[CrAzY dRiVeR]

A study commissioned by the European Commission that assessed the social cost of transport over various factors - has come to a conclusion that motorcycles cost the maximum to the society, especially due to greater noise levels and the costs paid out over accidents!

The various factors considered for the study include -

• Accidents
• Air pollution
• Climate change
• Noise
• Congestions
• Well-to-tank emissions and
• Habitat damage.

It discovered that although motorbikes cut congestion and take up less parking space, greater noise levels and the costs paid out over accidents involving two-wheel machines raise costs above cars.

According to Fleet Europe a motorbike generates external costs of 24.5 cents per kilometre (about 21p), compared to 12 cents for a car.

Source - https://www.visordown.com/news/indus...iest-transport

Read the study here - https://ec.europa.eu/transport/theme...ernal-costs_en

IMHO -

Quite surprising to hear, especially in our Indian context where motorcycles are often considered the cheapest mode of transport. That said, a lot many car owners would agree to the two points highlighted in the study - even in the Indian context.

1. Noise - (Modded) Bikes in India have often been criticized for their noise pollution. Royal Enfields, 2 strokes, and superbikes have often come under the radar for modified silencers.

2. Accidents - In 2018, it was reported that near 40% of road fatalities in India were two-wheeler riders - as compared to all other forms of transport. But internationally - this point is being debated, as often - the two-wheeler riders are the victims of the accidents, and not the perpetrators. The costs of an accident should ideally be on the person causing the same, not the victim. Read more on this here. Can't say this is entirely applicable in the Indian context though, as the laws regarding helmet usage, lane discipline, wrong-side driving, etc are often openly violated by two-wheeler riders.

Considering the Indian scenario - Does this study result hold true?

[am1m]

Woah!

Am particularly surprised about the pollution bit. In an Indian context, perhaps because there are so many bikes compared to cars the overall pollution figures are higher, but if you look at the pollution per person being transported? Also, imagine if all those two wheeler-using commuters switched to cars?

The societal costs due to accidents probably applies more to a society that has some sort of universal healthcare in place, then the cost of attending to a critical accident is borne by taxpayers? Not so high here where you're on your own. But still some associated taxpayer costs like an ambulance, police effort, court case, etc I guess.

Noise, yeah, I hate those modded Bullets too, but those are hardly the bulk of bikes on our roads, most are 100-150cc types. Still noisier than cars I suppose.

All assumptions on my part, hence the question marks. But surprising conclusion nonetheless.

[KL01toKA03]

I hope the age of the rider is taken into consideration. Most of the news of fatalities involving two wheelers I have seen involve young people who are students, or people who are at their prime earning age.

Also, I have seen many underage drivers in many parts of India. Driving a motorcycle is usually the first law these people break. The fact that they get away with it encourages them to follow the same route later in life also. Hence, they break other rules (including traffic rules) without a second thought.

Irrespective of who is to blame for fatalities of motorcycle riders on Indian road, these fatalities cost a lot to the society in terms of lost opportunities. If 40% of fatalities are motorcycle riders, then motorcycles as a mode of transport is definitely the costliest and riskiest form of transport in my opinion.

[padmrajravi]

From the point of view of individual safety ,yes , it is the most costliest mode of transport. It is inherently an unstable mode of transport and even the slightest rough patch of road can topple a two wheeler on a bad day. Even for no fault of yours, you could end up in between wheels of other vehicles and lose a limb or even life. One strict advice my parents gave me before my college days was to not to get into a two wheeler . Of course I did not obey them and learnt the hardway. Have never been in a two wheeler after college days and I will give the same advice to my kids .

[aargee]

It should be true for EU, certainly not in India & even in Japan.

I could do Chennai to Bangalore & back in Rs 1600 in today's price of fuel emitting less CO2 than a car. Compared to public bus, this still cheaper. Consider I would take an auto from Magestic to my place the emission will still be less than what a motorcycle emits.

Time saved - beyond comparison

And accidents happens not because of increase in motorcycles or cars, its the carelessness & irresponsibility & lack of civic sense!! If number mattered, then the number of vehicles per square area in Japan is more compared to India, yet Japan has less accident rates.

In EU there're higher capacity motorcycles than what we have in India, so this report may hold true there, no way in India or in any developing countries

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by KL01toKA03

Most of the news of fatalities involving two wheelers I have seen involve young people who are students, or people who are at their prime earning age.

