A study of reported injury accidents among novice motorcycle riders in a Scottish region

A study is reported of the effect of sex, age, cubic capacity, and training on the rate of reported injury accidents in a cohort of 304 first time learner motorcycle riders resident in the Lothian and Borders of Scotland in 1983. Motorcycle in this paper includes all types of registerable two wheeled motor vehicle. Injury accidents as reported by the police were observed in this cohort over an average period of one year. The overall reported injury accident rate within the cohort was 8.2 per hundred riders. This rate does not seem to be markedly different to the Scottish rate for all riders. It was found that the cubic capacity of the motorcycle was the single most important risk factor of the four studied. The risk was disproportionately high in the 200+ cc category. Lower reported injury accident rates were observed for females and trained riders but these differences did not reach statistical significance mainly due to the low numbers of these two categories within the cohort. Contrary to popular assumption, younger riders within this cohort did not have higher injury accidents. A large proportion of the riders who had been involved in injury accidents within the cohort and who had registered 50 cc motorcycles were found to be riding higher capacity (mainly 200+ cc) motorcycles at the time of accident. There was a very low uptake of motorcycle training (7.3%) by the cohort. Approximately 15% of the cohort was female, a higher percentage than those reported by other studies.     

Are formally trained motorcyclists safer?

The present study was conducted to determine whether graduates of the Motorcycle Training Program (MTP) were less likely to have had an accident or committed a traffic violation while riding a motorcycle compared to informally trained (IT) motorcyclists. Since motorcyclists could not be randomly assigned to the training program, multivariate analyses were used to impose statistical control on the data. Samples of MTP graduates (N = 811) and IT motorcyclists (N = 1080) were interviewed about their riding experiences during the past four years including accidents and violations. Univariate analyses indicated that the MTP graduates were less likely than IT riders to have had accidents and violations during the criterion period. However, the graduates and IT riders differed in sex, age, time licensed, distance travelled, education and riding after drinking, all characteristics significantly related to accident and violation likelihood. Multivariate analyses, controlling for the differences in these characteristics, revealed that the MTP graduates and IT riders did not differ in accident likelihood but the MTP graduates were significantly less likely to have committed a traffic violation than the IT riders. Although the lower incidence of traffic violations among graduates could be attributed to the training program, it is possible that the graduates sought formal training because they were safety conscious and this attitude also influenced their riding behaviour.     

Traffic safety among motorcyclists in Norway: A study of subgroups and risk factors

Although it is widely recognized that motorcyclists have a particularly high accident risk, our knowledge of the mechanisms producing this accident risk is incomplete. The aims of the present paper are to identify subgroups of motorcyclists with a particularly high accident risk and to identify the relevant risk factors at work. The study presented in this paper relies both on a questionnaire (N = 3356) relating rider characteristics, behaviors and accident risk, and analyses of fatal motorcycle accidents (ca. 100) from 2005 to 2008 in Norway. The results reveal that riders of racing replica bikes (sport bikes), and riders younger than 19 years, including especially youths (16–17 years) riding light motorcycles (≤125 cm³), are subgroups of Norwegian motorcyclists with particularly high accident risks. Analysis of fatal motorcycle accidents reveals that about half of the fatal accidents involve sport bikes. Nearly all fatal accidents with sport bikes involved excessive speed. The combination of low age, low experience, risky behavior and “unsafe” attitudes seems to be a particular potent risk factor for Norwegian motorcyclists.     

A comparison of the hazard perception ability of accident-involved and accident-free motorcycle riders

Hazard perception is the ability to read the road and is closely related to involvement in traffic accidents. It consists of both cognitive and behavioral components. Within the cognitive component, visual attention is an important function of driving whereas driving behavior, which represents the behavioral component, can affect the hazard perception of the driver. Motorcycle riders are the most vulnerable types of road user. The primary purpose of this study was to deepen our understanding of the correlation of different subtypes of visual attention and driving violation behaviors and their effect on hazard perception between accident-free and accident-involved motorcycle riders. Sixty-three accident-free and 46 accident-involved motorcycle riders undertook four neuropsychological tests of attention (Digit Vigilance Test, Color Trails Test-1, Color Trails Test-2, and Symbol Digit Modalities Test), filled out the Chinese Motorcycle Rider Driving Violation (CMRDV) Questionnaire, and viewed a road-user-based hazard situation with an eye-tracking system to record the response latencies to potentially dangerous traffic situations. The results showed that both the divided and selective attention of accident-involved motorcycle riders were significantly inferior to those of accident-free motorcycle riders, and that accident-involved riders exhibited significantly higher driving violation behaviors and took longer to identify hazardous situations compared to their accident-free counterparts. However, the results of the regression analysis showed that aggressive driving violation CMRDV score significantly predicted hazard perception and accident involvement of motorcycle riders. Given that all participants were mature and experienced motorcycle riders, the most plausible explanation for the differences between them is their driving style (influenced by an undesirable driving attitude), rather than skill deficits per se. The present study points to the importance of conceptualizing the influence of different driving behaviors so as to enrich our understanding of the role of human factors in road accidents and consequently develop effective countermeasures to prevent traffic accidents involving motorcycles.     

Understanding the factors influencing safe and unsafe motorcycle rider intentions

The increasing popularity of motorcycles in Australia is a significant concern as motorcycle riders represent 15% of all road fatalities and an even greater proportion of serious injuries. This study assessed the psychosocial factors influencing motorcycle riders’ intentions to perform both safe and risky riding behaviours. Using an extended theory of planned behaviour (TPB), motorcycle riders (n = 229) from Queensland, Australia were surveyed to assess their riding attitudes, subjective norm (general and specific), perceived behavioural control (PBC), group norm, self-identity, sensation seeking, and aggression, as well as their intentions, in relation to three safe (e.g., handle my motorcycle skilfully) and three risky (e.g., bend road rules to get through traffic) riding behaviours. Although there was variability in the predictors of intention across the behaviours, results revealed that safer rider intentions were most consistently predicted by PBC, while riskier intentions were predicted by attitudes and sensation seeking. The TPB was able to explain a greater proportion of the variance for intentions to perform risky behaviours. Overall, this study has provided insight into the complexity of factors contributing to rider intentions and suggests that different practical strategies need to be adopted to facilitate safer and reduce risky rider decisions.     

Mobile phone use among motorcyclists and electric bike riders: A case study of Hanoi,Vietnam

Motorcyclist injuries and fatalities are a major concern of many developing countries. In Vietnam, motorcycles are involved in more than 70% of all road traffic crashes. This paper aims to explore the prevalence and factors associated with mobile phone use among motorcyclists and electric bike riders, using a case study of Hanoi, Vietnam. A cross-sectional observation survey was undertaken at 12 sites, in which each site was surveyed during a two-hour peak period from 16:30 to 18:30 for two weekdays and one weekend day. A total of 26,360 riders were observed, consisting of 24,759 motorcyclists and 1601 electric bike riders. The overall prevalence of mobile phone use while riding was 8.4% (95% CI: 8.06–8.74%) with calling having higher prevalence than screen operation: 4.64% (95% CI: 4.39–4.90%) vs. 3.76% (95% CI: 3.52–3.99%) respectively. Moreover, the prevalence of mobile phone use was higher among motorcyclists than electric bike riders: 8.66% (95%CI: 8.30–9.01%) vs. 4.43% (95% CI: 3.40–5.47%) respectively. Logistic regression analyses revealed that mobile phone use while riding was associated with vehicle type, age, gender, riding alone, weather, day of week, proximity to city centre, number of lanes, separate car lanes, red traffic light duration, and police presence. Combining greater enforcement of existing legislations with extensive education and publicity programs is recommended to reduce potential deaths and injuries related to the use of mobile phones while riding.     

Risk factors for injury accidents among moped and motorcycle riders

Objective

To study and quantify the effect of factors related to the riders of powered two-wheelers on the risk of injury accident involvement.

Methodology

Based on national data held by the police from 1996 to 2005, we conducted a case–control study with responsibility for the accident as the event of interest. We estimated the odds ratios for accident responsibility. Making the hypothesis that the non-responsible riders in the study are representative of all the riders on the road, we thus identified risk factors for being responsible for injury accidents. The studied factors are age, gender, helmet wearing, alcohol consumption, validity of the subject's driving licence and for how long it has been held, the trip purpose and the presence of a passenger on the vehicle. Moped and motorcycle riders are analyzed separately, adjusting for the main characteristics of the accident.

