Negotiating Left-Hand and Right-Hand Bends: A Motorcycle Simulator Study to Investigate Experiential and Behaviour Differences Across Rider Groups

Abstract

Why do motorcyclists crash on bends? To address this question we examined the riding styles of three groups of motorcyclists on a motorcycle simulator. Novice, experienced and advanced motorcyclists navigated a series of combined left and right bends while their speed and lane position were recorded. Each rider encountered an unexpected hazard on both a left- and right-hand bend section. Upon seeing the hazards, all riders decreased their speed before steering to avoid the hazard. Experienced riders tended to follow more of a racing line through the bends, which resulted in them having to make the most severe changes to their position to avoid a collision. Advanced riders adopted the safest road positions, choosing a position which offered greater visibility through the bends. As a result, they did not need to alter their road position in response to the hazard. Novice riders adopted similar road positions to experienced riders on the left-hand bends, but their road positions were more similar to advanced riders on right-hand bends, suggesting that they were more aware of the risks associated with right bends. Novice riders also adopted a safer position on post-hazard bends whilst the experienced riders failed to alter their behaviour even though they had performed the greatest evasive manoeuvre in response to the hazards. Advanced riders did not need to alter their position as their approach to the bends was already optimal. The results suggest that non-advanced riders were more likely to choose an inappropriate lane position than an inappropriate speed when entering a bend. Furthermore, the findings support the theory that expertise is achieved as a result of relearning, with advanced training overriding ‘bad habits’ gained through experience alone.

The role of experience and advanced training on performance in a motorcycle simulator

“…Experienced riders changed lane position as much as the advanced riders in the 60 mph zones. The current data do not allow us to identify whether the racing line or visibility was the key concern, though other data suggest that experienced riders' lane variance might be explained by the racing line, while advanced riders' position might be better explained by maximising visibility through bends (Crundall, Crundall and Stedmon, 2012). The fact that advanced riders show increased lane variance in both the 40 mph and 60 mph zones (where only the latter contains a significant number of bends) fits with the suggestion that their lane position varies, at least in part, for safety/visibility issues.…”

“…This would have the dual benefits of improving the racing line while also increasing visibility through the bend. A more detailed analysis of one particular simulated bend (Crundall, Crundall and Stedmon, 2012) supports this, as advanced riders were found to be only 2 feet to the left of the centre line at the start of the curve (as opposed to over 4 feet away from the centre line on average in the current data; see Figure 2, left panel). This suggests that advanced riders must move even further towards the centre line during slight curves in order to promote the best view through the bend, which then affords them an increase in speed through medium bends.…”

“…In recently published data we have noted advanced trained riders to have faster response times to hazards in a motorcyclespecific hazard perception test than merely-experienced riders, with novice riders falling nonsignificantly in-between (Crundall, van Loon, Stedmon and Crundall, 2013). The same group of experienced riders were also found to take a more pronounced racing line on a particular S-bend than advanced and novice riders while on a motorcycle simulator (Crundall, Crundall and Stedmon, 2012). The advanced riders took a line that favoured visibility through the curve rather than the 'racing line' which would have taken them closer to the apex of the curve, suggesting that their training had not evoked the sort of risky behaviour that might be expected from an unwarranted increase in confidence.…”

“…The frequency of these crashes is detailed in Table 2. Further details on collisions and the specific riding behaviour that preceded crashes with pre-specified hazards can be found elsewhere (Crundall, Stedmon, Saikayasit, and Crundall, 2013;Crundall, Crundall and Stedmon, 2012;.…”

“…On the second lap of the circuit riders encountered four pre-defined hazards, two in the 60 mph zone and two in the 40 mph zone. Specific responses to these pre-defined hazards are not considered further in this paper, but are discussed elsewhere (Stedmon, Crundall, Crundall, Saikayasit, van Loon, Irune, Ward and Greg, 2011;Crundall, Stedmon, Saikayasit and Crundall, 2013;Crundall, Crundall, and Stedmon, 2012).…”