crash per vehicle-kilometer than car drivers. According to this is important to analyze the trends of motorcyclist’s fatalities and injuries, and the main risk factors in order to evaluate if vision zero can be achieved in 2050. Methods Using data for population, vehicle fleet, and fatalities in Europe, trends and patterns for motorcycle safety were analyzed. Results Between 2000 and 2018, motorcycle fatalities decreased by 26% in the European Union (EU-28), compared to a 62% decrease in car fatalities and a 55% decrease in all road fatalities. Additionally, the reduction of fatalities per million inhabitants and million vehicles in circulation has been lower for motorcycles than for cars. The increase in the motorcycle fleet per million inhabitants was almost double when compared to cars. However, active safety technologies available for motorcycles are rare compared to cars. Two different clusters for motorcycle fatalities per million inhabitants’ similarities in the EU-28 were achieved with a hierarchical clustering method with dynamic time warping distance. The total number of motorcycle fatalities was related to the total population by a quasi-Poisson GAM model. Key messages • Motorcycle safety must be the priority in terms of road safety in Europe if vision zero is to be achieved. • Life is precious – ride responsibly. Topic Motorcycle safety, vision zero, injuries