Suzuki riders cop the most road rage followed by Harley riders and their biggest gripe is getting cut up in traffic, drivers texting and “bike blindness”, according to a UK survey.
The online survey of 1000 riders was carried out by Jennings Motor Group and Harley-Davidson after UK Motorcycle Awareness Month in May.
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While it’s not exactly a definitive study, it fairly closely mirrors an annual RACQ survey which finds texting and talking on the mobile phone while behind the wheel the biggest motorist gripe.
Interestingly, Suzuki riders had the highest sense of outrage about motorists’ behaviour with 71% expressing road rage. That’s despite only being 8.6% of the surveyed riders.
Harley riders were close behind on 68.7%, then Triumph 67%, Kawasaki 66.5%, Ducati 65.4%, KTM 63.8% and BMW 62%.
Out of the 1000 respondents, only 83 were female, but on average, their rage rating was higher than that of the male respondents at 68.5% versus 66.5%.
The research also suggests that 68% of 25-34-year-old motorcyclists experience the highest road rage.
The biggest gripe was getting cut up in traffic by “cagers” (82.5%), texting while driving (86.5%) and bike blindness, or drivers not seeing motorcycles (83.2%).
Other gripes, in order, included right-lane hogs, being dazzled by full-beam headlights, cars in motorcycle parking bays, manhole covers and tar “snakes”, not signalling, cyclists and moped riders.
Jennings Harley Davidson director Sohail Khan says the survey highlighted the fears that many motorcyclists have around riding on the road and “the ignorance that often comes with motorcyclists’ safety”.
“It was important for us to show the severity of their fears amongst sharing the road with car drivers,” he says.
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