Analysis of the Crash Characteristics of Senior Motorcyclists in Serious Accidents in Straight Lanes

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Title:	Analysis of the Crash Characteristics of Senior Motorcyclists in Serious Accidents in Straight Lanes
Other Titles:	高齡者路段事故特性分析
Authors:	Chang, Sheng-Hsiung;Chen, Wan-Hui;Chen, Pin-Fan;Mak, Long-Ching
Contributors:	淡江大學運輸管理學系
Keywords:	crash characteristics;motorcycle;senior motorcyclists
Date:	2013-10-25
Issue Date:	2013-11-16 17:11:53 (UTC+8)
Publisher:	Rome: Roma Tre University
Abstract:	In Taiwan, motorcycles are a popular mode of transportation, with an average motorcycle ownership of 0.6 motorcycles per person. Because of their low visibility and lack of protection, motorcyclists are vulnerable road users. As expected, among all transportation modes, motorcycles present the most serious safety problems in Taiwan. However, although motorcycles are a dangerous transportation mode, they still play an important role because they are a convenient means of transportation. Numerous seniors ride motorcycles for their daily activities, especially in rural areas where public transportation is infrequent or nonexistent. There have been numerous serious accidents involving senior motorcyclists occurring in straight lanes, but there are few studies investigating the causalities for this type of accident. This study aims to identify the accident characteristics for the most serious safety problems for senior motorcyclists and to develop engineering and educational safety improvement strategies. This study analyzes crashes involving elderly motorcyclists in Taiwan from 2006 through 2010 to investigate accident characteristics. In total, 71,754 senior motorcyclists were involved in accidents, and 23,849 (33.5%) of these seniors were involved in accidents occurring in straight lanes. Of these 23,849 older motorcyclists, 4,275 (17.9%) were involved in single-vehicle accidents (e.g., hitting a tree), 18,649 (78.2%) were involved in two-vehicle accidents (i.e., colliding with one other vehicle), and 925 (3.9%) were involved in accidents involving three or more vehicles. Because two-vehicle accidents were the major type of motorcycle accident in which seniors were involved, we investigated two-vehicle accidents to understand their accident characteristics. The results show that the three major accident types in straight lanes were the following: the sideswipe accident not resulting from an improper turn (36.2%), the sideswipe accident resulting from an improper turn in straight lanes (25.2%) and the rear-end accident (13.8%). Among the 18,649 older motorcycle riders involved in two-vehicle accidents, 7,593 (40.7%) collided with passenger cars and 6,929 (37.2%) collided with other motorcycle riders. One possible reason for the sideswipe accidents is that seniors are sometimes unstable on their motorcycles, which causes them to weave on the road. Another major problem is that senior motorcyclists made improper left turns or U-turns in straight lanes, and were hit by vehicles behind them or coming from the opposite direction. It is very important to educate seniors about the hazards of making improper turns in straight lanes, and to suggest that they ride to the next intersection to make a left turn or U-turn. A possible reason for the rear-end accidents in straight lanes is that drivers of other vehicles did not keep the proper following distance behind older motorcyclists. The following factors are examined further to investigate crash characteristics for senior motorcyclists in these three types of serious accidents in straight lanes: other vehicle type (i.e., motorcycle or passenger car), time of day, age (young elderly or older elderly), gender, road type, and road median type. Educational and engineering safety improvement strategies are proposed based on the crash characteristics found in the study.
Relation:	Road Safety and Simulation International Conference (RSS2013), pp.1-14
Appears in Collections:	[Graduate Institute & Department of Transportation Management] Proceeding

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RSS2013-Analysis of the Crash Characteristics of Senior Motorcyclists in Serious Accidents in Straight Lanes	張勝雄發表於RSS2013 之論文	159Kb	Adobe PDF	421	View/Open

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