A dynamic analysis of motorcycle ownership and usage: A panel data modeling approach

This study aims to develop motorcycle ownership and usage models with consideration of the state dependence and heterogeneity effects based on a large-scale questionnaire panel survey on vehicle owners. To account for the independence among alternatives and heterogeneity among individuals, the modeling structure of motorcycle ownership adopts disaggregate choice models considering the multinomial, nested, and mixed logit formulations. Three types of panel data regression models – ordinary, fixed, and random effects – are developed and compared for motorcycle usage. The estimation results show that motorcycle ownership in the previous year does exercise a significantly positive effect on the number of motorcycles owned by households in the current year, suggesting that the state dependence effect does exist in motorcycle ownership decisions. In addition, the fixed effects model is the preferred specification for modeling motorcycle usage, indicating strong evidence for existence of heterogeneity. Among various management strategies evaluated under different scenarios, increasing gas prices and parking fees will lead to larger reductions in total kilometers traveled.     

A different perspective on conspicuity related motorcycle crashes

The most common type of conflict in which a motorcyclist is injured or killed is a collision between a motorcycle and a car, often in priority situations. Many studies on motorcycle safety focus on the question why car drivers fail to give priority and on the poor conspicuity of motorcycles. The concept of ‘looked-but-failed-to-see’ crashes is a recurring item. On the other hand, it is not entirely unexpected that motorcycles have many conflicts with cars; there simply are so many cars on the road. This paper tries to unravel whether – acknowledging the differences in exposure – car drivers indeed fail to yield for motorcycles more often than for other cars. For this purpose we compared the causes of crashes on intersections (e.g. failing to give priority, speeding, etc.) between different crash types (car–motorcycle or car–car). In addition, we compared the crash causes of dual drivers (i.e. car drivers who also have their motorcycle licence) with regular car drivers. Our crash analysis suggests that car drivers do not fail to give priority to motorcycles relatively more often than to another car when this car/motorcycle approaches from a perpendicular angle. There is only one priority situation where motorcycles seem to be at a disadvantage compared to cars. This is when a car makes a left turn, and fails to give priority to an oncoming motorcycle. This specific crash scenario occurs more often when the oncoming vehicle is a motorcycle than when it is a car. We did not find a significant difference between dual drivers and regular car drivers in how often they give priority to motorcycles compared to cars.     

Issues in motorcycle sensory and cognitive conspicuity: The impact of motorcycle low-beam headlights and riding experience on drivers’ decisions to turn across the path of a motorcycle

Background

Crashes involving a passenger car and a motorcycle, where the car is turning across the path of the motorcycle, are a major crash type of motorcycle riders. It has been proposed that the incidence of such crashes could be reduced through improvements in motorcycle conspicuity. Operation of low-beam headlights on motorcycles has been discussed as one approach for improving the “sensory conspicuity” of motorcycles during daylight hours, whilst previous experience as a rider may serve to heighten “cognitive conspicuity” through raised awareness of motorcyclists on our roads.

Method

Twenty-three experienced car drivers with no riding experience (“drivers”) and 20 experienced car drivers who were also motorcycle riders (“driver–riders”) completed a series of trials in a driving simulator where their task in each trial was to turn ahead of an oncoming vehicle if they felt that they had sufficient room to do so safely. A key manipulation across trials was whether the oncoming vehicle was a motorcycle with headlights on, or a motorcycle with headlights off. Time gap (short, medium, long) was also manipulated.

Results

Results indicate that, at time gaps defined in the current study as short, low-beam headlights may confer some benefit in gap acceptance by encouraging drivers to accept fewer gaps ahead of a motorcycle with headlights on than ahead of a motorcycle with headlights off. No statistically significant differences in gap acceptance between the headlight conditions were found at either the medium or long time gaps. Irrespective of time gap, driver–riders were found to adopt a more efficient turn strategy than drivers with no direct riding experience.

Conclusions

Overall, the present research provides support for the use of low-beam headlights and riding experience as tools through which to augment the sensory and cognitive conspicuity of motorcycles, respectively. It is proposed that further research aim to explore directly the precise mechanisms underlying the observed effects.     

