Motorcyclists Must Be Aware of the Risks

In 2024, 286 motorcyclists died in 278 fatal accidents recorded on intercity roads, according to provisional data from the DGT (collected within 24 hours of the accident). Adding up fatalities from the last 10 years, 2,385 motorcycle drivers and passengers have lost their lives in accidents on these types of roads.

“Motorcycle accidents are more complex for several reasons: greater rider vulnerability, reduced visibility and stability of the motorcycle, the influence of factors such as rain and wind, uneven road surfaces, greater exposure to other driver errors, and differences in speed make accidents more frequent and serious than those with other types of vehicles,” explains Pilar del Real, head of the Strategic Planning Area of ​​the DGT’s National Road Safety Observatory.

Among driving factors, excessive speed was involved in 101 fatal motorcyclist accidents on roads in 2024—that is, one in three—according to official (and still provisional) statistics from the DGT (Directorate General of Traffic). “The high speeds at which some motorcyclists travel on secondary roads are the leading cause of accidents,” explains the University Institute of Traffic and Road Safety (INTRAS) in a recent report on reckless motorcycle behaviour, which also points to other causes such as the existence of a single lane in each direction, numerous curves, coexistence with large vehicles, the entry of people, vehicles, and animals onto the roadway…

By type of accident, run-off-road collisions, head-on collisions, and rear-end collisions are the deadliest.

Motorcycle accidents in cities are completely different from those on roads due to the very characteristics of traffic in urban environments: much lower speeds and much higher traffic density. In cities, motorcycle accidents occur primarily “due to the presence of many other vehicles and pedestrians and the numerous critical points that give rise to traffic conflicts, such as intersections, roundabouts, or traffic lights,” notes the study prepared by INTRAS, adding that “certain reckless manoeuvres such as weaving between vehicles, changing lanes without signalling, or without looking also increase the risk of collisions in built-up areas.”

Extensive and targeted monitoring campaigns are frequently carried out to try to reduce reckless behaviour by motorcyclists, and so, to echo the sentiment of a former UK advertising campaign, bikers too must “Think once, think twice, think bike!”