With the goal of improving road safety for motorcyclists, the SAAQ and the members of the committee of experts on motorcyclist safety released a report containing 14 recommendations that the SAAQ, its partners and major players in the motorcycle industry.

The work initially focused on analyzing the circumstances surrounding the deaths of 189 motorcyclists involved in 182 accidents that occurred between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2016.

Among the 14 recommendations are:

• the application of new rules for access to driving a motorcycle
• the imposition of the zero alcohol rule for all apprentice motorcyclists, as is the case for driving a passenger vehicle
• continuing to make other road users aware of the presence of motorcyclists
• the deployment of awareness-raising actions aimed at motorcyclists which will focus on the main causes of accidents and the use of credible and influential spokespersons to highlight good motorcycling practices and behavior
• continuing to monitor new technologies that can improve the safety of motorcyclists

“The road safety statistics for motorcyclists are worrying. These are overrepresented. It therefore seems essential to me to act quickly. It is for this reason that I have asked the Société to suggest measures that will allow the government to improve the safety of motorcyclists on the road. The new measures that we will put in place are directly in line with this desire. explains François Bonnardel, Quebec Minister of Transport and Minister responsible for the Estrie region.

Highlights:

Main findings of the analysis of fatal accidents

• Of the 182 accidents, 48.9% involved a single vehicle, namely the motorcycle.
• High-risk motorcycles are largely over-represented (25.3% of motorcycles involved in fatal accidents, while they represent only 4.5% of the motorcycle fleet).
• 37.9% of motorcycle drivers had held a license with a class authorizing the driving of a motorcycle for less than 5 years.
• 57.9% of motorcycle owners involved in an accident had owned their motorcycle for less than 2 years.
• 66.7% of drivers had committed at least one offense leading to the entry of demerit points on their driving record during the 10 years preceding their accident.
• The causes most frequently cited by police as the main probable causes of accidents were speeding (32.9%), failure to yield the right of way (12.6%) and distraction or inattention (9. 6%).