The relationship between the travelling speed and motorcycle styles in urban settings: A case study in Belgrade

This report examines the difference in the distribution of the speeds of different motorcycle styles and the difference in the distribution of speeds of particular motorcycle styles and cars. The relationship between the speed of motorcycles that possess and those that do not possess vehicle registration plates was also explored. The speed was measured at six different locations on main roads in the city of Belgrade, Serbia. The study confirmed that, on average, motorcyclists drive faster than drivers of cars, but extreme speeding is recorded 2.3 times more often by motorcyclists than by car drivers. In this research, the styles of motorcycles were divided into three different groups according to their average speeds. The first group consists of sport motorcycles, which were faster than the other styles. The second group consists of scooter motorcycles, which were slower. The third group consists of conventional, touring, enduro, and chopper motorcycles with speeds that were statistically not significantly different. According to the differences of the mean speed of motorcyclists who use and do not use vehicle registration plates, the use of the registration plates can be considered a significant indicator of traffic safety. By classifying motorcycles in the three different groups, the issue of “generalizing” motorcyclists as a unique group is avoided and can be taken into consideration for future studies of motorcyclist safety.     

Car drivers' attitudes towards motorcyclists: a survey

Motorcyclists are over-represented in UK traffic accident statistics. Many car–motorcycle accidents are however due to the inappropriate actions of car drivers. It is predicted that car drivers at risk of collision with motorcycles have divergent attitudes and beliefs about motorcyclists compared to safer drivers, which may lead to a deficient mental model guiding their interactions with motorcyclists. To assess car drivers’ attitudes towards motorcyclists, a survey was undertaken. Respondents filled in 26 general and motorcycle-related items and the 24 items of the reduced Driver Behaviour Questionnaire. Compared to an experienced dual driver group (who both drive cars and ride motorcycles), all other drivers showed divergent beliefs and attitudes. Four factors were extracted from the motorcycle items: negative attitudes, empathic attitudes, awareness of perceptual problems, and spatial understanding. Car drivers with a moderate amount of experience (between 2 and 10 years driving) held the most negative views and reported the most violations. The results have lead to several suggestions for interventions aimed at decreasing the divergence between drivers’ perceptions of motorcyclists, and the perceptions of experienced dual drivers.     

Trends in deaths due to motorcycle crashes and risk factors in injury collisions

In the past 25 years, the numbers of registered motorcycles in the United States and California have increased about 1000 and 1100%, respectively. In the same period, the motorcycle collision death rate per million population more than doubled. The purposes of the study were to examine time trends in deaths due to motorcycle collisions, examine a methodologic problem in the study of motor vehicle collision death rates, and to determine driver and vehicle factors which may discriminate in the production of motorcycle crash related injurites.

With the exception of 1974, the increase in the ratio of registered motorcycles per 100,000 population in the United States corresponded to an increase in the crude death rate per million population. A similar pattern was also found in California.

Stepwise discriminant analysis was used to determine an optimum set of factors associated with motorcycle collision injuries. The analysis indicated that for male drivers age was the single factor most significantly related to motorcycle collision injuries. Other factors, in addition to age, which added to the power of the discrimination included number of prior motorcycle driving violations, frequency of motorcycle use, number of prior motorcycle crashes, motorcycle drivers' training, and height of the drivers.     

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.     

Motorcyclists violating hook-turn area at intersections in Taiwan: An observational study

Research has suggested that the most typical and catastrophic automobile–motorcycle crash takes place when an automobile manoeuvres into the path of an oncoming motorcycle at intersection, which involves a motorist infringing upon the motorcycle's right of way (ROW). In Taiwan, motorcycles, on the other hand, are the one that has been observed to violate the ROW of approaching automobiles at intersections. Such a ROW-violation by left-turn motorcyclists in front of approaching traffic is a safety problem in terms of its frequency and accident consequence. Using high-definition video cameras to capture motorcycles’ behaviours, the present study empirically analyses the determinants of motorcyclists violating the hook-turn area (HTA) that has been implemented in Taiwan to deter motorcyclists from violating the ROW of approaching vehicles. Mixed (random parameters) logit models are found to be superior in fitting the data to traditional binary logit models. Main findings include that there was an increased likelihood of HTA-violation at T/Y intersections, in rural areas, during non rush hours, when the riders were females, younger, when riders were travelling on mopeds or heavier motorcycles, when traffic volume was less, and when riders were with half-style helmets. Implications of the research findings, the concluding remarks, and recommendations for future research are finally provided.     

