Characteristics of fatal motorcycle crashes into roadside safety barriers in Australia and New Zealand

▶ Less than 1% of Australian and New Zealand road fatalities involve a motorcyclist striking a barrier. ▶ Fatal motorcycle into barrier crashes typically occur on a bend into a W-beam barrier. ▶ Majority of motorcycle into barrier fatalities involve speeding, alcohol, and/or drugs. ▶ Barrier involved motorcycle fatalities occurred mainly during weekend recreational riding. ▶ Making crash barriers motorcycle friendly will not reduce motorcycle fatalities significantly. This paper reports on the findings of a retrospective case series study of fatal motorcyclist–roadside barrier collisions. Cases were retrieved from the National Coroners Information System (NCIS), the coronial case files of Australian jurisdictions, and the Crash Analysis System (CAS) of the New Zealand Transport Agency. Seventy seven (77) motorcycle fatalities involving a roadside barrier in Australia and New Zealand were examined. The fatalities usually involved a single vehicle crash and young men. The roadside barriers predominantly involved were steel W-beams, typically on a bend in the horizontal alignment of the road. A majority of fatalities occurred on a weekend, during daylight hours, on clear days with dry road surface conditions indicating predominantly recreational riding. Speeding and driving with a blood alcohol level higher than the legal limit contributed to a significant number of these fatalities.