They say that when men of a certain age buy a motorbike and get all geared up in leather they’re heading for a mid-life crisis! Unfortunately the Department for Transport accident statistics show that men of this age (40 to 49 years) are more likely to end up killed or seriously injured (KSI) than any other motorcycle riders. The reasons might seem obvious to an ergonomist, with users returning to a technology after a long spell ‘out of the loop’ where system performance has increased beyond previous user expectations, previous training/experience highlights latent gaps in user capabilities, technology is not as ‘transparent’ as it used to be, and user trust and safety is distorted by over-confidence or complacency in advanced technologies (e.g. automatic/linked braking systems, electronic suspension, steering dampers, etc.). It would seem to be a classic ergonomics problem and a rich field of inquiry but where’s the research?
I find motorcycling a fun way to get around – even in the winter! It’s economical, efficient and in most respects more environmentally friendly than a car. But from an academic perspective, I was surprised that there was so little research being done or previously published. There had been some conference and journal papers on rider comfort, clothing, anthropometry, etc., but not as much as you might expect. There was little mention of anything ergonomic in popular motorcycle magazines and when there was, the term was often misused. I’ve read articles where a motorcycle has ‘aggressive ergonomics’ or ‘bland ergonomics’ (whatever they mean!) but a clear appreciation of the fundamental HMI (human-motorcycle interface!) issues has been lacking.
Having spoken to most manufacturers about their take on ergonomics, some are very good (e.g. Triumph Motorcycles & Harley Davidson) and take rider issues seriously. Others seem to assume that because they’ve ‘got it right’ in the past they don’t need to focus specifically on ergonomics or they just say that their R&D is controlled by overseas headquarters, with little opportunity to focus on a specifically British or European user group. Given the technical progress and infiltration of advanced technologies into motorcycling (motorcycle control panels, rider information systems, satellite navigation, rider-pillion intercoms, bike-to-bike communications, etc.), motorcycle ergonomics appears to be a very important and under-represented area. Three years ago when I was looking at research in the area, this filled me with a mix of excitement and dread. It’s not every day you stumble across a new area of ergonomics waiting to be explored – but does it mean that there just isn’t the wider interest to support research in this area?
Three years later and the answer would appear to be that motorcycle ergonomics is slowly gathering pace. Sure, it’s a niche road user group (albeit with a disproportionately high KSI rate) with only 3% of UK households using a motorcycle, and new research is always hard to get off the ground. But luckily for me, and motorcycle ergonomics in general, there has been a popular Motorcycle Special Interest Group in the Society. Over the last three years I’ve been busy doing some research (not easy when you start without any funding) and developing a two-way process of introducing ergonomists to motorcycling, whilst also communicating the merits of ergonomics (and the Society) to potential stakeholders in the motorcycle industry, road safety organisations and motorcycle media. Getting new research off the ground is hard work and takes a lot of effort with start-up activities, funding to secure, and active promoting to be done. One of the most successful ways of doing this was by organising a sponsored motorcycle ride, the Long Way Up! (www.longwayup.org) which Triumph Motorcycles supported by loaning one of their motorcycles and which also served as a launch pad for developing research ideas. Since then there have been research trips to the British Motorcycle Federation’s annual motorcycle meeting to collect rider anthropometry data, invited talks at local Institute for Advanced Motorists (IAM) groups and a keynote speech at the IAM Motorcycle Conference last year. I have been to numerous road-safety partnership meetings resulting in promised letters of support for future proposals. In 2007 I won a new lecturer’s grant which provided the basis for building a unique motorcycle simulator. Throughout this time I’ve taken a conscious step in promoting the Society and ergonomics to a wider audience through TV and radio and popular motorcycle publications such as Motorcycle News, Bike and Advanced Rider. I’m a firm believer that we should not just be ‘publishing for promotion’ (usually measured in high impact journal papers) but that we have a duty to the Society, and society in general, to promote ergonomics in more accessible formats such as magazine articles and wider media opportunities.
As some sectors of the motorcycle industry embrace the importance of ergonomics there is a world of research to be done. Ultimately this will be good for the Institute but more fundamentally, it will be good for the user who until now has been somewhat overlooked.
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