Perception and legislation MOTORCYCLE ABS

Perception and legislation[edit]

A report of the European Transport Safety council showed that riding a motorcycle is 20 times more dangerous than driving a car the same distance. And the accidents situation in Germany from 1990 to 2011 showed that that total traffic fatalities decreased drastically (11 000 to 4 009) but motorcycle fatalities remained constant. ^[12]

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) conducted a study on the effectiveness of ABS for motorcycles and came to the conclusion that motorcycles above 250cc equipped with ABS are 37 percent less likely to be involved in fatal crashes and a study of the Swedish Road Administration came to the conclusion that 48 percent of all severe and fatal motorcycle accidents above 125cc could be avoided due to motorcycle ABS^[13]

These studies caused the EU commission to initiate a legislative process in 2010 that was passed in 2012 and led to ABS for motorcycles above 125 cc becoming mandatory from 2016 onwards. Organizations like the Federation International de l’Automobile and the Institute of advanced Motorists (IAM) demanded the implementation of this legislation already for 2015.^[14] On the other hand some motorcycle riders are protesting against a compulsory ABS for all bikes because they call for a possibility to switch the system off, for e.g. off road usage.^{[15] [16] [17]} In 2011 the United Nations (UN) started the Decade of Action for Road Safety. The main goal is to safe 5 million lives until 2020 through global cooperation.^[18] One part of their global plan is to: Encourage universal deployment of crash avoidance technologies with proven effectiveness such as Electronic Stability Controland Anti-Lock Braking Systems in motorcycles.