Research reveals riders’ bad habits

New research has discovered that more than 70% of British motorcyclists have broken the law whilst riding, with undertaking, speeding and using a number plate that’s deemed to be too small topping the list of laws broken.

Furthermore, as many as one in five motorcycle riders confessed to breaking the law on the roads every time they rode.

Motorists hogging the middle and right-hand lanes on motorways or dual carriage ways is the top reason that British motorcyclists find themselves illegally undertaking, with traffic light sensors being blamed for jumping red lights.

The team behind www.wmbpride.bike, a premium range of motorcycle cleaning products, undertook the research as part of an ongoing study into the habits of British motorcyclists. It quizzed 2,057 adults from the UK, all of whom had a full motorcycle license and rode their bikes at least three times per week.

Firstly, all respondents were asked ‘Have you ever broken the law, to your knowledge, whilst riding your motorcycle?’ to which 71% confessed that they had. When asked how often they were likely to break the law, 22% admitted that it was ‘every time’ they travelled on their motorcycle. The majority, however, said that it was ‘only on rare occasions’ (42%).

Undertaking (73%), speeding (56%), driving with a number plate that is too small (35%), riding with a helmet that doesn’t meet EU safety standards (27%) and carrying a passenger without a helmet (20%) were the main offences.

According to the poll, as many as 19% confessed to having run a red light on their motorcycle. 52% of these said that it was after sitting at a red light for a long period of time and thinking the traffic light sensors weren’t picking them up like they would a larger vehicle, but the remaining 48% said that it was just after the light had changed from amber to red.

Furthermore, when asked if they’d ever found themselves in trouble with the police due to their motorcycle riding, one fifth of respondents (19%) said ‘yes’.

A spokesperson for WMB Logistics said, ‘Whatever the reason, there’s never an excuse for breaking the law whilst riding – and that’s the stance the police would take if you were to get caught. To see that so many motorcyclists break the law every time they ride was a real shock.

‘It is a minor bugbear though that many traffic lights won’t pick up on motorcycles waiting patiently for a green light to be able to pass safely; although, the fact the traffic lights sensors aren’t that great doesn’t mean you should just jump the lights. That’s a very dangerous move to make and one that could hurt many people.’

 

SHARE
Share