Researchers think so...check this link.

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Not so I can show you quite a few who have bought their bad car driving habits to motorcycles and perfected them. They are what is commonly known as moronic idiots.
However I will say that learning to ride before learning to drive is a very definite plus to the car driving.

I currently work as a driver tester for both car and bike tests, before this I spent 6 years working as an advanded motorcycle instructor while occasionally dipping into fleet car training and I think this gives me a good perspective to answer this question.
Few motorcyclists are unaware of their vulnerability while riding and here in Ireland motorcyclists are more likely to take training before sitting their tests than car drivers and a good portion go on to take advanced training.
 As a result motorcyclists are better trained than car drivers here, and generally speaking their riding will improve whereas for the vast majority of car drivers, passing their test is the pinnacle of their driving career.
Another contributing factor is that most car drivers do not take the task of driving as serously as motorcyclists.
I can usually tell when someone sitting their car test rides a motorcycle

Ya, my first car at age 18 was junk. Switched to motorcycles at age 19.

BTW, based on the article, shouldn't motorcycle owners get a discount on car insurance? 

I find that it all depends on the driver's/rider's mental mindset: if they have experience in other areas such as motorcycles, trucks, bicycles, etc., then it may well make them better drivers but, only when and if they see things from other viewpoints.

There is plenty of research that points to most riders forgetting all about bikes when they get behind the wheel of a car, and vice versa.  Minds are like parachutes - they only work well when they are open.

I found learning on a bike to be , (in my way of thinking ) less dangerous to all my friends

reasoning being that it was just me and the world doing the learning...and I wasn't filling a car up with ridiculously stupid people and possibly crashing it (with them onboard )

till about 25, 26  I think guys are hopelessly unpredictable ...is this the real age of reasoning ?

spacial awareness in city traffic on a bike caries more direct feed back and consequence

just what made sense to me at the time ,

Wow . . .This is something I have a little trouble with

My understanding is that we (ALL motorists), if we are competent drivers /riders/vehicle operators, and do not do stupid shit like texting while driving, drinking while driving , listing to music with things stuck in our ears etc,  . . .

ALL of us are reliant on each and every one of the other motorists out there to do the RIGHT thing by each of us at the right time and that this is where "road safety" comes in. It is when one motorist does the WRONG thing against an unsuspecting other road user that there is an accident or problem, causing a vehicle to at least swerve or stop suddenly


I might have travelled by M/cycle for 30 years every day but I am still in the same environment as someone is a car, with the pushbike on the inside lane, the bus 2 cars ahead and the motorbike right in front of me. I might have a higher awareness of the damaged caused if I have an accident but how can that make me a better driver in a car?

Bikes have 8 x the amount of road to uses as a car, are generally at least 3 - 4 times quicker in accell and have cornering ability most cars don't do.

I do not believe just because I ride a bike that I am a better car driver specific. I MAY be a better motorist with a bigger skill set than someone who has only ever driven a car but that does not make me "better. Just like if I can drive a truck and you can't.

A car driver who has done a defensive driving course @ age 25 is probably a much better car driver than the biker who is age 50, with 30 years biking experience, arrogant, ignorant and simply abusing the priveldge given, speeding around and not giving a rats about anyone else on the road

In fact, to me at least, the title of this thread is so so general, and there are so many variables it opens up a lot more questions than I can cover here

Its like asking if helicopter pilots are safer than airplane pilots. They both know how to fly but can both of them do so SAFELY.

The level of safety one invokes and practices is what the real question is really, as I see it anyway

like using power tools etc

The study directly equated "making a claim" to "proficiency of handling a motor vehicle"  I think that connection is a stretch.

I believe piloting a motorcycle makes the driver more aware of their vulnerability in traffic.  As a result, for more seasoned drivers, they have better situational awareness, and better understanding of the performance envelope of their vehicles.  That can translate to better control of a car and better awareness of the conditions around them.  I know that I always look both ways before entering an intersection with a traffic light, as I scan for people running red lights, eye contact with persons turning right, preparing for left turners about to invade my part of the road, and pedestrians launching themselves across the intersection while texting.

However, driving a motorcycle doesn't magically stop people from repeating bad driving habits.  Younger drivers still drive as if they are invincible, whether in a car or on a bike.  They lack accident or close call experience that makes them realize they are mortal.  Many drivers drive with an air of entitlement, as if they have a God given right to do whatever they wish on the road, oblivious to others sharing that space.  Luckily, it's nearly impossible to text while driving a motorcycle, or do other distracting actions...that is, up until now.  I don't think this recently introduced Scully helmet is a good idea.  I think it will lead to more accidents as users are distracted by the little screen in the periphery of their vision and loose that all important situational awareness of the real world around them.

One aspect this study did not highlight is that motorcyclists tend to drive in relatively good weather conditions, whereas car drivers drive in all conditions.  Motorcyclists are much more aware of temperatures, rain, snow, ice and other unfavourable road conditions because their vehicles feedback immediately the unsuitability of road conditions for tire traction, something car drivers are insulated from given all the protective systems now built into cars.  Car drivers lack that connection with the road.

What's that old saying?
'Lies, damn lies and statistics'
When they start offering us extra discounts on car insurance, then I'll be convinced.
I read about another study that stated that part of the brain doesn't fully develop until the mid twenties.
Supposed to be the part that recognises the consequences of an action.
In other words, until that point, they believe that if you crash, you will be able to walk away.

what we must all remember is that 84% of statistics are made up on the spot.

Comberjohn wrote:I read about another study that stated that part of the brain doesn't fully develop until the mid twenties.

This is the claim they make also when discussing drink driving laws.

Apparently we are, all of us, still in adolescence until 25 for girls and 28 - 30 for boys.

I would like to see the "proof" if such eveidence actually exists and is not a product of a study funded by the very lawmakers who use the data to convince the uneducated / naieve / that they actually think they know what is good for us.

If it were up to them I am sure motorcycles would be banned outright

RicK G wrote:what we must all remember is that 84% of statistics are made up on the spot.

lol . . . 84% .  .. . love your GSOH

Statistics can be used to say whatever you want 80% of people know that!

KafeRacer wrote:Statistics can be used to say whatever you want 80% of people know that!

Or statistics can say what you want 84% of the people to know!


But we (16% more or less) know different , don't we.

Comberjohn wrote:I read about another study that stated that part of the brain doesn't fully develop until the mid twenties.
Supposed to be the part that recognises the consequences of an action.

Quite correct.  If you asked men of my age to join the Army and go to Afghanistan, we'd tell you to get lost because we have seen men come back in boxes, or without a full set of limbs.  Ask a bunch of 19 year olds whether they'd go and the answer is different.  Up until about the age of 23 men do not process risk well, thinking that there is a risk but that it will not go wrong for them.

At what age does it begin to erode? 

This would explain my membership...

As a driving instructor sitting beside some of these kids, it would scare you just how unaware of the consequences of their actions they are.
That's the ones with licences, of course.
It's worrying how many are driving around with no licence or training at all.
Then as we get older we regard ourselves as really good, experienced drivers.
I regularly have to train older drivers who have lost their licence for imbibing the dizzy soup and the majority are lousy drivers.
Think I'll get a mobility scooter and drive on the pavement.:pale: