Making motorcycling safer requires more than focusing on the rider. Better roads, safer vehicles, effective training, improved protective equipment and evidence-based public policies must work together.

That was the central conclusion of the second International Motorcycle Safe Mobility Conference, held in Zaragoza, Spain, on 21 and 22 October 2026, where General Secretary Wim Taal spoke for FEMA.

The event brought together 47 speakers from 40 organisations, including the United Nations, the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank, the European Commission, universities, motorcycle manufacturers and riders’ organisations, including the Federation of European Motorcyclists’ Associations (FEMA).

At the conference global evidence on road deaths, injury prevention, rider training, vehicle technology and safer infrastructure were presented across two days. The conference explored how research, international data and practical experience can be translated into measures that reduce motorcycle deaths and serious injuries. The discussions covered everything from global road safety policy and occupational riding to head injuries, risk perception, connected motorcycles and road design.

FEMA: safety policy must recognise the realities of motorcycling FEMA and FIM represented the perspective of motorcyclists during the conference, with Wim Taal speaking for FEMA and Jesper Christensen for FIM. For FEMA, the discussions reinforce the importance of a balanced approach to motorcycle safety. Riders need roads designed with their vulnerability in mind, access to effective and affordable training and protective equipment, and safety technologies developed for the specific characteristics of motorcycles. Policy decisions should be grounded in evidence and take account of the diversity of motorcycle use, from everyday commuting and professional transport to leisure riding. You can watch the riders’ session on YouTube (from 04.17:50), moderated by Antonio Perlot from ACEM.

The global picture: motorcycle safety needs greater political attention
One of the conference’s main messages was that motorcycles must be explicitly included in national and international mobility and road safety strategies. The scale of the challenge remains substantial. Spain’s Director General of Traffic, Pere Navarro, highlighted that the country loses around 500 motorcyclists each year. He also cited an increase of 30% in motorcycle fatalities worldwide over the preceding decade. These figures underline the need to look beyond individual countries and consider the different roles motorcycles play around the world. In many countries, powered two-wheelers are essential for everyday transport, access to employment and the delivery of goods. In emerging urban economies, they can also provide an important source of income. Presentations from the World Health Organization, the World Bank and the United Nations Road Safety Fund examined the international road safety situation and the challenge of balancing mobility, economic opportunity and safety. The implication for policymakers is important: motorcycles should not be treated as an afterthought in transport planning. Their specific characteristics, benefits and risks need to be reflected in road safety strategies from the outset.

Motorcycle road safety in Asia-Pacific
Priti Gautam, road safety lead with the Asia-Pacific Road Safety Observatory (APRSO), working through the Asian Development Bank, reported that the region accounts for approximately 60% of global road traffic deaths, equivalent to around 700,000 deaths annually. Users of two-wheeled vehicles account for up to 46% of road fatalities in the region. The number of two-wheeled vehicles is growing much faster than the number of passenger cars in Asian cities. This increases the urgency of integrating motorcycle safety into transport planning rather than treating it as a separate or secondary issue. Priti Gautam called for roads designed to accommodate human error and reduce the consequences of crashes.

A new international guide brings together evidence and good practice
A major development presented at the conference was the Power Two Wheelers Riders’ Guide 2026: International Best Practices for Road Safety. Developed with contributions from the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF), the Spanish Directorate-General for Traffic (DGT), ANESDOR and the World Bank, the guide updates the earlier edition published in 2017. The scale of the review is noteworthy. According to Spain’s Ministry of the Interior, the work drew on more than 150 experts and institutions and examined over 2,300 documents from more than 50 countries. The result is a collection of 108 good practices, including four identified as controversial, and 26 measures for motorcyclists organised around six strategic pillars. Rather than prescribing a single solution for every country, the guide brings together measures that can help authorities identify appropriate interventions for their own circumstances. For European policymakers, this international evidence base offers an opportunity to compare approaches, assess what works and avoid introducing measures without considering their effectiveness in practice. The guide also reinforces the importance of treating motorcycle safety as a combination of risk prevention and the reduction of injury severity when crashes occur.

Understanding injuries: from crash data to better protection
A dedicated session examined how research into motorcycle crashes and injuries can improve prevention.

• Abdulgafoor M. Bachani of the Johns Hopkins International Injury Research Unit presented work on predictive models for motorcycle injuries. Such models can help researchers and policymakers better understand injury patterns and assess where prevention efforts could have the greatest impact.
• From Imperial College London, Professor Mazdak Ghajari discussed how real-world head impacts can inform the assessment of motorcycle helmets. The challenge is to make helmet evaluation more representative of the impacts motorcyclists experience in actual crashes, helping consumers make better-informed choices about protection.
• Shiyang Meng of Autoliv addressed the biomechanics of airbags, another area of research into reducing injury severity.

These presentations demonstrated the value of combining epidemiological evidence, biomechanics and engineering. Understanding not only how crashes happen but also how injuries occur can help improve protective equipment and the evaluation of its performance. For motorcyclists, the practical objective is straightforward: reduce the likelihood of a crash wherever possible, while also reducing the consequences when one cannot be avoided.

Risk perception and training
The human factor was another important theme. Professor David Crundall of Nottingham Trent University presented research on differences between how motorcyclists and car drivers perceive and identify hazards. Different road users may develop different expectations about traffic situations, which can affect how quickly they recognise a developing danger. This has implications for both rider training and the education of other road users. Safety measures should recognise that traffic is an interaction between people with different perspectives, levels of visibility and expectations.

