Other vehicles survey

In the light of recent changes to the Highway Code and a hierarchy of vulnerability amongst road users, we thought it might be interesting to see what vehicles and means of personal transport other than motorbikes were used by LAMkins.

There were a total of 118 responses, representing 29% of the current total of Full Members and Associates, but likely to include many of those most actively involved in LAM. All percentages have been rounded up or down to the nearest decimal point.

In order of usage by LAMkins:

Cars and vans (87%)- are unsurprisingly the most prevalent. The sheer convenience and comfort of a car is hard to beat, even if you have a bike or bikes and live in an area well-served by public transport.

Push bikes (51%) and electric bikes (9%) were next in prevalence of use. Most of us will have started off on a bike so learned the basics of road sense that way. Within this category there will be those who use cycles for convenience and short local journeys as I do and those who are more serious in terms of off-road, club riding or touring but this wasn’t investigated.

Heavier vehicles including articulated lorries and emergency service vehicles are driven by 9% of respondents, mainly in connection with their employment or volunteering. This includes campers which covers a wide category from Berlingo based conversions to massive Winnebagos

A surprising number - 19% of the total claim to use the more innovative means of travel favoured by urban youth including scooters, skateboards and rollerblades. I would be cautious as to the reliability of this response and some may have mistakenly included motor scooters in this category. Can we look forward to a display in the car park at one of our meetings? I doubt it.

A hardy 11% use motorcycles as their only motorised transport.

Unsurprisingly given that most of us live in urban or suburban areas, equestrianism is little practised, with only one respondent (<1%) claiming to ride a horse.

Conclusion

Almost all IAM Members and Associates use at least one other form of road transport While we might see ourselves predominantly as motorcyclists in terms of interest and inclination we also move up and down the hierarchy of vulnerability. How much do our perspectives change when we step into other roles? Are we more aware of motorcyclists’ safety when we are behind the wheel of a car? Some perspectives do remain with us: as a cyclist nothing irritates me more than to see motorbikes jumping into the advanced stopping area at lights and this stays with me when I’m on my motorbike or in my car.

Hopefully though our IAM training and motorcycling brains will have heightened our awareness of our own and others’ vulnerability and the importance of mutual respect and courtesy which informs how we drive/ride when using other forms of transport.

John McNally