Results

For both moped and motorcycle riders, being male, not wearing a helmet, exceeding the legal limit for alcohol and travelling for leisure purposes increased the risk of accident involvement. The youngest and oldest users had a greater risk of accident involvement. The largest risk factor was alcohol, and we identified a dose–effect relationship between alcohol consumption and accident risk, with an estimated odds ratio of over 10 for motorcycle and moped riders with a BAC of 2 g/l or over. Among motorcycle users, riders without a licence had twice the risk of being involved in an accident than those holding a valid licence. However, the number of years the rider had held a licence reduced the risk of accident involvement. One difference between moped and motorcycle riders involved the presence of a passenger on the vehicle: while carrying a passenger increased the risk of being responsible for the accident among moped riders, it protected against this risk among motorcycle riders.

Conclusion

This analysis of responsibility has identified the major factors contributing to excess risk of injury accidents, some of which could be targeted by prevention programmes.     

Alcohol use and motorcycle accidents

An investigation of 1508 of the 1577 fatal and injury producing motorcycle accidents reported to Victoria police during 1974 revealed that alcohol usage was a significant factor. A similar result was indicated by five other Australian studies which report on post-mortem examinations of fatally injured motorcycle riders. Alcohol affected riders were significantly over represented in fatal and single vehicle accidents. The majority of killed riders had blood alcohol levels typical of problem drinkers. Motorcycle riders had similar blood alcohol levels to a comparable group of drinking car drivers but a significantly lower proportion of killed motorcycle riders were affected by alcohol than killed car drivers. Motorcycle riders affected by alcohol were mainly younger than twenty-five years of age, but this was probably due to the youthfulness of the motorcycle riding population.     

Risk factors for fatal road traffic accidents in Udine, Italy.

In the Province of Udine, Northeast Italy, mortality from road accidents is 37% higher than in the country as a whole. To identify the major risk factors for fatal crashes in this area, we analyzed the Police reports of 10,320 road traffic accidents that occurred from 1991 to 1996. Logistic regression was used to evaluate the association of characteristics of drivers and accidents with accident severity. The risk of involvement in fatal rather than non-fatal accidents was lower among females than among males (odds ratio (OR) = 0.65; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 0.53-0.80). Compared with subjects < 30 years of age, subjects aged > or = 65 had a significantly increased risk of fatal injury as pedestrians (OR = 10.87; 95% CI, 4.45-26.54), car drivers (OR = 1.85; 95% CI, 1.08-3.18), moped riders (OR = 3.53; 95% CI, 1.42-8.78), and bicycle riders (OR = 7.72; 95% CI, 2.56-23.29). In accidents that occurred from 1:00 to 5:00 h the risk of death was higher than from 6:00 to 11:00 h among pedestrians (OR = 8.88; 95% CI, 2.58-30.52), car drivers (OR = 4.95; 95% CI, 3.09-7.95), motorcycle riders (OR = 13.44; 95%CI, 2.54-71.05) and moped riders (OR = 8.76; 95% CI, 2.42-31.69). Risk of death among pedestrians, car drivers, moped, and bicycle riders was also significantly increased on roads outside the urban center. Driver's injury was strongly associated with lack of use of seat belts (OR = 13.27; 95% CI, 9.39-18.74, for fatal injury; OR = 2.49; 95% CI, 2.17-2.86, for non-fatal injury). Simple interventions focused on protecting the weakest road users and based on law enforcement, behavioral change and environmental modification might result in reducing the significant excess of road traffic accident mortality found in the study area.     

Exposure survey of motorcyclists in New South Wales

This paper reports the results of an exposure survey of 794 registered motorcycle riders, with an average of 18.1 years of riding experience, in the State of New South Wales, Australia. Respondents completed two postal surveys, separated by about 6 months, that included items relating to their crash history, riding patterns, characteristics of their motorcycle, and its odometer reading. Odometer readings indicated that respondents rode a mean of 5208 km each year, and that annual exposure was related to gender, motorcycle type, and dominant riding location, time of week, and purpose. The amount of riding reported for different purposes changed with age, with older riders more likely than younger riders to ride for recreational reasons and on weekends. The mean crash rate (based on self-reported crash involvement) was 0.96 crashes/100,000 km. The crash rate declined with age, was highest in the Sydney metropolitan area, was lowest for motorcycles with large engines, and was highest for trail and dual-use motorcycles. There was a relationship between annual exposure and crash risk such that riders who rode relatively little had higher crash risks (per 100,000 km travelled) than riders who rode more often. A cluster analysis identified three groups of riders with higher-than-average risks of crash involvement.