This is true, not just restricted to two wheelers, but as a whole as well. According to WHO - road accidents cause more deaths among children and young adults than illness!

However - of which, two wheeler (39.6% deaths) and truck / bus (30.4% deaths) occupants are the most vulnerable.

Source - https://m.timesofindia.com/india/roa...w/66995867.cms

Originally Posted by am1m

Also, imagine if all those two wheeler-using commuters switched to cars?

This could also be a push for electric two wheelers, as at least the noise aspect is taken care of.

[bevivek]

In the Indian context, a lot of the indirect costs of a motorcycle accident which involves serious injury is that apart from hospital costs which whether the person bears it or the insurer becomes a cost, there is also more importantly the impact on the livelihood of the person. Most Indians do not work in the organized sector and so depend on daily wage or earning through their wits in micro / small / medium businesses. An accident involving hospitalization thus becomes a double blow, hospital costs (most Indians are not insured so the cost is borne by the family) and loss of livelihood income. This can become a spiraling crisis because the family may need to take on debt to manage the situation and which has to be paid for with interest, and since interest itself can snowball, a single accident can devastate a household and from which they may not recover.

It underlines all the more the ATGATT philosophy for biking. This is not an indulgence but a necessity for all those who drive either out of necessity or for the sheer pleasure of it.

[SmartCat]

Let me use this thread to pen down my alternative view / thoughts on motorcycle safety -

According to research done in UK/US, motorcycles have a fatality rate of 24 deaths per 100 million miles compared to cars' 1 death per 100 million miles. That is, you are 24x times more likely to die riding a bike than driving a car. However, in developed countries -

- Bikes sold in US/UK are mostly high powered. What is the typical engine size? 750 CC? 1000 CC? And what is the power output? Finally, what is the BHP per tonne of a typical bike sold in US/UK? These bikes are equivalent to 500 BHP RWD sports cars. If everybody drives 500 BHP cars, car fatalities are likely to be more or less the same as bikes fatalities per million miles.

- I'd assume that bikes in US/UK are mostly used on highways, rather than grocery/school runs. Because of higher speeds involved, fatalities per 100 million miles would be significantly higher when compared to a typical car.

Now let's look at Indian scene:

- 95% of two wheelers sold in India have <250 cc engine and <15 BHP power.
- 95% of two wheelers never see a highway. Most of them are used for business/office commute, grocery and school runs.

Remember that there are probably 100 million two wheelers running in India. Each two wheeler clocks between 5,000 to 10,000 kms per year. And that's why two wheeler fatalities (absolute number) is higher. What would make a fair comparison of safety is Indian fatalities data per 100 million miles (or kms) covered between cars and bikes. Sadly, this data is not available yet.

[Rajeevraj]

I think this would be true in India too.

• Major chunk of motorized vehicles in India are two- wheelers
• Two-Wheelers constitute the majority in accident statistics
• Injury Severity and associated hospital costs along with other indirect costs will also be highest for two wheelers.

Factoring all of it in, Two-Wheelers may be the society's costliest transport

[dextor]

In India the cheapest mode of transport is only 2 wheeler and this can be proved in what ever study one might like to do.
Car can never be considered economic as it is a luxury factory (even government considers this) and also a status symbol for many. Public transport as everyone knows is almost non-existent or over-used.

In cities like Bangalore & Delhi if people stop using 2 wheelers, everyone will end up on the roads without reaching anywhere. As per some article almost 70% of Bangalore population owns a 2-wheeler.

The study referred in this thread is only specific to Europe and can no way be related to Indian cities.

People in India who say they don't use 2-wheeler for safety aspects just want to justify their use of car. Because the day everyone agrees to them, they themselves will be forced to use a 2-wheeler or start walking.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by SmartCat

Remember that there are probably 100 million two wheelers running in India.

Good point indeed Smartie! 39.6% of accident fatalities on Indian roads might have involved 2-wheeler riders, but the number of two-wheeler users on the road itself is a significant percent more than all the others.

For example - 33,45,978 cars were sold in the year 2018 as per the sales charts, which is only slightly more than what the Honda Activa alone managed in the year 2018 with 30,93,481 units.

So may not be a direct comparison indeed.

[vermasach]

The comparison of Western countries with India or for that matter some other SE Asian countries is like chalk and cheese.

