If you’re below 21-year-old and you ride pillion on a motorbike, you have a higher chance of dying, local media reported this week following the release of the results of a study conducted by Tan Tock Seng Hospital. While the report sought to cast young bikers — and pillions — in a high-risk group, and thus supports the recommendation of several policies targeted at motorcyclists in general, and young motorcyclists in particular, I find the study to be inadequate — even flawed.

TTSH’s hypothesis is this:

(1) Riding is dangerous –> Pillion riding is even more dangerous

Additionally:

(2) Young riders are reckless –> Young pillion riders are at even greater risk

Assuming:

(3) Young riders = young pillion riders

I accept point (1), but points (2) and (3) are complete hogwash.

First, there is no strength in the co-relation between young bikers and young pillions, a fact that was glossed over — intentionally or otherwise — by both the media coverage and the research team. The presentation of the ST article and the TTSH report tries to put it to us subliminally that young pillions and young riders are related, that is, that motorcyclists under the age of 21 carried these young pillions that were injured or killed in traffic accidents. This might true in a majority of cases because, for example, a 19-year-old rider is likely to pillion his friend, and his friend is likely to be around the same age. But to equate young riders to young riders is not only inaccurate, but methodically flawed. TTSH’s study assumes that young pillions do not ride with older motorcyclists, which is ridiculous. Have you never sat pillion on your father/mother/uncle/auntie’s motorcycle? If you had, and you were injured, TTSH’s study would assume that you were with a young rider, and hence suggest that young riders are to blame. The initial assumption (3) is unsupported.

Secondly, main author and registrar Dr Leong Quor Meng says: “if you are a young biker and reckless, you are putting your pillion at risk,” which shows a biased judgement against age. “Young and reckless” is a common phrase, but one that holds no scientific value. And this is supposed to be a scientific study, no? I’m 28 going on 29, and am still accused of being “reckless” at times. If you’re over 21, touch your heart and ask yourself: have you never been ‘reckless’ on the road? Speeding and lane-splitting are not exclusively youth-related diseases. The real reasons for more young riders getting into accidents on the road, I suspect, are less to do with a reckless disposition, than to more empirical reasons which I will explore in another article next week.

Meanwhile, I suggest you look at this article with a more critical eye. And ride safe!

Young pillion riders at greater risk of dying than young m-cyclists 

By Teh Joo Lin, The Straits Times

RIDING pillion is proving more dangerous than handling the motorcycle itself - at least for youngsters, according to a study by doctors at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH).

Over a three-year period, 96 motorcyclists and pillion riders aged 21 and younger were admitted to the hospital. Fifteen per cent, or 14 of them, died of their injuries later.

Although pillion riders formed the smaller group of 24 people, seven of them died compared to seven bikers.

That makes the death rate for young pillion riders three times that of young bikers.

Said main author and registrar Dr Leong Quor Meng: ‘If you are a pillion rider and you are young, the odds are against you.

‘And if you are a young biker and reckless, you are putting your pillion at risk.’

There were 103 deaths due to motorcycle accidents last year, one more than in 2006. Among them were nine who rode pillion, five of whom were aged 29 and younger.

The TTSH study indicated that the young suffered more severe injuries on the road, Dr Leong said.

‘And when you are young, you are supposed to be fitter. But somehow, the young ones are still dropping dead,’ he added.

As this was a statistical study, the authors - who included Dr Chiu Ming Terk and Dr Vijayan A. - did not look into the causes.

They looked at the records of 682 motorcycle accident victims admitted to the hospital between 2004 and 2006 to come up with their findings.

The victims were divided into two age groups: 21 and younger, and above 21, and statistical analyses were run.

Asked about the findings, Mr Tony Yeo, general secretary of the Singapore Motor Cycle Trade Association, puts down the cause to speeding among the younger set.

Serious injuries arise when motorcyclists speed as there is ‘less time and room for correction’.

But the danger to the pillion rider is greater because he is ‘blindsided’.

‘The rider knows what is happening…he can anticipate the bend he is going to make. But the pillion rider can’t.

‘His reaction time will always be at least half a second slower,’ said Mr Yeo, who has been riding for more than 30 years.

Some young pillion riders also take a cavalier attitude to riding. Instead of holding on to bikers’ waists, they lean back against the storage boxes or grip the back of the motorcycles.

‘This creates a V-shape between the biker and the pillion rider and the stability of the bike is affected,’ said Mr Yeo.

Mr Syed Ismail, spokesman for the Bukit Batok Driving Centre, said it was compulsory for bikers to learn how to ferry pillion riders.

‘Bike characteristics are completely different when you ride solo and when someone sits behind you,’ he said.

To help learners appreciate the difference and advise future passengers, trainees are paired up to practise ‘riding as pillion, and with pillion’.

Full-time national serviceman Sebastian Loh, 20, said he wouldn’t mind having men riding pillion with him - but not women.

‘If I meet with an accident, I wouldn’t know how to explain to their family,’ he said.

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