Reasons underlying behaviour of motorcyclists disregarding traffic regulations in urban areas of Indonesia

Over the last decade, motorcycle use has been rapidly increasing in Indonesia as have violations of traffic rules committed by motorcyclists. This study aims to explore the impacts of motorcyclists’ attitudes, habits, preferences, and travel patterns on their behaviour in disregarding traffic regulations in three cities in Indonesia. The theory of planned behaviour and structural equation modelling are employed to explore these relationships. Consistent with results from previous studies in developed countries, an individual’s beliefs and attitudes, social norms and perceived behaviour control significantly influence behaviour in disregarding traffic rules. Young adults and students are found to be more likely to frequently violate traffic regulations. However, unlike previous findings from developed countries, in Indonesia, males are less likely to disregard traffic rules than females. Overall, pushing the motorcycle through a (very) narrow gap, speeding, driving recklessly, and overtaking on the wrong side are the most frequent traffic violations that make up repetitive violation behaviour among urban motorcyclists in Indonesia. The results highlight the need to revisit Indonesian National Traffic Law traffic violation classification and penalties and separate violations that are likely to cause fatal results, thus requiring tougher law enforcement, from violations that are unlikely to have fatal consequences.     

Self-reported motorcycle riding behaviour among school children in India

Studies on traffic accidents among underage users of motorcycles are seldom seen in literature. This study was done in Yamunanagar, India where boys as young as 8 years ride motorcycles. It attempts to find out the behavioural and non-behavioural factors leading to motorcycle use and the predisposition to accidents among male school children aged between 10 and 16 years. A questionnaire was used to evaluate those factors among 1760 subjects in 38 schools. Fifteen percent of subjects had had an accident while riding motorcycle. Most of the behavioural and all the non-behavioural factors have a statistically significant influence on accident proneness. Aggressive behaviour and previous encounter with the police are the two strong predictors of accidents (p<0.001). Children as riders are exposed to higher risks of accident and longer life with disability. It also explains how these children behaviourally take up adult roles and seek adult risk taking attitudes. The implications of child motorcycle riders upon children themselves and on the society are discussed for a greater discourse on road safety motorcycle riding policy and to highlight the behavioural and non-behavioural factors that are associated with traffic accidents.     

Role of sensory and cognitive conspicuity in the prevention of collisions between motorcycles and trucks at T-intersections

Motorcyclists are particularly vulnerable to injury in crashes with heavy vehicles due to substantial differences in vehicle mass, the degree of protection and speed. There is a considerable difference in height between motorcycles and trucks; motorcycles are viewed by truck drivers from downward angles, and shorter distances between them mean steeper downward angles. Hence, we anticipated that the effects of motorcycle conspicuity treatments would be different for truck drivers. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the effects of motorcycle conspicuity treatments on the identification and detection of motorcycles by truck drivers. Two complementary experiments were performed; the first experiment assessed the impact of motorcycle sensory conspicuity on the ability of un-alerted truck drivers to detect motorcycles, and the second experiment assessed the motorcycle cognitive conspicuity to alerted truck drivers. The sensory conspicuity was measured in terms of motorcycle detection rates by un-alerted truck drivers when they were not anticipating a motorcycle within a realistic driving scene, while the cognitive conspicuity was determined by the time taken by alerted truck drivers to actively search for a motorcycle. In the first experiment, the participants were presented with 10 pictures and were instructed to report the kinds of vehicles that were presented in the pictures. Each picture was shown to the participants for 600 ms. In the second experiment, the participants were presented with the same set of pictures and were instructed to respond by clicking the right button on a mouse as soon as they detected a motorcycle in the picture. The results indicate that the motorcycle detection rate increases, and the response time to search for a motorcycle decreases, as the distance between the targeted motorcycle and the viewer decreases. This is true regardless of the type of conspicuity treatment used. The use of daytime running headlights (DRH) was found to increase the detection rate and the identification of a motorcycle by a truck driver at a farther distance, but effect deteriorates as the distance decreases. The results show that the detection rate and the identification of a motorcyclist wearing a black helmet with a reflective sticker increases as the distance between the motorcycle and the truck decreases. We also found that a motorcyclist wearing a white helmet and a white outfit is more identifiable and detectable at both shorter and longer distances. In conclusion, although this study provides evidence that the use of appropriate conspicuity treatments enhances motorcycle conspicuity to truck drivers, we suggest that more attention should be paid to the effect of background environment on motorcycle conspicuity.     