As mentioned by other members, most Indian bikes are under 150 cc and of that 80% would be 100/110 cc ones. The prices of these bikes are 1/10 of the average B segment cars. Many of these bikes are not even on sale in US/ Europe. The general bikes there cost more than regular cars.

Since the number of bikes sold are humongous, the probability of accidents is also higher. The fatality rate is higher as many of us do not use enough/ right safety gears.

It's one of the most economical means of commuting, giving highest KMPL and the lowest carbon footprint. The time it saves is an additional advantage especially within our congested cities. If we tame the issue of modified silencers, we are much better off.

[RaghuVis]

In India, two wheeler accidents are the biggest form of accidents and that is only because of one factor. Bike/Scooter sells 10 times or 20 times that of any other vehicle. Only factor I can agree here is that Bikes/Scooters collectively contribute more to air pollution that any other vehicle.

One major reality everyone seems to be ignoring is the cause of two wheeler accidents in INDIA. Although we all agree that bikers are usually termed unruly and chaotic in road, a good amount of accidents among two Wheeler are NOT caused by them but because of Cars, buses, trucks, idiotic people on road and sometimes even cows and dogs. End of the day, these statistics and just statistics. These need not be comparable statistics. At least not for India where bike/scooter outsells every other vehicle by 1:10.


Remember the famous banter between Mr Ratan Tata and Mr Bajaj during the initial days of Nano launch hysteria. Mr Tata during one speech said that the idea of Nano as a cheap car came out of his concern for safety of people travelling on bikes and scooters. To this Mr Bajaj sarcastically mentioned that major cause of bike/scooter accidents are TATA trucks and that Mr Tata should improve safety features of them first!

[mvadg]

Originally Posted by RaghuVis

...

... To this Mr Bajaj sarcastically mentioned that major cause of bike/scooter accidents are TATA trucks and that Mr Tata should improve safety features of them first!

It is intuitively clear (at least to me) that two-wheelers are an expensive mode of travel. The price per kilometer paid in deaths and injuries does not justify the use of 2-wheelers anywhere on this planet. Very harsh, I know, but that is my conclusion after having had a couple of falls, and that too with no intention of consciously breaking any traffic laws or the laws of physics.

On Mr. Bajaj's remark, I would say that he did not do his homework and the lazy, privileged, obnoxious industrialist that he is, never bothered to analyze how two-wheeler accidents could be prevented [At least Mr Tata tried]. In a country where almost everyone that uses two-wheelers does it out of necessity, it is expected that the largest two-wheeler seller for the longest period would take some time and discuss with top ranking officials on the measures required to give two-wheeler riders their share of the transport infrastructure.

I would say that we have enough two-wheelers in this country to justify giving them a separate road system and prioritizing two-wheeler traffic over others.

Think about it, we have copied bicycle lanes from the West, but we cannot come up with scooter lanes !?(I am actually suggesting separate roads for two wheelers).

With so many deaths our top government officials can hardly be bothered to think of solutions for two-wheelers. In cities such as Bangalore, with an abysmal public transport, a huge number of two-wheeler riders pay a substantial amount of taxes and yet again pay with their lives on tollways where they share their space with uncouth four wheeler drivers.

[END RANT - Phew!]

[Iyencar]

The results of this study have no resonance in the Indian market. Multiple reasons for these, including those pointed out by others, that come to mind are:

1. Low displacement bikes with incredible FE.There is no way the FE of cars can be compared. Consequently it is impossible that these have more emissions
2. Noise: Regular diesel cars are much more noisier than these bikes.Also in a country where almost every luxury car runs on diesel it is hypocritical to point fingers at a motorcycle
3. Very few superbikes in India: The class to which the results of the study apply
4. Usage of bikes for carrying loads: In rural India the splendours, passion pros and TVS mopeds can put a truck to shame with the way they load cargo and manage space. Not to mention that typically 3 or even 4 people use these. You can't judge them because they have no other mode of transport. So they do more with a smaller carbon footprint.
5. Lastly, in case of an accident between a car and a bike abroad , if the car is at fault, the car owner's insurance pays for damage and consequently his/her premium shoots up. This concept does not exist here. So the cost of payouts is not going to be anywhere near.

If we are talking about the hidden costs of ownership like stability on bad roads, inconvenience to car drivers due to scratches by bikes, loss of income due to death, etc. then we are going beyond the scope of the aforementioned study.