Analyzing Safety Concerns of (e-) Bikes and Cycling Behaviors at Intersections in Urban Area

Abstract

Extensive effort has been devoted to examining the causal relationship between contributing factors and injury severities. Given the important role of riders’ behaviors in traffic conflicts, this paper aims to analyze the causal effects of traffic conflicts resulting from riders’ behaviors at intersections. The authors collected video data on 152 traffic conflicts caused by riders’ dangerous behaviors in Jiangning District, China. This paper proposes a Bayesian-structural equation modeling (BSEM) approach. Based on the obtained BSEM path coefficient diagram, the factor loadings and path coefficients are analyzed to unveil the potential influence of factors, including personal features, dangerous behavior tendency, temporal and spatial characteristics of dangerous behavior, and the external environment. The results show that compared to human factors, environmental factors have a less direct impact on the severity of traffic conflicts; instead, they have an indirect positive impact on traffic conflicts by affecting behaviors. That is, if riders judge that road conditions are not suitable to conduct dangerous behaviors, they become more cautious in view of current road conditions and time revenue. Furthermore, dangerous cycling behaviors that continue to encroach on the time and space of motorized vehicles are prone to be more dangerous. The dangerous behaviors that continuously encroach on the time and space of motor vehicles (e.g., disobeying traffic signals and riding in a motorway) are significant predictors of serious conflicts. Considering the heterogeneity of riding behavior, these findings could be applied to develop effective education and intervention programs for preventing riders’ high-risk behaviors and improving the traffic environment.

Numerical Analysis of an Autonomous Emergency Braking System for Rear-End Collisions of Electric Bicycles

“…Liu and Chen [ 6 ] argued that college students had a tendency to make phone calls while riding e-bicycles, and due to a lack of professional training, collisions involving riders were expected to occur. Based on the analysis of video data collected from 152 traffic collisions involving e-bicycles in China, Wang et al [ 4 ] found that, in comparison to human factors, environmental factors had a less direct impact on the severity of collisions. Moreover, consistently occupying motor vehicle lanes was identified as a significant contributing factor to serious collisions.…”

“…Researchers have proposed various relevant measures to prevent the occurrence of traffic collisions involving e-bicycles. From the perspective of strengthening traffic management and rider safety education, Wang et al [ 4 ] believed that effective educational and intervention programs were needed to prevent high-risk riding behaviors among riders and improve the traffic environment. Liu and Chen [ 3 ] concluded that offering psychological counseling to college students can effectively cut down on hazardous riding behaviors.…”

“…To improve the traffic safety of e-bicycle riders, extensive studies have been conducted to identify characteristics of hazardous riding behavior [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ]. Researchers have found that hazardous riding behaviors among e-bicycles, such as occupying motor vehicle lanes, manned riding, over-speeding, riding against traffic, red-light running, and using mobile phones while riding, are mainly caused by human factors [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ]. In addition, non-human factors like weather conditions and road conditions [ 8 , 9 , 10 ] can also contribute to hazardous riding behaviors.…”

“…In addition, non-human factors like weather conditions and road conditions [ 8 , 9 , 10 ] can also contribute to hazardous riding behaviors. To reduce hazardous riding behaviors and prevent collisions involving e-bicycles, various safety measures have been proposed, including strengthening traffic management and rider safety education [ 4 , 6 ], improving relevant laws and regulations [ 11 , 12 , 13 ], and further enhancing the riding environment for e-bicycles [ 14 ].…”