Motorbike riders account for over half of road deaths in Townsville region this year

Motorbike riders account for more than half of the road deaths in the Townsville region so far this year, a statistic the head of the Highway Patrol has never seen so high.

Of the 13 traffic fatalities in the region since January 1, seven have been riders.

The most recent was a 74-year-old Canadian woman who was killed in a collision between her moped and a car on Magnetic Island on Sunday.

The death was the fourth in as many weeks for the Townsville region.

Patriots Australia Military Motorcycle Club Townsville chapter president Andrew Mildern said each fatality led to members of the group messaging each other to make sure everyone was OK.

"That could be one of us," the 59-year-old said.

In Queensland, 14 per cent of driver licences issued were for motorcycles, yet riders made up more than a quarter of the state's road fatalities this year, according to the Department of Transport and Main Roads.

Statewide, the 58 deaths on motorcycles and mopeds so far this year represents a 30 per cent increase on the same time last year and a 17.4 per cent increase on the five-year average.

Safety gears saves lives

Mr Mildern has been riding motorcycles since he was 14 years old and has had several close calls.

He urged riders not to be complacent on the roads.

"We have to be extremely cognitive of everything around us, down to the person who is going to pull out in front of us because they don't see us," the Australian Army veteran said.

He said his helmet and leathers had saved him from serious injury in the past.

"I was about to pull up at a set of traffic lights and just got hit in the rear," Mr Mildern said.

"I ended up 360 in the air, landing on my face, sliding on the road."

Riders mostly at fault

Motorcycle deaths in the Townsville area this year have already more than doubled last year's total of three.

Highway Patrol Senior Sergeant Robert Nalder said speed had been a factor in some of the crashes.

"It's tragic, it really is. To have four in a month is not good at all," he said.

Senior Sergeant Nalder said there was no obvious explanation for the increase in deaths.

"It is definitely something we haven't seen before," he said.

"It may be something we can never pinpoint why."

A 16-year-old boy killed in March was the youngest to die this year. The 74-year-old woman was the oldest.

"That idea of age, sex, type, is not there — it's right across the board," Senior Sergeant Nalder said.

Preventable accidents

Safety trainer Gerard Devine said speed was a factor in about 40 per cent of fatal motorcycle crashes.

He said the rider was considered at fault in about 80 per cent of fatal cases.

"We know there is an element of risk when riding, but we can control a lot of that risk," he said.

"If we adjust how we do that we can hopefully reduce that figure significantly."

Mr Devine said many riders did not continue safety training after attaining their licence.

"Those skills diminish all the time, so you've got to keep updating your skills and knowledge base," he said.

The Townsville man previously worked as a first responder and now runs a motorcycle training school.

"I have gone to way too many traffic crashes involving motorcyclists," Mr Devine said.

"We all know somebody that's lost somebody and you don't get over it."

The state government's subsidised post-licence rider training program Ride to Zero has mostly been delivered in the south-east, with just 27 Townsville riders accessing the program.

But a Transport and Main Roads spokesperson said the program was "increasingly being delivered across regional Queensland" and that there had been applications in the north, central and western parts of the state.