Novice riders are being asked to fill out a short online survey that will help researchers determine the effectiveness of changes to Queensland motorcycle licensing.
Click on this link to read all about the survey.
Or click here to go straight to the survey.
Road safety research fellow and Triumph Street Triple rider Ross Blackman (pictured above) says the Queensland Motorcycle and Scooter Rider Survey closing date has been extended a month to May 31, 2018, to seek more responses from novice riders.
“While we have had good participation from riders overall, the extension is due to a relatively low number of novice (RE) rider respondents, of whom we would like a more representative sample if possible,” he says.
“This won’t affect the timing of the potential release of any results, as that is not likely to happen before the entire project is finished early next year.”
The survey is being conducted by the Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland (CARRS-Q) at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) for the Queensland Transport and Main Roads Department.
It is open, not just to novice riders, but to all Queensland residents holding a current Queensland motorcycle rider licence (RE Learner, RE Restricted or R).
At the end of the survey, participants can choose to enter the draw to win one of 20 $100 shopping vouchers.
Concerns about survey
When we published an article about the survey in November 2017, some readers said there were a few “leading “ questions about risks.
Ross, who has a PhD in scooter and moped safety, says the survey has been funded by Transport and Main Roads who hopes to “mitigate risk and reduce motorcycle crashes”.
“So yes, there are questions about risk-taking etc., which I suppose will inevitably be seen by some as coming from a conservative safety orientation,” Ross says.
“Some of the questions are based on standard survey instruments (with validated risk-taking scales etc) that we need to use to be able to compare results with those of previous surveys.
“The wording of some questions might be less than ideal, but I don’t know that they’re ‘leading’ as such.
“While trying to conduct the research as objectively as I can, I accept that I will get flamed occasionally in the process and I’m happy to take all feedback.
“There is no predetermined ‘agenda’, but one aim is to ‘mitigate risk and reduce motorcycle crashes‘, as stated in the introductory information, so I don’t think that’s a hidden objective.
“I can’t pre-empt what the findings or potential outcomes will be, but as you and many of your readers know there is often a variety of different ways to address an identified problem area.
“There is an opportunity in the survey to comment on the sorts of measures that riders feel are effective and reasonable, as well as those that they don’t agree with.
“I suppose there will be people who start the survey and then unexpectedly find some questions annoying. However, it is entirely voluntary and most questions can be skipped (you may be prompted to answer before leaving the page but you should still be able to proceed to the next question).”
Novice riders get involved!
We would urge novice riders and mature riders to take part in the survey.
It is always better having a say in the discussion about our safety rather than not be involved or consulted at all.
Since the survey is primarily concerned with licensing, it’s pretty important for more novice riders to be involved.
However, the survey also provides an excellent opportunity for all riders to divert the TMR’s focus from novice riders and risk-taking to issues that affect us most.
They could include education and training of drivers as well as riders, road repair, infrastructure, policing, tolls, parking, registration and more.