Analysis of Human Factors for Motorcycle safety

Accidents with motorcycles and over illustrations of drivers in fatal accidents are a primary hassle in modern-day transport. It is clear from the archival information that in motorcycle vehicle collisions, the important accountability lies with other road users who fail to recognize, adapt and avoid motorcyclists in more than half of the cases. This study represents the results and recommendations of a global review of motorcycle safety research literature. The literature review is divided into several groups including the following – Age and Gender, Alcohol Intake, Rider Licensing, Helmet Usage, Passive Safety, Road Environment, and Technological Advancement in motorcycles.

Introduction

Motorcycles are by their nature far more crashworthy than closed vehicles. They are additionally less seen to different drivers and pedestrians and much less stable than four-wheel vehicles. Operating a bike requires a perfect combination of physical and mental abilities than those used in driving a four-wheel vehicle. Motorcyclists and pinion riders are more vulnerable to the hazards of weather and road conditions than drivers in closed vehicles. Early estimates via the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) point out that motorcyclist accidents in the United States were estimated to have dropped by way of 5.6% in 2017 in contrast to 2016, a decrease of around 296 deaths. Even though at the end of year 2017 the US National Safety Council estimated that around 5172 riders died due to the fatal accidents. Our knowledge of the relative fatality rates confirms that the perception of danger in riding a bike is not without the substance. There are many stereotypes and links made with riding a bike through a general culture perspective. All such stereotypes are true and false with a greater or lesser degree. This states that the issues associated with motorcycle riders have been greatly underserved even within the transportation community. The higher death rate for motorcycle riders provides a significant impetus for motorcycle safety research and the introduction of ongoing countermeasures at the federal, state and local level.

This review will help to redress such imbalance and will to lead to people giving importance to specific motorcycle issues and problems. We approached the respective problems primarily from a human factor perspective including several groups and the technological advancement to improve the safety of motorcyclists .

Objective

To improve the motorcyclist’s safety with technological development in a motorcycle.

Scope

It is well known that now-a-days due to growing economy and improved lifestyles people tend to use fancy automobiles and safety is an important aspect of life for everyone irrespective of the class of people. There are variety of factors which are considered for taking a rider’s safety but considering that human factors related to driving and controlling the bike play a crucial role and hence investigating this perception is remarkable.

In 1999, motorcycles made up less than 2% of all vehicles and accounted for only 0.4% of all vehicle’s miles traveled. But this number increased exponentially over the period of time as motorcycles were cheap as compared to cars and were easy to drive and convenient for small journeys. As the number of people purchasing the automobiles increases, the number of accidents happening on road increases as well. So, to reduce the number of accidents we can consider various factors such as age, gender, helmet usage etc. and along with various human factors, we can implement various technological advancements for safety purposes.

For the convenience of the discussion, the material examined has been divided into a number of separate categories such as Age and Gender, Helmet usage etc.

Age and Gender

International casualty statistics show that young motorcyclists are more likely than older motorcyclists to be killed or seriously injured on the roads. According to this statement, we can say that such accidents happen in young youth because of inexperience and being irresponsible while riding the bike. However, it was found that the pattern of behavior associated with young individuals such as risk-taking resulted in high collision rate and not the level of inexperience.

According to the results provided by we can see that the riders below the age of 25 are responsible for majority of the accidents. Along with the age, we can classify them based on gender as well. With respect to gender equality, the collision statistics continue to confirm that bike riding remains a predominantly male activity. Men cause around 6.1 million accidents per year and women cause 4.4 million accidents per year (National Highway Safety Administration). From the figure 2 given by, shows male to female ratio is approximately 3.5. So according to these results, we can conclude that most of the accidents are caused by motorcyclists of age below 25 years.

If we consider gender, then we can see that men are responsible for more than half of the accidents on road.

Alcohol Intake

Alcohol involvement remains a significant factor in single-vehicle motorcycle fatal crashes, 41% of the motorcyclists who died in single vehicle crashes in 2000 in the U.S were intoxicated. Along with U.S, accident statistics in Australia show that 41% of motorcycle accident fatalities involve blood alcohol levels above 0.05% compared to 29% for drivers of cars and other passenger vehicles. Motorcycle riders had the highest intoxication rates with blood alcohol concentration of 0.10 g/dl or greater. One of the reasons for such behavior in motorcyclists is no one else’s responsibility, that is, if a person is driving a car with passenger in it, then the chances of driving the car after drinking is less because that person knows that he/she has to take care of the passengers. So, he/she won’t take that risk. But on the other hand, if you are riding a bike on your own then you take that extra risk and ride the bike even after the drinking, which leads to accidents on a larger scale.

