The safety problems met by powered two-wheelers in urban traffic

Abstract

An important growth in motorcycle traffic has occurred during the last decades in most parts of the world, the result of which being that powered two-wheelers (PTWs) have gradually become a true mobility tool that attract an increasingly vast and varied population. But a side effect of such an evolution refers to road safety. As a matter of fact, most epidemiological studies show the overall excess risk facing PTW in the traffic system, this risk coming notably from the extreme vulnerability of PTW riders in case of a crash and relying on some specific accident patterns. Faced with this negative aspect of riding a motorcycle or a scooter, it is essential to thoroughly understand the risks that riders meet when moving in traffic and more specifically in the urban environment where they particularly develop. The present paper has the purpose of identifying the production processes that characterise PTW traffic crashes occurring in town in comparison with those produced in the countryside. The data relies on a detailed analysis of a sample of 1000 accident police records. The results put emphasis on the difficulties confronting PTW users when on the road or in the street and to analyse the repercussions of these difficulties in terms of critical situations that are met by riders. A better knowledge of the specificities and the mechanisms of PTW involvement in injury traffic accidents is viewed as offering a potential improvement in their safety through adapted urban road development.

Powered two-wheelers in urban environment: A detailed accident analysis

“…The first modality, 'Primary contributing', designates the drivers who are at the origin of the conflict that ended into a crash. It must be noted that, at the difference from the paper presented in Urban Transport XX [4] where only one road user could be primary active, in the present analysis it was considered conceivable that two protagonists of a same crash were classified under this label, as far as they both initiated a manoeuvre on the path of the other one (e.g. when a car turns across the path of a PTW rider who decides to overtake it).…”

“…The present paper aims at putting forward some of these human difficulties and the conditions of their production, as reflected by road crashes involving PTWs in town. A provisional version of this article has been presented in Urban Transport XX [4].…”

Risque d’accident des usagers de deux-roues motorisés associé aux pratiques de remontée de files sur autoroutes urbaines

“…Cette pratique est cependant perçue comme à risque par les usagers de deux-roues motorisés, comme par les automobilistes [3,4]. Les études d'accidents disponibles dans la littérature scientifique internationale montrent qu'en effet il s'agit d'une pratique à risque et qui donne lieu à la production d'accidents (voir notamment : [3,5,6,7,8]). Clarke et al [6] montrent, par exemple, qu'un accident de deux-roues motorisé sur vingt recensés en Grande-Bretagne implique un deux-roues motorisé en train de remonter une file de voitures.…”