Greg Winfree, JD, company director of the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI), and eager motorcyclist himself, communicates his ardour for retaining two-wheeled highway customers protected and offers some perception in some groundbreaking security initiatives underway a TTI
When individuals hear the time period susceptible highway customers (VRUs), pedestrians or bicyclists typically first come to thoughts. However motorcyclists fall into that class too. And but people can have a blind spot—or a straight-up prejudice—with regards to motorcyclists.
It’s considerably comprehensible. In operate, bikes intently resemble four-wheeled automobiles. Riders must be licensed, for instance, they usually journey at freeway speeds. Not like drivers, nevertheless, motorcyclists aren’t surrounded by a cage designed to attenuate damage and keep away from demise in a crash. However recognizing riders’ vulnerability goes past these points. There’s a extra insidious, cultural bias at work right here too; one shared, sarcastically, by the motorcyclists themselves.
In the remainder of the world, two-wheeled mobility is seen as one resolution (by congestion mitigation and affordability) to a bigger mobility downside. Individuals typically see riders as ‘adrenaline junkies’ choosing a ‘enjoyable’ approach to journey. They’re not at all times considered as severe highway customers, and this performs into the bias towards them from a security perspective. Who doesn’t need to shield grandma crossing the road? However not everybody acknowledges the identical threat confronted by a leather-jacketed rider, although the possible final result of a car hitting them is similar.
“To validate the effectiveness of impact-mitigation methods, TTI is creating a first-of-its-kind bike testing commonplace within the US”
Motorcyclists are partly in charge. Embracing a ‘freedom of the highway’ mentality, many riders are likely to see highway guidelines as optionally available. Weaving out and in of site visitors, extreme dashing, and a driving inhabitants starting from bike gangs to weekend warriors astride $50,000 customized dream machines feed the stereotype (and we received’t even point out helmet utilization!). It’s simple to shrug your shoulders and say, “Effectively, in the event that they don’t take themselves critically…”
On the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI), we have now a protracted historical past of taking bike security critically. One present mission entails enhancing railings put in on tunnel walkways above and behind concrete site visitors obstacles to guard pedestrians. Sadly, the mixed traffic-pedestrian rail poses a severe damage threat for motorcyclists throughout barrier impacts beneath sure circumstances. Our analysis is enhancing the railing design to supply a safer system for all consumer teams. To validate the effectiveness of those impact-mitigation methods, TTI can also be creating a first-of-its-kind bike testing commonplace in america.
That being stated, requirements, testing, know-how and coverage can solely accomplish that a lot. Making our roads safer for all customers requires all of us, together with motorcyclists – to alter how we view the rider’s relationship to roadway security – we should take each single highway consumer, no matter mode, critically.
This text first appeared within the Could 2025 version of TTI journal
