Injury Severity Analysis of Accidents Involving Young Motorcycle Riders in Malaysia
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Proceedings of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies, Vol.8, 2011 Injury Severity Analysis of Accidents Involving Young Motorcycle Riders in Malaysia Mohd Hafzi MD ISA Zulhaidi MOHD JAWI Research Officer Research Officer Vehicle Safety and Biomechanics Centre Vehicle Safety and Biomechanics Centre Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research 43000 Kajang, Selangor 43000 Kajang, Selangor Malaysia Malaysia Fax: +60387368685 Fax: +60387368685 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Rohayu SARANI Shaw Voon WONG Research Officer Director Road Engineering and Environment Centre Vehicle Safety and Biomechanics Centre Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research 43000 Kajang, Selangor 43000 Kajang, Selangor Malaysia Malaysia Fax: +60387342160 Fax: +60387368685 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: wongsv @miros.gov.my Abstract: Motorcyclists are the highest contributors to road fatality statistics in Malaysia, particularly young riders. This warrants a study to be carried out to understand the overall accident characteristics and investigate the associated risk factors. Secondary data from police records (POL 27) were utilized using three years of accident records (2006 – 2008). Results shown that the following factors led to a higher probability of being killed or severely injured (KSI) for young motorcycle riders; being a male motorcyclist, riding with a learner probationary license or without a license, riding with an improper helmet or without wearing any, being involved in a crash that happens during the wee hours, being involved in a crash that happens during dawn or dusk or in the dark with and without street lighting, being involved in a crash that happens at built-up or rural areas and being involved in a head-on collision. Key Words: young motorcycle riders, logistic regression, injury severity 1. INTRODUCTION Road transportation mishaps are responsible for the death of more than a million of the world’s population each year and also leave other 50 million surviving victims with injuries and incapacities (WHO, 2009). It is also learned that 90% of the said fatalities occur in low- income and middle-income countries. Figure 1 describes the trend of reported deaths by three road user groups – (1) Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs), (2) motorized four-wheeled vehicle occupants and (3) others – according to WHO region and income level classifications which are Low (LIC), Middle (MIC) and High Income Country (HIC). In overall, reported fatalities involving VRUs is more pronounced in low and middle income countries. One of the factors associated with this finding is that the Southeast Asia region has a considerable number of motorcycle users. For instance, registered motorcycles constitute more than 50% of the total registered vehicles (2007) in Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and Philippines, with the highest in Vietnam at 95% (WHO, 2009). This fact can be 1 Proceedings of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies, Vol.8, 2011 linked to high accident rate of motorcycles and consequently a significant number of related casualties (e.g. Wedagama et al., 2009; Iamtrakul et al., 2003; Sigua, 2009). Another notable finding is that, the situation pertaining VRU fatalities in the Southeast Asia region is way greater in the MIC group as compared to its LIC counterpart due to differences in socio- economic situation as compared to the situation in middle income countries (more vehicles, traffic etc.). Figure 1 Reported deaths by type of road user (%), by WHO region and income group (Source: WHO, 2009) In Malaysia, the population of motorcycle represents about half of the total registered vehicles in the country (RMP, 2009). Its economical features especially in terms of ownership costs as well as its ease-of-use are apparently the main attractions a motorcycle has to offer. In the motorized vehicle segment in Malaysia, a motorcycle is in average priced five-folds lower than the cheapest car in the market (for a new unit). It is certainly not a fuel guzzler, entitled for nominal road tax, excluded from being tolled in most highways, easy to maneuver and enables its user to change lanes and save time during traffic congestions, and many other advantages that make motorcycles a very convenient and attractive mode of transportation. In contrast, motorcycle casualties have long been a significant concern in the country, whereby the motorcycle users represent more than half of the total traffic fatalities each year e.g. 4067 out of 6745 fatalities in 2009 alone (RMP, 2009). Furthermore, from the breakdown of fatalities by type of road user as compiled by the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS), motorcycle