Citation

Espié S, Bekiaris E, Nikolaou S. Proc. Road Saf. Four Continents Conf. 2010; 15: 194-199.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Conference Sponsor)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Powered Two Wheeler (PTW) users are greatly over-involved in serious and fatal crashes. They have between 5 and 25 times the risk of having a fatal crash compared to car drivers, depending on the country. The number of PTWs on European roads has more than doubled over the last two decades. The recent MAIDS (Motorcycle Accident In-Depth Study) study ofPTW crashes in Europe found that behavioral and ergonomic issues were major contributing factors to PTW crashes: the primary accident cause for PTW crashes was the failure of drivers to perceive 2-wheelers and human error was a major contributing factor to most crashes, for both PTW and car drivers [MAIDS, 2008]. The majority of PTW crashes involved a collision with a car. Many large-scale research programs have been undertaken to understand the behavioral and ergonomic factors that contribute to crashes involving 4-wheeled vehicles. These have been effective in informing countermeasure development, which has led to significant reductions in crashes. To our knowledge, no comparable human factors and behavioral research programs have been initiated in the PTW domain, in Europe or elsewhere. The high rate of motorcycle-related deaths and injuries calls for new and refined countermeasures deriving from solid behavioral and ergonomics research. 2BESAFE targets to conduct naturalistic rider studies and analyze the behavioral and ergonomic parameters that contribute to PTW crashes. This includes research on crash causes and human error, the world's first naturalistic riding study involving instrumented PTWs, research on motorcycle rider risk awareness and perception, the development of new research tools to support the research program, in-depth research on the factors that underlie driver failures to see PTWs and their riders, and the development of recommendations for practical countermeasures for enhancing PTW rider safety. The main expected project impact is the significant reduction of vehicle- to-vehicle collisions involving PTW riders and cars [2BESAFE, 2008]. Within the framework of 2BESAFE will be designed, developed and/or refined research tools for studying riders' behavior and performance (instrumented motorbikes, riding simulators), to thoroughly analyze the behavioral and ergonomic issues that contribute to PTW crashes. Studies will be conducted in different European countries, knowledge gained on differences and similarities in the way drivers from different countries interact with PTWs in everyday life will be used to optimize the development of countermeasures in individual countries. Moreover, through the analysis of the results of this multi-level study, the project will develop recommendations for improving PTW design (especially in relation to the Human-Machine Interface and vehicle conspicuity), as well as concise training curricula for riders' training and licensing, expanded also to training on drivers' perception for riders.