Training initiatives
The Association of European Motorcycle Manufacturers (ACEM) presented its Learn–Ride–Enjoy–Repeat European quality label for rider training. Spain’s DGT discussed safe and efficient riding courses, while the Catalan Traffic Service presented its Formació 3.0 advanced motorcycle training programme. Together, these initiatives illustrate the value of structured, accessible training throughout a rider’s experience, rather than treating the acquisition of a licence as the end of the learning process. For FEMA, the key policy question is how to encourage effective post-licence training while ensuring that courses are relevant, accessible and supported by evidence of their benefits.

Safer motorcycles and connected technology
Vehicle engineering formed another major part of the programme. Hennes Fischer and Sebastian Will, representatives of the Connected Motorcycle Consortium discussed research into motorcycle reaction times and how this knowledge can inform the design of warning systems. The timing of an alert is critical: a warning must arrive early enough to help the rider respond, while avoiding unnecessary or distracting interventions.

Collaboration between manufacturers
Arnd Dippel from BMW Motorrad presented its broader approach to motorcycle safety, including active safety functions, while KTM’s Karl-Maria Grugl discussed the contribution of research and development to safer motorcycles. The wider lesson is that technology can contribute to crash prevention, but its effectiveness depends on how well it accommodates the realities of riding. Motorcycles differ from cars in their dynamics, stability requirements and interaction with road surfaces. Systems developed for passenger cars therefore cannot simply be transferred to motorcycles without considering these differences. Research, testing and collaboration between manufacturers and other stakeholders are essential to ensure that connected and active safety technologies genuinely support riders.

‘Safer motorcycling requires a safer system and that system must be designed with motorcyclists.’

Roads must be designed with motorcyclists in mind
Infrastructure was a central subject in the conference’s final technical session. Mircea Ionescu of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport (DG MOVE) discussed road infrastructure safety management in Europe. Kishan Vandael Schreurs of the Vias Institute examined motorcycle filtering through traffic, while Roberto Llamas of the World Road Association (PIARC) presented work on protective systems for motorcyclists and motorcycle traffic management. The discussions highlighted the importance of considering motorcyclists when designing, maintaining and assessing roads. Road surfaces, roadside obstacles, protective barriers and the way traffic is managed can all influence motorcycle safety. Measures that may work well for cars do not necessarily offer equivalent protection to riders. This is particularly relevant when authorities assess roadside restraint systems. Barriers and other protective infrastructure should be evaluated with the vulnerability of motorcyclists in mind, not solely against the needs of occupants of enclosed vehicles. The discussion of filtering also points to the importance of understanding actual riding behaviour and traffic conditions. Sound policy requires evidence about how motorcyclists move through traffic and the circumstances in which particular practices may create risks or benefits. For European authorities, the priority should be to incorporate motorcycle-specific considerations into infrastructure safety management and to assess interventions against real-world outcomes.

Motorcycle use for work: an increasingly important safety issue
The first day included a dedicated discussion of riding for professional purposes. Professional riding, including delivery work, creates particular challenges. Riders may spend long periods on the road, face time pressures and encounter a wide variety of traffic and weather conditions. The conference examined how road safety can be incorporated into employers’ mobility strategies and occupational safety practices. This is an important extension of traditional road safety policy. Responsibility for preventing crashes involving professional riders cannot rest solely with the individual on the motorcycle. Employers, platform operators, fleet managers and public authorities can all influence working conditions, training and risk exposure. Better integration of motorcycle safety into occupational road safety programmes could therefore provide an additional route to reducing casualties.

A Safe System approach: the central conclusion
The conference concluded with a shared emphasis on the Safe System approach. This recognises that serious crashes cannot always be prevented and that the transport system must be designed to reduce both the likelihood of crashes and the severity of their consequences. In Zaragoza, this meant bringing together five closely related areas: public policy, road infrastructure, vehicle technology, rider behaviour and training, and protective equipment and injury prevention.

The closing conclusions, presented by Álvaro Gómez of the DGT’s National Road Safety Observatory and Alba Martínez of ANESDOR, also stressed the need for better data and closer cooperation between institutions, researchers, industry and road users. The important distinction is between identifying possible measures and demonstrating that they work. Reliable data, evaluation and the sharing of international experience are necessary to turn research into effective policy.

The conference demonstrated why cooperation matters. Governments, researchers, manufacturers and riders’ organisations bring different expertise to the same challenge. Effective safety policy needs all of them at the table. The message from Zaragoza was not that one technology, training programme or infrastructure measure will solve the problem. It was that meaningful progress depends on combining measures, evaluating their results and ensuring that motorcyclists are explicitly considered in transport and road safety decisions.

The conference proved that motorcycle safety must be treated as a shared responsibility. Motorcycles must be explicitly included in mobility and road safety policies, combining safer infrastructure, effective training, safer vehicles and protective equipment, and evidence-based measures. Better data and cooperation between governments, industry, researchers and riders are essential to turn knowledge into fewer deaths and serious injuries. Safer motorcycling requires a safer system and that system must be designed with motorcyclists, not simply around them.

Thank you to the DGT (Spanish Directorate-General for Traffic), ANESDOR (Spanish Power Two-Wheelers Industry Association) and Mobility City for organising this incredible conference.

Thank you also to Chris Hodder from FIM, and Rubén Hilario Dominguez and Juan Manuel Reyes from FEMA’s Spanish member organisation ANM for their support.

The article is partially based on conference recordings, available on YouTube (click here for day one, click here for day two).

This article is subject to FEMA’s copyright

Photographs by Chris Hodder and Wim Taal