Spatial analysis of accidents involving food delivery motorcycles in Taiwan

ABSTRACT

The study explored whether the growth of food-delivery services has affected motorcycle accident patterns. When riders check their phones for directions and orders, safety risks rise. The study conducted analysis on the spatial pattern of motorcycle accidents. Separate models for food delivery and non-food delivery motorcycle accidents (FDMAs vs. NFDMAs) were built to detect differences, and the relative importance of spatial features particular to FDMAs is discussed. Trends in motorcycle accidents in Taiwan changed from 2012 to 2019. The cross-sectional analysis revealed that hotel and restaurant density along with FDMAs reported in the previous year can predict the number of FDMAs; whereas the number of NFDMAs can be determined by population density and the number of 3-legged intersections. The spatial analysis of motorcycle accidents help increase couriers’ risk awareness in specific workplaces, provide insurance companies with a benchmark for regional pricing differentiation, and offer support for distracted riding regulations.

KEYWORDS:

• Food delivery
• distracted riding
• motorcycle accidents
• spatial autocorrelation
• spatial econometrics models
• dynamic panel model

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledges the helpful comments of the editor and the reviewers who provided valuable input and comments that have contributed to improving the content and exposition of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported in part by grant from the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan: [Grant Numbers MOST 107-2629-E-992-001, MOST 109-2410-H-006-065, MOST 110-2629-E-992-001].