users recorded an increase of approximately 4% in fatalities in 2009 as compared to 2008. It also recorded almost 19% increment as compared to the counts in 2002 (Figure 2). Being classified as Vulnerable Road Users (VRU) together with pedestrians and cyclists, motorcyclists often suffer more severe injuries than occupants of bigger vehicles due to minimal protection to their exposed body. The death profile suggests that the injury outcome for motorcyclist is rather high, and an in-depth study of 186 fatally injured motorcyclists by Pang et al . in 2000 had revealed that 71.5% of them were pronounced dead at the scene and a 2 Proceedings of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies, Vol.8, 2011 further 25.3% died within three hours after the accident. % change over Road User Previous 2002 % 2008 % 2009 % 2002 year Pedestrian 650 11.03% 598 9.16% 589 8.73% -1.51 -9.83 Motorcycle 3429 58.21% 3898 59.72% 4067 60.30% 4.34 18.61 Bicycle 261 4.43% 203 3.11% 224 3.32% 10.34 -14.18 Car 1023 17.37% 1335 20.45% 1405 20.83% 5.24 37.34 Van 156 2.65% 96 1.47% 91 1.35% -5.21 -41.67 Bus 45 0.76% 48 0.75% 31 0.46% -35.42 -31.11 Lorry 197 3.34% 195 2.99% 213 3.16% 9.23 8.12 4Wheel 74 1.26% 106 1.62% 78 1.16% -26.42 5.41 Other 56 0.95% 48 0.74% 47 0.70% -2.08 -16.07 Total 5891 100% 6527 100% 6745 100% 3.34 14.50 Figure 2: Fatalities by mode of transport (source: MIROS) The number of casualties involving young motorcycle riders in the country is a significant concern. In a survey by Nor Afiah et al. (2005), the prevalence of injuries among adolescents (19 years) was 18.8% and majority of them sustained bruises and ligament sprain. Furthermore, according to police reports, 60% of the 6300 deaths from traffic injuries in 2007 involved motorcycle riders and of these motorcyclist deaths, 50% were young riders aged between 16 to 30 years old. The proportion of fatalities among motorcycle riders aged between 16 to 30 years from all rider fatalities increased from 40% in 2001 to 60% in 2007 (Figure 3). Figure 3 Motorcycle rider fatality trend by age distribution (source: MIROS) The number of fatalities involving this age group had cost the country approximately RM 1.9 billion after taking into account the value of statistical life (VOSL) of RM 1.2 million per fatality, as reported by Nor Ghani and Mohd Faudzi (2003). This is a great lost in the productivity within healthy years among those in the young age group and needs further attention. Thus, this warrants a study to be carried out to understand the overall accident characteristics and to determine the associated risk factors for young motorcyclists aged between 16 and 30 years. The findings can be used in future intervention programs and may influence current legislation particularly on rider training and licensing procedure. 3 Proceedings of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies, Vol.8, 2011 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Previous Studies It has been highlighted in numerous literatures whereby young motorcyclists face higher risk of being involved in traffic accidents. In a recent review study on the contribution of age and experience to young driver crashes (Mccartt et al., 2009), the authors found that young drivers had higher crash rates than older drivers even after taking account the effects of length of licensure. Furthermore, it has been well documented that young motorcycle riders are statistically over-represented in road crash injuries and mortalities in most motorized countries. In the US, it has been reported that 346 motorcycle riders aged between 15 to 20 years old were killed and 8000 were injured in 2008 (NHTSA, 2008). In Australia, it was estimated that the fatality statistics for riders aged between 17 to 25 years old is 47.0 fatalities per 100 million kilometers ridden in comparison with riders aged between 26 to 39 years (14.5 fatalities per 100 million kilometers ridden) and riders aged 40 years and over (7.7 fatalities per 100 million kilometers ridden), as reported by the Australian Transport Bureau (ATSB, 2002). This problem is not only prevalent in the western countries but also in Asian countries. The number of casualties involving motorcycle riders aged between 16 to 25 years constitutes about 31% of the overall motorcycle fatalities in Taiwan in 1992 (Lin et al., 2003). In Khon Kaen, Thailand, riders aged between 16 to 25 years had the tendency to encounter accidents than other age group of riders (Iamrtrakul et al., 2003). Furthermore, it has been shown that motorcycle casualty is significantly higher among the younger group in comparison with other road accident victims in Singapore (Leong et al., 2009). The study also shows that young motorcycle riders have a higher injury risk than riders who are older. The high accident risk among young motorcycle riders could be attributed to a number of factors.