Risk Factors in Motorcyclist Fatalities in Taiwan

Abstract

Objective: To assess the impact of the following factors on rider fatality: rider's age, gender, licensing status, accident liability, use of helmet, alcohol consumption, vehicle class, road conditions, presence of passengers, and passenger injuries.

Methods: Data on motorcycle accidents in Taiwan between 2006 and 2008 were analyzed. A logistic regression model was used to establish a fatality risk model for motorcyclists and investigate high-risk factors for motorcyclist fatality.

Results: Higher fatality rates among motorcycle riders correlate with the following factors: male, older, unlicensed, not wearing a helmet, riding after drinking, and driving heavy (i.e., above 550 cc) motorcycles. In addition, motorcyclists involved in nighttime, nonurban single-vehicle accidents have a higher risk of death, and lone riders have a higher risk of death in accidents than do riders carrying passengers. The seriousness of passenger injury also correlates positively with the rider's risk of death.

Conclusions: Nearly 60 percent of all driving fatalities in Taiwan involve motorcycles. Consideration of factors behind the high frequency and risk of motorcycle deaths, specifically rider age above 60 years, not wearing a motorcycle helmet, riding after drinking, and driving without a valid license, could help in the development of effective traffic safety management measures.

Keywords:

• Motorcycle accident
• Motorcycle passenger
• Senior citizens driving
• Driving qualifications

Notes

This study took place at low speeds on a closed track with well-defined tasks, rather than under normal driving conditions, which are quite different.

It shall be noted that riders may die more than 24 h after a crash. Because the traffic accident investigation reports only document fatalities within 24 h, the riders who died after 24 h are not identified and the reports are not revised.

We excluded unable to test, not rider/not tested, and unknown samples and combined negative test into no alcohol.

Taiwan law provides for license suspension or disqualification for drunk driving in addition to a fine.

Refer to McCullagh and Nelder (1989) for the basic model form and statistical test method for logistic regression.

The lower risk of fatality when a passenger is present might be partly the result of who the passenger is. If the rider is a family member, especially a child (or children), riders may be more cautious. In Thailand, Kasantikul had zero crashes involving family members on the same motorcycle, even though loading children or the entire family on the motorcycle was common.

To curtail fatalities among riders over age 60, authorities can regularly and more frequently examine the physics and fitness of those elderly riders. In addition, wearing brighter and more protective clothing, including a helmet, can also lower the risk of fatality.

Because alcohol use is so high at night, the apparent night effect might be an alcohol effect (Kasantikul et al. 2005). To distinguish the 2 effects, data on alcohol crashes and non-alcohol crashes were separately estimated and the results for night effect displayed no difference. That is, the night effect existed in both data sets.