Study finds motorbikes are apparently society’s costliest transport

IT'S BAD NEWS for humanity conscious bikers… it has emerged that we’re costing society more than any other mode of transport.

A study commissioned by the European Commision and made up on seven independent research bureaus calculated the social cost of major modes of transport when it comes to factors as accidents, air pollution, climate change, noise, congestions, well-to-tank emissions and habitat damage.

It discovered that although motorbikes cut congestion and take up less parking space, greater noise levels and the costs paid out over accidents involving two-wheel machines raise costs above cars.

According to Fleet Europe a motorbike generates external costs of 24.5 cents per kilometre (about 21p), compared to 12 cents for a car.

Quite how the figure is calculated to reach a numeric cost isn’t so clear and one imagines there are so extraneous factors on top of these already taken into account that this figure would surely fluctuate.

Also, this study was considered across Europe where trains, for instance, are considered much better value than in the UK when it comes to modernity, quality and quite simply turning up on time (or at all). It also includes High-Speed trains (1.9p per km) which, for Brits in most parts of the country is seemingly a generation away.

If you are concerned though, there is a solution at hand as electric motorbikes inevitably cure those noisy nuisances, though many have pointed out that it means the inability to rev to raise awareness of their presence in traffic poses some safety risks.

Then again there seems to be studies telling us chocolate is bad one week but could be healthy the next… so we’ll take our chances. Sorry society.