Citation

Muller A. Accid. Anal. Prev. 1984; 16(1): 1-18.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1984, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Since 1978, all new motorcycles first registered in California are required by law to be equipped with headlights which automatically turn on when the engine is started. The purpose of this law is to increase headlight use during daytime and prevent multi-vehicle collisions due to poor conspicuity of motorcyclists. This paper examines whether the increasing operation of motorcycle headlights has been effective in reducing the number of daytime multi-vehicle fatalities in California and other states affected by the California legislation. Time series of motorcycle fatalities (1976-1981) for California and other states in the U.S.A. are analyzed by log-linear analysis. Models representing the null-hypothesis were found to be consistent and more parsimonious descriptions of the observed data than models which incorporated additional terms indicating the effectiveness of increased headlight operation, or the effectiveness of daytime headlight use laws. Although the latter terms were not found to be statistically significant, a slight decrease in the odds ratio of multi to single vehicle collisions was predicted in states without daytime headlight use laws. This decrease suggests that daytime headlight operation may be beneficial in reducing the number of motorcycle fatalities.