Victorian Auditor-General’s report
9 February 2011

Motorcycle and Scooter Safety Programs
Audit summary
Background
The audit examined how successful the road safety agencies—VicRoads, Victoria Police (VicPol) and the Transport Accident Commission (the TAC)—have been in improving the safety of riders and passengers travelling on motorcycles and scooters. We also included the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) in the audit because it is responsible for state forests and parks used by motorcycle riders.
We assessed whether agencies had understood the motorcycle safety risks, prioritised and implemented initiatives to address these risks, and evaluated the success of these initiatives and their combined impact on implementing government policy.
The road safety agencies focused on the safety of riders using public roads including freeways, arterial roads, municipal roads and a small proportion of the roads that DSE manages in state forests and parks. Riding anywhere other than public roads is defined as off‑road riding.
The Victorian Motorcycle Advisory Council (VMAC) includes the road safety agencies, industry representatives and motorcycle user representatives, as well as the RACV and the Monash University Accident Research Centre. It advises the minister responsible for road safety about motorcycling issues and endorses proposals for the spending of funding raised by the special safety charge levied on motorcycle and scooter riders. DSE is not a member of VMAC.
Conclusion
The road safety agencies have had mixed success in reducing motorcycle rider and passenger fatalities and serious injuries but, along with South Australia, have been more effective than other states. Achieving reductions over a period of several years is very challenging because motorcycle use has risen rapidly over the last decade and continues to rise.
Sufficient attention, however, has not been paid to unreported and off-road crashes. This audit’s comparison of crash and hospital injury data shows that the road safety agencies need to understand these crashes and their implications for motorcycle safety programs.
Findings
Understanding motorcycle and scooter safety risks
VicPol, VicRoads and the TAC have built up an effective understanding of reported motorcycle and scooter crashes on public roads and they continue to invest to improve this understanding.
There are gaps, however, which they need to address. Of most importance is gaining a better understanding of crashes that result in injury but which are not reported to VicPol or captured in the TAC’s compensation claims data. The road safety agencies have underestimated the significance of these crashes.
VicPol’s crash records for 2008 show that up to 2 790 injured motorcycle riders and passengers attended a hospital. In the same year the TAC received 2 049 claims and paid compensation for 2 028 of these cases. These records capture less than half of the 6 955 emergency presentations and admissions recorded by hospitals in 2008.
Prioritising and implementing initiatives
While road safety agencies have targeted initiatives to address most of the important safety risks for riders travelling on public roads, improving the safety of off-road riders has lagged. This is a very significant gap that warrants urgent attention, given off-road riding accounts for the majority of crashes.
Victoria’s Road Safety and Transport Strategic Action Plan for Powered Two Wheelers 2009–2013 (powered two-wheeler plan) does not adequately explain how initiatives have been prioritised. Road safety agencies have adequately planned the major projects under the powered two-wheeler plan and regularly reported their assessments of progress.
Evaluating effectiveness and achieving outcomes
Road safety agencies have completed methodical and robust evaluations of their major motorcycle safety investments.
The safety outcomes for the previous motorcycle safety plan, the Victorian Road Motorcycle Road Safety Strategy 2002–2007, were mixed. The target of a 20 per cent reduction in fatalities for all road users was achieved in relation to motorcyclist fatalities. However, serious injuries increased over the period of the previous plan.
Under Victoria’s Road Safety Strategy: arrive alive 2008–2017 (arrive alive), the target for reducing all road fatalities and serious injuries is 30 per cent. The contribution of motorcycle safety programs towards this target continues to be mixed. Serious injuries fell significantly between 2008 and 2009, yet fatalities in 2010 exceeded the level experienced five years ago. Nevertheless, since 2002, Victoria and South Australia outperformed other states in reducing motorcycle fatalities. 
As the reduction targets relate to a fall in the absolute number of fatalities and serious injuries rather than their rate, they do not take account of the growth in motorcycle use. This makes their achievement more challenging, as data shows that more people are buying and using motorcycles and scooters.
Recommendations
Number	Recommendation	Page	
1.	Victoria Police, VicRoads and the Transport Accident Commission should develop a good understanding of unreported injuries so they can advise government on the implications for motorcycle safety programs.	19	
2.	VicRoads should develop and appraise the options for improving its understanding of exposure and apply for the resources to complete the option that provides best value.	19	
3.	Victoria Police, VicRoads and the Transport Accident Commission should expand the interagency committee so it is able to resolve or recommend the actions needed to address data limitations.	19	
4.	Victoria Police, VicRoads and the Transport Accident Commission should agree on, and consistently apply a definition of ‘off-road’ when coding crashes for the purposes of the road toll.	19	
5.	VicRoads should update its strategic guide and use this to clearly describe the powered two-wheeler plan’s priorities in its proposed update for 2012.	25	
6.	Victoria Police, VicRoads and the Transport Accident Commission should consult with the Department of Sustainability and Environment and the Victorian Motorcycle Advisory Council to understand and address off-road motorcycling safety risks to coincide with the proposed update of the powered two-wheeler plan for 2012.	25	
7.	Victoria Police, VicRoads and the Transport Accident Commission should expand existing activities to inform the community on expectations about what motorcycle safety programs are likely to achieve, using:
·	the available information on the effectiveness of different initiatives
·	forecasts of changes in exposure.	34	
8.	Victoria Police, VicRoads and the Transport Accident Commission should provide information on changes in exposure when reporting on their progress towards the arrive alive safety targets.	34	
Submissions and comments received
In addition to progressive engagement during the course of the audit, in accordance with section 16(3) of the Audit Act 1994 a copy of this report, or relevant extracts from the report, was provided to Victoria Police, VicRoads, the Transport Accident Commission and the Department of Sustainability and Environment with a request for submissions or comments.
Agency views have been considered in reaching our audit conclusions and are represented to the extent relevant and warranted in preparing this report. Their full section 16(3) submissions and comments, however, are included in Appendix A.