Applying the motorcyclist's perspective to improve car drivers' attitudes towards motorcyclists

This study sought to provide a first crucial step in the direction of developing an intervention program aimed at improving safe attitudes and skills among car drivers towards motorcycles. We intended to improve drivers’ attitudes towards motorcyclists by exposing them to demands that motorcyclists face on the road. Car drivers were exposed to hazard perception clips taken from a motorcyclist's perspective, and interactive hazards in a motorcycle simulator. Car hazard perception clips and a car simulator were used as control conditions. A questionnaire assessed participant knowledge and attitudes towards motorcyclists before and after the intervention. After the intervention participants had more empathic- and fewer negative-attitudes, as well as safer attitudes towards motorcyclists. Self-reported attitude-change suggested that the use of motorcycle hazard perception clips was more effective than the simulator, and the intervention was most effective for those car drivers who reported the most negative attitudes prior viewing the clips or riding the simulator. Providing car drivers with a perspective of the motorcyclist may prove to be a useful tool for promoting safer attitudes towards motorcyclists.     

Motorcycle and scooter speeds approaching urban intersections

Five urban, uncontrolled T-intersections known to be motorcycle crash ‘black spots’ were monitored using instrumentation and a roadside observer. Two sets of twelve-hour observations were collected for each site (N ≈ 100,000). Instrumentation recorded the ‘events’ of vehicles passing to measure, speed, direction, lane position, vehicle type (broadly characterised) and headway. Observers further recorded times of bicycle events, type of motorcycle (scooters or motorcycles), the behaviour of motorcycles and the use of ‘high conspicuity’ gear such as clothing or helmets. Results establish that motorcycles travel around 10% faster than the other traffic (car mean speed = 34.97 km/h), with motorcycles travelling on average 3.3 km/h faster than cars. Motorcycles were 3.4 times more likely to be exceeding the speed limit than cars. Similar results are described for scooters. Also examined are the influences on mean speeds such as the time of day, the presence of a car at the t-intersection, and the influence of free headway. The results are compared for robustness across locations and days. It is concluded that in urban areas motorcycles are travelling significantly faster than other traffic. These findings are discussed against a concern to reduce motorcycle crashes by improving conspicuity and previous research that implicates a ‘looked-but-failed-to-see’ effect for car drivers.     

Analysis of factors that increase motorcycle rider risk compared to car driver risk

As in other parts of the Western world, there is concern in New Zealand about increasing popularity of motorcycles because of potential increases in road trauma. This study sought to identify important factors associated with increased risk for motorcyclists to inform potential policy approaches to reduce motorcyclist injury, such as changes to motorcyclist licensing, training and education. Using data extracted from a register of all New Zealand licensed motor vehicles that were matched to crash data, statistical models were fitted to examine patterns of motorcycle risk in comparison with small cars. These showed generally elevated risks for motorcyclists compared to cars, but particularly elevated risks for motorcycle owners aged in their 20s or who lived in more urbanised settings. In crashes, motorcyclists have little protection from injury, putting the motorcyclist at high risk of injury. When comparing new motorcycles with new cars, the odds of fatal or serious injury to a motorcycle rider involved in an injury crash were almost eight times the odds for a car driver.     

Motorcycle right-of-way accidents--a literature review

The most typical automobile–motorcycle collision take places when an automobile manoeuvres into the path of an approaching motorcycle by violating the motorcycle's right of way (ROW).

Aim

The present paper provides a comprehensive review of past research that examined motorcycle ROW accidents.

Methods

Articles and publications were selected for relevance and research strength through a comprehensive search of major databases such as Transportation Research Information Services (TRIS), Compendex, and Medline.