Research on the alcohol crash hassle interacts with the elements from two established fields – alcohol studies and traffic safety and calls on the numerous disciplines for descriptive and explanatory studies. For example, chemistry, physiology, psychology and behavioral science have important roles in tracing the “web causation”. The task of correlating the molecular, human, social, and cultural factors appears immense, both in theory and practice. Given the existing knowledge about the alcohol crash problems, so many questions pertaining to human factors are still unanswerable and because of that, there is primary need to develop a theoretical basis for such research.

Rider Licensing

Most of the states in the US require riders to get the special license before riding the bike on streets and highways. There is a complete course of how to drive and control the bike on the road but generally no one completes the course. Some people complete that course but give no importance and zero attention to it. Therefore, there is ample evidence that many motorcyclists ignore the mandatory requirements and ride the bike on roads. The exact number and characteristics of unlicensed drivers are less certain because such drivers do not come in attention of the DMV unless they are involved in a crash or convicted to a traffic violation and consequently reported to DMV. In addition to that, those who are reported to DMV are difficult to find, due to inherent difficulties in matching each reported unlicensed driver. US Department of Transportation’s Fatal Accident Reporting System (FARS) show that the percentage of fatally injured motorcyclist in the year of 2012 is 19%. Along with that, the problem associated with unlicensed riders is majorly severe in California where the percentage of fatally injured motorcyclists in the year of 2012 is 24%.

Helmet Usage

Head injury is the leading cause of death in motorcycle crashes. Every report in the US attributes greater significance to the compulsory use of the helmet to reduce the damage, which, in spite of the increase in the number of motorcycles, helps in preventing a parallel increase in fatalities and severe injuries in the particular incidence of brain and head injuries. Helmets are estimated to be 29% effective in preventing fatal injuries to motorcyclists which means that 29% of the injured riders would have had a fatal injury without wearing helmets. In the countries like India, Department of Traffic Police implemented several rules and regulation, and tried different things so that people will follow the rules and wear a helmet for their own safety but still, a number of people ride the bike without a helmet. The amount of fine to be paid if we ride the bike without helmet is high, but still people don’t wear a helmet and are willing to pay such hefty fines. Over the period of time, the modifications done in helmet design, more reliable and stylish helmets are made so that young people will wear such helmets at least for the sake of better look, if not for the safety aspect. And after such modifications, young riders started to use it and the death rate went down over the period of time. In addition to helmets, different protective clothing was implemented which created passive safety. If such precautions are taken by the riders then the chances of fatal accident will definitely dropdown.

Road Environment

The road environment itself is often overlooked as a motorcycle hazard. Of the 4,430 motorcycle fatalities in the United States in 1984, 157 (3.5%) involved guardrails. Accident analyses undertaken in France and Germany suggest that rider collisions with guardrails account for a disproportionate number of fatalities on urban freeways. Domhan reports that the cost per meter of installing the attenuators was less than half of that for a continuous W-beam. Even so, he calculated that prices would outweigh benefits if attenuators have been hooked up on all guardrails in the Federal Republic.

The major number of accidents happen on the roads are caused due to improper maintenance of streets. If the streets, roads, and highways are not maintained in good condition, then there are chances that motorcyclists can easily slip on the road surface. The main items highlighted to be of concern to motorcyclists include: road markings, paint and thermoplastic markings, which are slippery when wet and can produce severe damage to riders compared to cars. Raised pavement markers present an obstacle to motorcycles during turning maneuvers, and so should be used with caution within intersection. Loose gravel commonly gets on to the paved road surface when there are unsealed shoulders. This is a particular danger to motorcyclists at corners. It could be overcome at intersections on roads which have unsealed shoulders by sealing to a curved section of gutter.

Public Education and Awareness

A wide range of public education and awareness campaigns have grown up around broader motorcycle safety programs all over the world. Such programs have aimed at a variety of audience from novice motorcyclists to general driving public. It is the most effective way to spread the importance of following the rules and regulations. You can improve the bike’s safety by doing technological advancements like anti-lock braking system, integrated braking system, modifying the helmet designs. But, people will still forget some of the regulations and the main reason to it is they are not used to such rules when it comes to riding the bike. In such cases, public awareness plays a crucial role. Whenever any novice motorcyclist visits the DPS for getting a license, they show a variety of advertisements, videos, and lectures and give warnings in a very subtle way about the importance of driving safely. As a result of the programs reaching their target audience, their behavior and attitude towards riding the motorcycle is modified. In addition to that, the accident rates went down drastically over a period of time.

Conclusion

Motor collision and the over-representation of riders in fatal collisions represent a significant problem in modern transportation. Such incidents are happening because of so many factors and to overcome such mishaps, public education and awareness play a crucial role along with the technological advancements in the motorcycles such as using anti-lock braking systems, integrated braking systems, rearview mirrors, high-intensity headlights, crash bars, leg protectors, using the helmets with a modified design, wearing protective clothing as passive safety. It’s a satisfaction to ride a bike on highways and gives an immense pleasure to go on road trips but you can make it memorable if you take some precautions.

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