Riding behaviours of motorcyclists in mixed traffic condition and its association with crash risk

Abstract

The present work reports an investigation on riding behaviours of motorcyclists in a mid-sized Indian city where road infrastructure and public transportation systems are not well developed, and law-enforcement is also inadequate. A paper–pencil based questionnaire was designed to collect responses from motorcyclists, and the database was analysed in two stages. In stage- I, an exploratory factor analysis was carried out and four latent factors were identified, namely ‘traffic errors’, ‘control errors’, ‘safety perception & attitude’, and ‘deliberate violations’. In stage-II, these latent factors along with socioeconomic related attributes were used to develop a Poisson-regression model to establish a relationship with crash risk. The model indicates that ‘control errors’ (i.e., the errors committed related to controlling the vehicle) is the most influential factor to predict the crash risk. In addition, crash risk was observed to be directly correlated with riding experience. The findings highlight the need for promoting policies favouring stringent enforcement and strengthening driving licensing and renewal system, and target oriented awareness campaign for improving safety of motorcyclists.