Results

Two major causes of such a crash scenario are the lack of motorcycle conspicuity and motorist's speed/distance judgment error, respectively. A substantial number of studies have manipulated physical characteristics of motorcycles and motorcyclists to enhance conspicuity, along with research addressing motorists’ gap-acceptance behaviours and arrival time judgments when confronting motorcycles. Although various conspicuity aids have proven effective, some researchers reported that motorcyclist's/motorcycle's brightness per se may be less important as a determinant of conspicuity than brightness contrast between the motorcyclists and the surroundings. Larger vehicles tended to be judged to arrive sooner than motorcycles. Such a speed/distance judgment error is likely attributable to some psychological effects such that larger automobiles appear more threatening than motorcycles. Older motorists particularly have difficulties in accurately estimating the distance and the speed of an approaching motorcycle. Research examining the effects of conspicuity measures on motorists’ speed/distance judgments when confronting motorcycles has been rather inconclusive.

Conclusions

Past research offers valuable insight into the underlying motorcycle ROW crash mechanisms. However, with ageing society and a rapid change in traffic composition (e.g., more larger motorcycles) in recent years, prior research findings should be updated. The present study finally provides recommendations for future research on motorcycle ROW accidents.     

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.     

The association between price of regular-grade gasoline and injury and mortality rates among occupants involved in motorcycle- and automobile-related motor vehicle collisions

Motorcyclists have been reported to be more likely to die in a motor vehicle collision (MVC) than automobile occupants. With the recent increase in the pump price of gasoline, it has been reported that people are switching to motorcycles as main modes of transportation. This study evaluated the association between motor vehicle collision-related injury and mortality rates and increases in gasoline prices for occupants of automobiles and riders of motorcycles.There were an estimated 1,270,512 motorcycle MVC and 238,390,853 automobile MVC involved occupants in the U.S. from 1992 to 2007. Higher gasoline prices were associated with increased motorcycle-related injuries and deaths; however, this association no longer remained after accounting for changes in the number of registered vehicles.The current study observed that, while the number of injuries and fatalities in motorcycle-related MVCs increase with increasing gasoline price, rates remained largely unchanged. This suggests that the observed increase in motorcycle-related injuries and fatalities with increasing gasoline price is more a factor of the number of motorcycles on the road rather than operator characteristics.     

Parenting adolescent drivers is both a continuation of parenting from earlier periods and an anticipation of a new challenge

Greater parental involvement in the driving process and greater parent-imposed limits on novice adolescent drivers hold promise for reducing driving fatalities. However, relatively little is known about why some parents are more involved in the driving process than others. Driving-specific parenting may be both a continuation of established patterns of parenting and a response to a novel developmental task. Adolescents (n = 242, M age 15.4 years, 49% male) who were enrolled in a drivers’ education courses and their parents (n = 276, 70% mothers) completed questionnaires reporting pre-driving parenting styles and monitoring behaviors; the adolescents’ previous driving experiences; perceptions of risks for novice adolescent drivers; attitudes regarding parental involvement; and expected levels of limit-setting and autonomy attainment once adolescents begins driving. Parents’ and adolescents’ involvement attitudes and expectations for limits on driving and autonomy attainment were linked in multivariate models with established patterns of parenting and perceptions of risk. The discussion emphasizes implications for prevention and intervention efforts to increase parental involvement and limits.     

Are car drivers holding a motorcycle licence less responsible for motorcycle--car crash occurrence? A non-parametric approach

The purpose of this work is to evaluate the effect of a specific motorcycle licence, held by car drivers, in responsibility for motorcycle-car crashes. The data were provided by a multicentric case-control study (MAIDS) regarding the risk of crash and serious injuries of motorcyclists. A non-parametric method, classification and regression tree (CART), was used to accomplish the objective, and then compared to standard unconditional logistic regression. Drivers owning a motorcycle licence turned out to be less responsible for motorcycle-car crashes than drivers who do not have one; both types of analysis are consistent with this result. It is reasonable to assume that car drivers who hold a motorcycle licence have acquired more ability in riding and controlling two wheeled vehicles than drivers without a licence, and this may help them in predicting motorcycles manoeuvres.