STATISTICAL-ANALYSIS OF MOTORCYCLISTS PERCEIVED ACCIDENT RISK

Motorcycling is generally recognized as a relatively risk activity, bu t surprisingly little is known about motorcyclists' perception of this risk. This paper presents a survey of motorcyclists' perceived likeli hood of being involved in an accident and a statistical analysis of th e factors determining this likelihood. Our results show that motorcycl ists have a reasonable grasp of the factors that increase the likeliho od of accident involvement. These factors include exposure (miles ridd en), regularly riding above the speed limit, and passing vehicles on t he shoulder or passing between lanes of traffic. The findings suggest that motorcycle accidents are, for the most part, not the result of mi sjudgments about the overall risk of motorcycling.