New rider focus group

The University of Nottingham and the Motorcycle Action Group (MAG), with RideTo motorcycle training, are jointly running a series of focus groups (small discussion groups of six to eight people) about the motivations and aspirations of new riders of motorcycles, scooters, and mopeds (collectively, ‘powered two-wheelers’ or PTWs), and we are looking to recruit participants. Whatever you are learning (or have recently learned) to ride, we’d like to talk with you!

The focus groups will provide you with an opportunity to tell us why:

• you have chosen to ride at this point in your life (however old you may be)
• how long you hope to continue to ride for
• whether you hope to go on to take a test for a full motorcycle licence
• Anything else you’d like to tell us about being a learner-rider

Why do we want to know this?

• MAG looks to represent all PTW riders, and understanding why people choose to ride and what they hope to achieve will help them do this.
• PTW riders are a vulnerable road user group, and road transport policy needs to reflect their needs. These needs will vary according to the kinds of riding that people want to undertake.
• Increasingly, PTWs are seen as part of the solution to keeping people mobile in urban environments, reducing pollution and congestion (so-called ‘micro-mobility’). Is this reflected in why people are choosing to ride now?

Your views will be used to help us to produce a joint MAG/University of Nottingham report on new riders – why they are coming into riding, and what they are hoping to achieve in the longer-term. This will, in turn, inform MAG’s campaigning for riders’ rights and, we hope, road transport policy in the future.

The focus groups will take place in February and March 2022, online via Zoom or a similar platform, with exact dates to be confirmed. Focus groups (of six to eight people) will take no longer than ninety minutes each, and participants will be compensated for their time with a £20 Amazon voucher. Further information will be sent to participants prior to the meeting taking place.

If you are interested in taking part, please send an email to mathew.humphrey@nottingham.ac.uk with the subject heading ‘New Rider Focus Groups’, before 5pm on Thursday 24 February 2022.