Modelling motorcyclist injury severity resulting from sideswipe collisions at T-junctions in the United Kingdom: new insights into the effects of manoeuvres

Abstract

Sideswipe collisions between motorcycles and other motorised vehicles are one of the frequently occurring types of crashes at junctions in the United Kingdom and such collisions can be injurious to motorcyclists due to their vulnerability to injuries in nature. Research focusing on vehicle–bicycle sideswipe crashes has suggested that vehicles shunting/passing bicycles from behind were particularly likely to result in severe injuries to bicyclists. There seems to be a relative dearth of studies in literature exploring the determinants of motorcyclist injury severity resulting from sideswipe collisions. Using the data extracted from the UK STATS19 accident injury database (1991–2004), this article estimates the statistical models to identify whether a specific manoeuvre by motorcycle or vehicle (e.g., overtaking or changing lanes) is more hazardous to motorcyclists in sideswipe collisions at T-junctions. The modelling results show that injuries to motorcyclists were greatest when an overtaking motorcycle collided with a turning vehicle and such effect appeared to be more severe at unsignalised junctions. The findings of this study may offer guidelines for further research and provide some important preliminary evidence for the development of countermeasures that could help prevent the most hazardous condition(s) from occurring.

Keywords:

• motorcyclist injury severity
• sideswipe collision
• manoeuvre
• T-junction

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the anonymous referee for the insightful comments that resulted in a significant improvement of this article.

Notes

^a Likelihood ratioχ²: 2600.907 (with 21 df, p = 0.001).

^a Likelihood ratioχ²: 3241.124 (with 22 df, p = 0.001).