Faulty Study Targets Older Motorcyclists

A research paper recently published in the British Columbia Medical Journal unfairly targets older male motorcyclists. See http://bcmj.org/sites/default/files/BCMJ_56_Vol8_motorcycle.pdf The study examines limited data between 2001 and 2010 and reveals an increase in the rate of hospitalization among older motorcyclists. This could be for many reasons, but the researchers nevertheless feel compelled to produce their own biased and faulty conclusions. For example, older motorcyclists are increasing hospital costs and are a greater burden on the public purse. This is ageism and the same is often said about all seniors in our society these days. Another example, older motorcyclists need injury prevention training by health care professionals regarding age related physical and cognitive impairments that can influence riding skills and behavior. They do not even know the causes or have an explanation for the increased hospital rate yet they are already assuming that it is age-related and requires some kind of 'education' from a health nurse who may never even have sat on a motorcycle, let alone owned one.

The study is replete with disclaimers regarding research data and the lack thereof, such as the following: '...we did not have data on the circumstances of the crashes, such as time of day, invovlement of drugs or alchohol, use of safety equipment, weather conditions, or other information that would help us to understand trends and target safety efforts.' There are so many factors that may explain the increase in rate of hospitalization, (eg. distracted, inconsiderate motor-vehicle drivers, inadequate training or licensing requirements, powerful heavy bikes, poor attitude, poor economic decisions) but to make it appear worse than younger riders or compare it to motor-vehicle hospitalization rates is not useful and a gross distortion of what may really be going on.

This is a specious study that in my opinion is incomplete, faulty and poorly vetted so it never should have been published. It relies on dubious stale data up to a period that is already 4 years old and not current. The dissemination of this kind of misinformation can do more harm than good. It erodes public confidence in the health care and scientific professions, increases skepticism towards even good studies that include any kind of statistics and certainly does nothing to reduce injuries. (On a related topic, see my December 2012 post entitled, Middle-Aged Men .....based on my own armchair analysis of crash statistics in British Columbia).