ONLINE MOTORCYCLE SAFETY INFORMATION SEEKING AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO RISK TAKING AND PROTECTIVE BEHAVIORS

Objective: Although substantial research examines motorcycle accidents after they happen, less is known about how motorcycle riders obtain safety information and how this relates to risk taking and protective behaviors. Rather than taking a reactive approach (i.e., investigating accidents after they happen), this study takes a proactive approach by investigating riders’ reports of their behaviors in relation to motorcycle riding and related activities. The goal is to determine models predictive of risk taking and protective behaviors among motorcycle riders. Methods: A web-based survey was used to collect data from 269 participants who belong to an online motorcycle community in Alabama. The data were used to examine the relationship between use of the website for information seeking and two outcomes: frequency of risky riding behaviors and frequency of wearing protective gear. Analyses used multivariate ordinary least squares regression models, adding variables to the model in the following order: (1) use of the website for information seeking, (2) risk perception, (3) cues to action, and (4) control variables accounting for motorcycle riding experience, skills, and socio-demographic factors. Conclusions: Searching for safety information was associated with less risky riding behavior and greater use of protective gear. However, general use of the community website was associated with greater risk taking. This study advances prior work by examining predictors of risky riding behavior and wearing of protective gear, rather than reactively examining determinants of motorcycle crashes.

[1]  F L Mannering,et al.  Statistical analysis of motorcyclists' perceived accident risk. , 1995, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[2]  Michael G. Lenné,et al.  Hazard perception abilities of experienced and novice motorcyclists: An interactive simulator experiment , 2009 .

[3]  Katina Kardamanidis,et al.  Motorcycle rider training for the prevention of road traffic crashes. , 2010, The Cochrane database of systematic reviews.

[4]  J. Kronenfeld,et al.  Chronic illness and health-seeking information on the Internet , 2007, Health.

[5]  Karl Kim,et al.  Finding Fault in Motorcycle Crashes in Hawaii: Environmental, Temporal, Spatial, and Human Factors , 2001 .

[6]  E. Hargittai.  The Digital Reproduction of Inequality , 2008 .

[7]  Gabriel Jderu.  Motorcycles, body and risk: The motorcyclists’ social career , 2015 .

[8]  L De Rome,et al.  Survey of motorcyclists and their safety initiatives , 2004 .

[9]  Yusuf Mehta,et al.  Effectiveness of Motorcycle Training and Licensing , 2009 .

[10]  Mary C. Sheehan,et al.  Road safety messages tailored for young adults: Using the internet and encouraging protective passenger behaviour , 2011 .

[11]  Mary C. Sheehan,et al.  The potential for a web based intervention to improve young adult passenger safety , 2009 .

[12]  Richard L. Celsi,et al.  An Exploration of High-Risk Leisure Consumption through Skydiving , 1993 .

[13]  Lara C. Stache,et al.  Internet and Society: Social Theory in the Information Age , 2012, Rhetoric and Public Affairs.

[14]  J. McAlexander,et al.  Subcultures of Consumption: An Ethnography of the New Bikers , 1995 .

[15]  Rudolf G. Mortimer.  A further evaluation of the motorcycle rider course , 1988 .

[16]  S. Pandey,et al.  Women's health and the internet: understanding emerging trends and implications. , 2003, Social science & medicine.

[17]  Derek Yach,et al.  The Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS): Development, Design, and Dissemination , 2004 .

[18]  Hong-Dar Isaac Wu,et al.  The effect of crash experience on changes in risk taking among urban and rural young people. , 2004, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[19]  Fred L. Mannering,et al.  Effectiveness of Motorcycle Training and Motorcyclists' Risk-Taking Behavior , 2007 .

[20]  L Quine,et al.  Perceptions of risk in motorcyclists: unrealistic optimism, relative realism and predictions of behaviour. , 1998, British journal of psychology.

[21]  Michael Fitzharris,et al.  Novice riders and the predictors of riding without motorcycle protective clothing. , 2011, Accident; analysis and prevention.