DEMOGRAPHICS OF THE SAFETY COURSE PARTICIPANT

In order to establish a rough profile of the motorcycle safety course participant, three surveys are compared: 1977 Motorcycle and Moped Industry Council survey of motorcycle training participants across Canada; 1978 Elliott Research Limited survey of motorcyclists at four major consumer shows across Canada; and 1979 Transport Canada evaluation of the Canada Safety Council's Motorcycle Training Program. Motorcyclists trained on a 125 cc. motorcycle were found to be planning to purchase a larger cc. bike (mean/median 350 cc.), suggesting that larger cycles should be included in the later stages of motorcycle training courses. Canadian provinces with the highest number of trained motorcyclists relative to motorcycle registrations (training noncompulsory) are those in which a provincial licensing test is offered in conjunction with a training program. This suggests that rider training should be integrated with the option of obtaining a motorcycle license. It was found that motorcycle shows attract motorcyclists who are representative of the total motorcycling population, suggesting the concentration of training and risk awareness educational efforts in promotions at these shows. The most important variable predicting the size of motorcycle purchased was months of experience. Since young, inexperienced riders tend to purchase smaller cc. bikes, safety initiatives to restrict size of motorcycle owned would seem fruitless.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Conference held in Washington, D.C., 18-23 May 1980. Also published in HS-029 660, International Motorcycle Safety Conference Proceedings. Volume 1, p 95-100, 100-a-b, 101-25.
• Corporate Authors:

  Motorcycle Safety Foundation

  780 Elkridge Landing Road
  Linthicum, MD  United States  21090
• Authors:
  • MacMillan, B
• Publication Date: 1980

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: 33 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Demographics; Driver training; Motorcyclists; Traffic safety education
• Subject Areas: Education and Training; Safety and Human Factors; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00389632
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• Report/Paper Numbers: HS-029 664
• Files: HSL, USDOT
• Created Date: Oct 30 1984 12:00AM